Child safety on flight - unaccompanied minors

[CommanderDaisy]

We live a fair distance away from both sets of grandparents.
As a result, my two DS have been travelling as unaccompanied minors on a globally recognised airline for a number of years.

This time DS 11 , decided he wanted go see his grandparents on his own. He's done one flight like this previously with no problems. He is a polite, well mannered kid who doesn't like making a fuss and doesn't make things up - it is what it is with him. So I believe him when he told me what happened.

The same airline limits the numbers of unaccompanied minors and charges a pretty solid extra on top of the ticket price for this service.

Anyway, on the trip down DS was sitting by the window. During the flight , some random bloke wandered down to the back (where the children always sit) and plonked himself next to my son, saying there was always more room at the back. He then proceed to try to engage DS in a variety of conversations making DS really uncomfortable, leaning across him to adjust the blind on the window several times - generally sounding thoroughly creepy.
At no point did a staff member intervene, check on DS or ask this guy to shuffle off.
When I called the airline to ask what the hell they were doing, allowing this to happen - I first got told that passengers during flights are allowed to sit wherever they like, then by a more senior person that the onus was on my son to complain - this while still sitting next to the man he wanted to complain about.

AIBU to completely have the shits with this and complain my ass off, and to view it as a child safety issue ?

But during the actual flights, they were sometimes seated next to a random male passenger and no checks were made.

What "checks" do you think should be made?

If you are concerned about your child being on a plane to the point that you worry that they will be sexually assaulted by a stranger with whom they have no prior connection surrounded by 100 other people, then I don't see what an airline can do to reassure you. I'm not saying that the assault is highly improbable (I think it is, but I don't think it actually matters): I'm asking what you think an airline can do. If you are worried about that risk, your child probably cannot fly unaccompanied unless you are willing to pay for two or three tickets and guarantee an empty row, or pay someone to fly with them as a sky-nanny (I believe such services exist).

Of course abuse is unlikely but I think there’s quite a few things the airline could and should do. The airline could sit them in an otherwise empty row when possible. If the plane is full, then seat them next to a woman (who is statistically far less likely to try to abuse or groom them.) If they are seated in the unaccompanied minor ‘section’ then prevent random people from moving seats to sit with a vulnerable child and engaging them in conversations that make the child uncomfortable. Cabin crew could make sure they at the very least have eyes on the child every time they pass and hopefully verbally check the child is ok several times during the flight. Surely this is all common sense? OP isn’t pissed off because no one offered her DC hot chocolate and a blanket and a bedtime story, she’s upset because his safety was compromised.

That’s roughly £25 each way - assuming $aus. Not loads but plenty enough for them to check your ds regularly on such a short trip. Is there a more expensive airline, where you may get a better service for next time?

The airline could sit them in an otherwise empty row when possible

Let's assume that's a pretty unlikely case in 2018, especially on a short-haul flight on a LoCo (the case in this thread).

If the plane is full, then seat them next to a woman

Serious question, not intended to goad: how do you plan to do that?

Leaving aside trans issues, which is a whole other world of crazy, it's hardly unknown for people to check in as "Dr", "Professor", "Colonel" and so on. A few airlines collect gender as well (ie, they ask you if checking in as "Dr" to state your gender) but most don't.

So on a full plane, you would potentially need to shuffle people around post-boarding, moving from them seats they have a perfectly valid boarding card for, by visible gender. When orthodox Jews do that on El Al flights, the general liberal consensus is that it is wrong.

And if a woman were sat on a plane next to a random man and the random man were moved and replaced by a child, the implication is that the random woman is supposed to look after the child. Passengers are not unpaid nannies.

If they are seated in the unaccompanied minor ‘section’ then prevent random people from moving seats to sit with a vulnerable child

There isn't a "section": most flights will have zero unaccompanied minors, and the most common case when there is not zero will be one. Different on some long-haul flights around school holidays, but unaccompanied minors are rare on shorthaul.

Cabin crew could make sure they at the very least have eyes on the child every time they pass and hopefully verbally check the child is ok several times during the flight.

That I don't disagree with, and is what I assumed the OP was paying for.

Surely it's better in this specific case to have noticed the man was now sitting next to the UM and ask him to return to his seat? As for verbally checking a child of that age if they're okay when the person making them feel uneasy is right there is unlikely to get a frank response, though it works for feeling sick/wanting a drink etc. Sitting the UM on the aisle might have made him feel safer in any event.

As other PPs have said, if you can't fulfil a service, don't offer and charge for it. OP is there anything contractual online or in the ticketing for the service VA was offering?

Yes
CEO
Twitter
Daily mail

In that order ! This is shocking

Update.
This morning I heard from a fairly senior person at the CEO's office.
He was not happy with the responses I received, or the amount of time it had taken.Apparently it should have been forwarded to him much, much earlier. He also got that it was actually a safeguarding issue, and a problem with the training provided. Flight crew are being investigated. They are treating it very seriously.

So I now feel that they are doing something, and am fairly sure son is flying business class home.

Thanks to posters who provided the CEO email. That got a result.

Big airlines are usually good about this.
My husband (small built bloke) and I were moved forwards to business class ready to rush to make a connecting flight on an Asian carrier.

They were very strict that only I (female) could sit in the seat next to an unaccompanied minor. The kid was huge (prob 6ft) and dwarfed my husband- but these were the airlines rules, and fair enough.

Virgin Aus are dreadful but unfortunately there is not always a choice of airlines to use.

Great outcome, glad to hear it. Good luck with the flight home.

Good about time. I hope he follows it through and you get a good result.

Excellent update glad you're getting good results now. Wouldn't like to be in the shoes of the staff who've fucked up! Not only crew but the complaint handlers.

Glad you got a positive outcome. I was very surprised on one flight to find DH seated next to a young girl aged around ten flying alone. We swapped seats as we thought that might make the child feel more comfortable but no staff member came near her until we landed.

Wow this is appalling! Glad the CEO is taking it seriously.

Glad the CEO is taking it seriously. Ours fly alone frequently: it costs us a fucking fortune and I would be spitting feathers if this had happened to one of them. This is so easy to avoid: just have middle seat empty like they do in business class or on a full flight put them in aisle seat so they have an escape route. They should never be trapped in window seat by randomcreepy adult.

Can you teach your DS how to deal with this sort of situation if it ever happens again? E.g. say at the top of his voice so everyone around can hear I'M SORRY I NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET CAN YOU LET ME OUT PLEASE and then go and find an air stewardess at once.

Daisy, so glad you've had a good result from your protest. (Sorry, I am late back to this thread.)

I hope your DS had a good flight home in business class, la di da! and that child safety is a matter VA will take very seriously. (Like PPS have said, they shouldn't offer UM if they don't have enough staff.) I'm guessing you were talking about Sydney-Melbourne; I fly this route a lot and am bloody-minded about safety when my DD flies it alone. I'm glad you raised this on MN.

.

groovergirl
Not Melbourne to Syndey, Northern NSW to Sydney. Similar distance.

I've been having daily updates from the Training and Operations manager for the past few days. He is amazing and has realised there is a big training gap whihc he is endeavouring to fix.
I'm not after any form of compensation etc, just want to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. Apparetnly this was the firrsts time anyone has raised this issue with them

DS had a fantastic flight with no randoms.

Good work, Daisy.