A Georgia mother has accused American Airlines of abandoning her 12-year-old daughter on a solo flight from Tennessee to Miami.
Monica Gilliam, a 39-year-old photography professor, slammed the airline when Kimber was not taken from the plane and went missing.
Last week, the girl flew unaccompanied from Chattanooga to Miami for a three-week visit with her father.
Her mother had paid an additional $150 for her to be chaperoned through both airports and to wear a badge informing cabin personnel that she was not accompanied by an adult.
But when she got off the plane, they just smiled and waved and let her walk about the airport until she was spotted by her father.
It occurred at a period of general pandemonium at airports around the United States, with hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands delayed during the July 4 holiday.
The weekend was the largest travel period since the pandemic began, with about 50 million people taking to the air, roads, and railroads to see family and friends.
This week, roughly 100 flights into, out of, and throughout the nation were cancelled, and 245 were delayed.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration planned to invest $1 billion per year for the next five years in airport enhancements at 85 airports around the United States.
The $5 billion will be used to build air traffic control towers, terminals, security checkpoints, and baggage inspection and screening spaces, among other things.
Gilliam said: ‘It’s not OK and it shouldn’t happen. Almost an hour after her flight landed, I got a call from American Airlines.
‘It was the American Airlines manager at Miami and he says ‘your child is missing, we’ve shut down the terminal, we don’t know where she is.’
The child’s flight had landed early and instead of an escort she was ushered off the plane with a wave from the flight attendants, Gilliam said.
She continued: ‘It turns out that the flight attendants waved her off the plane and said ‘bye’ and she didn’t know what to do so she kept going because they were telling her ‘bye’ so she kept walking.’
The child wandered through the terminal, an image that shook Gilliam to her core.
‘So she’s going through the airport with that billboard on her, that she was an unaccompanied minor in one of the largest human trafficking hubs in the country,’ she said on TikTok.
The child was able to get in touch with her father and he talked her through the airport until they met up without further drama.
‘On the way out, no American Airlines employees stopped her to see if she had an adult, not one Miami airport employee stopped her and even the TSA security agent-before she left the secure area into baggage claim-stopped her.’
American Airlines’ ‘unaccompanied minors’ policy says those aged five to 14 have to use their service. It says those aged between 15 and 17 can use it but it is optional.
The system costs $150 to use each way on top of the ticket price and there is a further charge for siblings flying together.
Its website says it includes: ‘Early boarding to allow extra time to get settled and meet the flight attendants.
‘Kids-only lounges in our hub cities for flight connections Complimentary Kids’ Kits from Quaker with snacks and activities (for ages 5 – 10, in hub cities).
‘An airport escort to help your child to the gate for flight connections Escorting the child to the authorized adult picking them up when they land.
‘Keep in mind, our flight attendants will be busy with onboard duties and can’t continuously monitor your child during their flight.
It adds: ‘Let your child know to ring the call button if they need anything.’
Flyers across the US were hit by a slew of cancelations and delays that caused pandemonium across the country over the last week.
Around 48 million people traveled over the weekend, with AAA estimating 3.5million were to take to the air.
But the actual number of passengers flying may have been dramatically higher as experts screened more than 2.4 million travelers at airports on Thursday alone.
But many fliers faced disappointment, with 604 flights canceled by lunchtime last Saturday and 2,879 delayed.
Since the hectic Juneteenth travel weekend, the US has seen more than 12,000 flights cancelled, according to Flight Aware.
In addition to airport chaos and heavy traffic, holiday travelers will have to contend with higher prices.
Average gas prices have soared 56 percent from a year ago, mid-range hotel prices have increased 23 percent, and average lowest airfares are up 14 percent.
The Biden administration is blaming the airlines, saying it received billions to keep afloat during the pandemic and should stick to the schedule it publishes.
Buttigieg said earlier this month airlines had until July 4 to figure out the issues and work out the kinks so travelers can have a smooth summer holiday.
