Survey of Solo Air Travel for 5.5 Year Old

ARE YOU KIDDING!!! The idea of this just blows my mind! Watch the news or read the paper... come on now! The world is not a safe place...you might be dedicated to changing the world towards peace and love but that does not mean that everyone is. I worked in a prison for 8 years and all I can say is THINK ABOUT IT! I am not being mean but holy smokes....are you seriously thinking about letting your baby do this? >:0/ :0(

Peace~Love~Light
V.

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My son had just turned 9 the first time I let him fly alone and I think at 7 he would have been ok but 5 or 6 is so little. How does he feel about flying by himself. It really depends on the child and their maturity and ability to listen and follow rules! My son behaves much better when I am not around anyways. Most airlines do charge $60-80 each way in addition to the regular ticket price for unaccompanied minors.

RN and Mother to twin 10 year olds boy/girl and an 8 year old girl.

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My son started traveling solo at 5 (which was last year). I think it is right to take into consideration your child's personality and how well they've traveled before. I was anxious on his first trip, but it may make you feel better to know that you are escorting your child to the gate all the way until they board and you are to remain at the gate until they take off and that the designated adult you've placed on their travel forms are the only person that the child will be released to on the arriving end. It is gate to gate service. Children are held in their custody until the authorized adult arrives. They are not left wandering at any time. Southwest is very "unaccompanied minor" friendly and my son had a great time with them. He was well attended to and there were quite a few other unaccompanied minors on board, as well. He has also flown solo on Horizon where you pay a small extra fee to have a flight attendant personally attending to your child from beginning to end (may also help ease your mind). I suggest taking the time to check in with the airline and with your child to help him/her know exactly what to expect and address any fears or anxieties they may have. I agree with the other folks who suggest packing a fun bag of activities or games for them for familiarity and ease of mind during the flight. And this was a personal choice, but it helped both of us tremendously to say a prayer over his travel, peace of mind, safety and for fun on the trip.

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that is a hard topic to decide on. air lines have strict rules with children flying alone. they seat them together and in the front and load and unload them first. they are escorted between plans. also they are kept at the bording desk until their relative or person picking them up gets there and i do believe you have to show id to pick them up. the best way to find out what will happen is to call the air line your child will be flying on and see what you need to bring and what the person picking them up needs to bring. i hope this is helpful to you!

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Well here's my answer:

No I wouldn't WILLINGLY allow my 9 year old fly solo on a plane for a 1 1/2 hour flight BUT I'm assuming you're asking this question for a reason and I'm assuming you're asking it for the same reason I had to face the same issue.
So here's my story...
In the midst of our custody case, my son was scheduled to be with his dad for Christmas week and they were going out of town (because holidays hadn't been addressed yet in our temporary order) and he was supposed to be back with me on the evening of Christmas day. Long story short, I opposed his flying alone because I didn't think he was mature enough and dad finally flew back with him.
When we went back to court for the pre-trial, I was fined $500 for not allowing my son to fly back alone. He has since flown alone to his dad's alone because it was ordered. I can say having experienced it, they supervise them from the gate when you drop them off until they are seated on the plane and then supervised from the plane after landing until the other party picks them up. IDs are checked both ways by the responsible pick up and drop off parties.
They're only supervised until they are 11 years old.
I don't think it's an ideal situation but I didn't really have a choice. If you have a choice, I'd say no. I was never comfortable with it and now I'm faced with putting my now 12 year old on a plane unsupervised because he's too old for it but it is what it is.

If you're looking for an argument against it, it has to be a GREAT one (and if I'm right about my suspicions) you have to have a very pro-active lawyer that will present excellent fact based reasons as to why your child should not fly alone.

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Nope would not do it. If this is a custody issue then the receiving parent should fly out to collect the child and fly with the child for the visitation. So each parent would make the trip once. Receiving parent pays transportation. It is in my custody agreement this way. There is no way I would let my 6 year old on a plane on her own. She can't even cross the street safely! I am fortunate that flying isn't an issue in my case.

If it is for another reason then, take time off work and fly with your child to where ever they need to go. Do they need to go? Want to go?

Good luck. If it is a custody issue go back to court and fight some more. 5 is way too young to be going anywhere alone. My 6 year old doesn't even go to the public bathroom alone. Why would you put them on a plane?

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