flying alone

I saw an old thread that spoke to this issue:
My ex has no problem requiring my 12 year old son to fly alone when going back
and forth to the states.
I say he is too young and shy, Ex says I don't treat him like a "man", in other
words I baby him.
My son says he really, REALLY doesn't want to fly alone.
I won't make him, but my Ex's attitude means I will be travelling an awful lot iin the next 5 years. I better find a really good job...

Any mothers out there want to chime in? Am I crazy, with all the immigration stuff and  customs too. Is he gonna be able to satisfy a US immigration officer as to why he has a UK visa in his passport et al...Get his luggage on and off and on again for a connecting flight, without ever getting lost or missing a connexion?
This is the ex that won't allow him to get a Canadian passport to make entry into the Uk eaiser (I think it will, anyway.)

Am I crazy?

I know it's not the same, but when I was living in Amsterdam, my 9-year-old sister came alone to visit me.  If you book the ticket as "unaccompanied child" (or some terminology like that), the flight attendants take extra good care of the little ones.  They moved her up to business-class and checked on her every half-hour or so.  Then a flight attendant accompanied her through immigration and waited with her until I showed-up to claim her.
There are some former airline-industry people on here who can definitely give you some more specifics.  Good luck!   

It probably wouldn't work, but where is your son flying from, and to where, and when? You might occasionally be able to work out for a friend to go with him, so he's not entirely alone.

 

If you book the ticket as "unaccompanied child" (or some terminology like that), the flight attendants take extra good care of the little ones.  They moved her up to business-class and checked on her every half-hour or so.  Then a flight attendant accompanied her through immigration and waited with her until I showed-up to claim her.

  It depends on the Airlines though, I know BA considers age 12 and older to be adult while NW runs an unaccompained child program for ages 5-17, but there is an extra fee.  The rest I'm not sure about.
  Good luck though, it's no fun to fly alone at any age, let alone being a shy 12 yo.

My idiot ex expects me to send my 7 and 10 year old across the ocean alone. I know you can pay the airlines an escort fee but I wouldnt ever do it. Even for a domestic flight they are way too young. Not till they are 18 and then I will still have my reservations.
12 is too young! What's wrong with these fathers anyway?!!!

I'm sending my two (16 and 15) over htis summer by themselves.  They've done it millions of times and it's a direct flight so I'm not too worried. 

It all depends on the child though.  If I didn't think my child were ready and they weren't comfortable about it themselves I definately wouldn't let them.

Yes, the thread I saw that prompted my comment in the first place was a bout a 14 year old girl that was "accompanioned" on KLM. Her person left her in the terminal and she missed her connexion. She and another 15 year old boy had to stay the night and were asked to stay in the same room. They had no food and no transport to get any.
I was appalled and i know it was the exception but so is every bad thing in the world...

Besides, it is a VERY long and lonely flight. I can't see myself letting him do it until he talls me he wants to do it alone. One mis-remark about bombs and whoops he disappears downstairs to be questioned, misses his connexion, loses his luggage, and maybe even his passport and tickets.

When he is a man I will treat him like a man, when he is a child I will treat him as a child.
Why are mothers punished for doing there job, but fathers are  lauded for doing theirs???

When I worked for the airlines the flight attendants would sometimes talk about the kids they had to escort. One time there was a flight from LAX to ORD and the plane had to make an emergency landing somewhere in between. The flight ended up being cancelled and all the passengers rescheduled for the next morning. There was a little girl on the flight that had to spend the night in a hotel with a flight attendant.

Before I would let my teenage sons fly I would make sure they had a credit card and a mobile phone with tri-band. You just never know when you could get stranded somewhere.

Good point Pebbles.  I think it was Tebs who posted a link to a similar story a while back, a teenage girl was told she had to share a hotel room with a boy when the flight they were on was grounded.  When I was about 14 or 15 my brother wanted me to go and visit him in Colorado but my mum freaked because it meant flying alone and I would have had to change planes somewhere too, so I didn't get to go.  I can totally understand not wanting to put a 12 year old on a plane alone, even if they are accompanied by a flight attendent.  Any chance your ex can come to the UK to see your son?

Yes, he will come for two of the half terms, and I send him back for the three other holidays. So he won't have to do all the travelling. But I just can't being myself to let him go alone, not yet anyway.
My ex isn't really very concerned for my son anyway, he is concerned about his own pocketbook...And this is a man who makes over 130,000 dollars a year and is single! (that's opposed to my just having graduated last week from university after 17 years as a stay at home wife and mother.) My money situation is up in the air until I can get over and
find a job.
Living on savings at the moment and that going fast...

When my husband and I fly 2 kids from the usa to uk we organise a chaperone with the airlines, they see them onto the flights,make sure they make the connections etc. It costs £60 for the 2 of them with AA which you pay when they get on the flight, DEFF worth it!!!!