The airlines are increasingly trying to blame delays on understaffing at the FAA, which manages the nation’s airspace and hires air-traffic controllers.
The FAA admitted it is understaffed, especially in an important air control center in Florida, which has meant a decrease in the quality of service and delays.
Problems were popping up well before the weekend, with some disruptions caused by thunderstorms that slowed air traffic.
Many airlines, including Delta, Southwest and JetBlue, trimmed summer schedules to reduce stress on their operations.
They are using larger planes, on average, to carry more passengers with the same number of pilots. Those steps haven’t been enough so far this summer.
Meanwhile the Biden administration is tapping funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill to invest a whopping $1 billion annually for the next five years for improvements at 85 airports across the US.
The $5 billion will go toward several projects – some of the most important being upgrading air traffic control towers, terminals, security checkpoints and baggage inspection and screening areas.
‘America is a country that brought the modern aviation age to the world — and yet around the world, in most rankings of airport quality, not one of our airports ranks among the top 25. That’s something that we have to change,’ Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters.
The investment comes as U.S. airlines and airports continue to face staff shortages and other complications, leading to an increase in flight cancellations and delays.
The Independence Day weekend holiday saw pre-pandemic travel levels in the U.S., which led to 1,400 cancellations and 14,000 delays Friday through Sunday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) usually fronts investments in runways and air control towers, but the administration’s investments go further.
Buttigieg claimed while airlines are footing the costs for many airport improvement projects, federal resources should also be allocated toward airport infrastructure.
‘I don’t think anybody could look at airports across America today and say that the existing system or the existing levels of funding have been adequate,’ he said.
‘It is very natural for public funds to go to publicly important resources and pieces of infrastructure,’ Buttigieg added. ‘And we think that includes airport terminals.’
The man in charge of implementing Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package concurred.
‘Airport terminals is not something the federal government has historically invested in. It’s typically been to local airport owners and airlines that have done that,’ said Mitch Landrieu, who is also a former New Orleans mayor.
‘But the need is evident,’ he added.
Grants announced Thursday include $20 million for each of Detroit’s and Philadelphia’s big airports to refurbish their toilets.
The FAA has granted funds totaling $60 million to Denver International Airport to modernise the terminal and bag-handling system, as well as $50 million to Boston’s Logan Airport and another $50 million to Orlando International Airport in Florida.
Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. will get $49.6 million for the construction of a new concourse, while Pittsburgh International Airport will receive $20 million for the construction of an extra terminal.
Another $5 million will be used to expand the terminal at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport in Tennessee.
The projects span from big hubs like Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to minor regional airports like Maine’s Dexter Airport.
According to the FAA, 532 airports around the country filed funding proposals for 658 separate projects. If all of them were accepted, the total would be $14 billion.
Pilot shortages have caused some recent flight delays, but Buttigieg indicated Tuesday that the government does not intend to raise the retirement age, despite how it may assist with the staffing crisis.
A pilot’s maximum age is 65, which was raised 15 years ago.
Despite the fact that Americans are living and working longer lives, including 79-year-old President Joe Biden, Buttigieg stated that the retirement age will not be raised again.
‘I’m much more interested in raising the bar on things like compensation and job quality than lowering the bar on something like safety,’ Buttigieg told Fox News on Tuesday following the hectic holiday weekend for air travelers.
‘And when you get to these training hours, retirement age, and those things, those are fundamentally safety regulations,’ he added.
‘The United States of America shouldn’t be able to have a robust aviation system without watering down our expectations on safety and I will consider and entertain anything that does not compromise safety.’
American Airlines said it was investigating the incident involving Gilliam and her daughter.
A spokesman said: ‘American cares deeply about our young passengers and is committed to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience for them,’ according to the airline’s statement.
‘We take these matters very seriously and are looking into what occurred. A member of our team has reached out to the customer to learn more about their experience.’