sending a nearly seven year old alone on a plane to Germany...

[emkana]

... for a holiday with her grandmother, for five nights?

Dd1 keen to go and not scared. Have never done this before, but as I understand it airline will look after child?

MIL so upset at the thought that she can't even talk about it.

Have to go now, but will check back later.

Take no notice, em.

If you want to CAT me for detailed reminiscences re happy experiences of UMs between H'row and Cologne, go ahead! I must have done it three times a year every year from the age of 3 upwards.

Fuck me, you're sick kerry.

ahhhh that explains it kerry.

"and the flight (in winter weather?)"
kerry FGS how often do you fly? and why are you so nasty and vile about it??? don't get it?
emkana I'd take no notice.

Actually it will be in April, if that's any consolation.

I don't think comparisons with school/ babysitters etc are quite the same. The whole nature of air travel is more complex, uncertain and unfamiliar.

Also it's about calculated risks. we accept that out children have to go in cars/ to school/ nursery etc. This is a discretionary risk - Emkana's DD doesn't HAVE to go to Germany.

I would be less worried about the likelihood of an accident (very low anyway) but more worried about some kind of 'system failure' e.g poor communication between staff resulting in lost child, or security alert resulting plane redirection, or airport delays etc etc. You see groups of UMs sitting unattended, waiting for long periods in very public parts of the airport, and left to go to the loo etc on their own.

Only you know your child, but mine would, in all likelihood, abscond and end up in China .

dh and his brother flew back and forth to school in England. DH says he really enjoyed it. If my child was quite sensible I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'm sure they are very well looked after. As for the safety aspect, its far more dangerous getting into a car these days.

DS has flown regularly since he was 7 weeks old (am scared to think of how many air miles/air lives!) and would love to fly to Dublin alone but I don't think I would be quite comfortable with him flying unaccompanied just yet. Maybe in a year or two.

To alleveiate any fears of those who worry about who UMs would sit beside - a friend was on a flight with an UM and everyone was moved about a lot to ensure that the UM didn't sit with a solo male. Of course it is not totally foolproof (what is?) but is obv considered.

FWIW Aer Lingus (Irish state airline) has (I think) refused to carry UMs for a couple of years now.

It's not just a whim though. I will have to be here at the time because we will have building work going on. My mum lives on her own because my dad is in a nursing home with severe Alzheimer's. So seeing her granddaughter, if she can't see all of us, would be a great joy to her, and to my dd.

And I do think that googling plane crashes and pointing them out to me is not very nice at all.

How many crashes are there on shorthaul flights to Europe???

With regards to dd getting lost, I will be with dd until she is at the gate and getting onto the plane!

oh let me guess I'll be accussed of going out of my way to be vile to kerry now. This time she's on even fewer than 10% of my threads - would it be 0.something. oh but of course I'm just looking out for reasons to pick on her. No - I just happen to think pasting links to crashes is sick. Full stop. Whoever does it.

Really emkana, if your risk assessment tells you it's ok, take no notice of scaremongering. I have such happy memories of it -- in fact just thinking about Cologne airport makes me feel all warm inside.

Back in the 70s you always used to get a little Ferrero Rocher chocolate with your lunch on Lufthansa. Different wrapping from now, mind.

Happy days.

Agree with yurt. FGS, if someone posted on here saying they were going to send their 6yo with another, not well-known to them mother from the school on the school run, would you post a link to the latest road pile-up? Kerry, you wouldn't do it, fine, but no need to terrorise emkana.

agree with emkana: "This is a discretionary risk - Emkana's DD doesn't HAVE to go to Germany".

My parents are abroad too so yes DD HAS to go to Italy as much as she has to go to a playgroup, more so actually. also not all things we do daily MUST be done. Just because they are more familiar does not mean that are more dangerous.
In my case DD has never been in a car without myself or DH except than with my mother and the thought scares me for the same reasons that kerry is scared of the plane probably. But I know it is ridiculous and whenever it's needed I let her go.

also leaving her with babysitters it's often not much of a necessity, is it. still many of us do.

Don't want to be accused of scaremongering (personally I think it's risk assessment) but it's this sort of thing I'd be worried about...

5-year-old girl leaves flight alone with stranger

Give that flights are so cheap really, is there no one you could get to go with her (and then come straight back) ?

I would feel my dd's were much safer on a plane than on a train, bus or even in a car from practically everything Kerry mentioned the link is very nasty and sick are you scared of flying by any chance Kerry?

KKM it is a bit unfactual - your opinion. Air travel is the safest way of travelling. Unless you dont travel anywhere appart from on foot you are at more risk than an 8 year old of all the things you stated.

DO NOT OPEN THIS IF ABOUT TO FLY - please
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/2008892.stm You have been warned.

www.crashprevention.org/ Thats 40000 deaths just in the US, that doesn't include the rest of the world or even europe.

The only one way of travelling that is safer than flying to travell by lift - remeber that when thinking about taking the stairs!

Kerry, yes I did ask you to name one, but I meant could you actually recall one, I didn't mean that you would google one.

I agree that there is zero or no risk of putting a confident, self assured 7 year old on a one hour flight.

Personally I couldn't do it - but that's because I am a control freak and have separation issues. I cannot be more than around 1.5 hours drive away from my progeny.

Not looking forward to them fleeing the nest. Fortunately that is some time away.

Am I waffling?

Haven't read the thread. Hope I haven't stepped into a hornet's nest