Especially during the busy summer and holiday periods, many airlines hire special escorts to shuttle children between gates and special rooms where they can play with stuffed animals and video games while awaiting their connecting flight. When snafus occur, the airlines sometimes blame these employees, many of whom are part-time contract workers. For instance, when the Delta attendant called Amy Shaftel to say her son had been left behind, the attendant held the subcontractor responsible, says Shaftel. I said, 'Wait a minute. The more handoffs, the greater the potential for error.
Every airline surveyed has an overnight policy.
Most of the carriers will lodge a stranded child in a nearby hotel, either alone or with an airline employee. Delta and TWA also offer parents the option of sending their child home with an airline employee to spend the night. Southwest, which chaperoned 285,000 kids last year, has a model program. Under the airline's rules, children are banned from flights when there are weather advisories, and parents must stay at the gate until the plane takes off. The senior flight attendant on the aircraft has sole responsibility for receiving and delivering the children, unlike any other carrier surveyed.