As Delta canceled thousands of flights between Friday and Tuesday, it suspended travel for unaccompanied minors like Sarah, extending the pause multiple times before saying they would finally be allowed to fly again Wednesday.
That left some parents scrambling for child care far from home, spending hours on hold with Delta and searching for their own expensive tickets. Some booked their kids on other airlines or plotted worst-case-scenario road trips.
“It’s felt like an emotional roller coaster,” Sarah said Tuesday from her grandparents’ home in Charlotte. “I’ll be really happy because I get a plan and I’ve accepted it … and then my flight gets canceled again and I have to make another one.”
Families who spoke to The Washington Post — all of whom were still separated from their kids — complained that Delta did not ask about their children’s individual situations or offer to book flights on other airlines.
“There was nobody questioning me to say ‘Where is your child? Is there a problem for your child?’” said Katie Cruise, a teacher in Virginia whose 11-year-old daughter was spending time with cousins in Salt Lake City. “They did not ask me about my child’s needs at any point.”
Melissa Watt, Sarah’s mother, said she looked for a flight for a grandparent to accompany her daughter home, but could only find a $4,000 ticket. She called Delta’s decision to keep unaccompanied kids from flying for so long “irresponsible and unacceptable.”
“As a parent, I feel totally helpless,” said Watt, a health professor.
Sarah, who is scheduled to fly home Wednesday, said she’s eager to hug her parents and her dogs, Khaya and Scout.
“I’m kind of afraid to get my hopes up,” she said.
Delta would not say how many unaccompanied children were affected by the outage. On social media, parents vented their frustration at the airline and to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. One Georgia man said his kids were stuck at three different airports, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta.
Airline employees escort unaccompanied kids in airports, help them board flights early and get them settled on planes. Workers also find safe places for the children to wait in case of a layover and release them to a designated pickup person after landing.
In a statement Tuesday, Delta said the airline put an embargo on travel by solo kids “to protect minors from being separated from their families and caregivers in the event of flight disruptions or cancellations.” The carrier was working to “make this right” for customers, the statement said.
“We take seriously the trust caregivers place in us with their children’s travel, and sincerely apologize for any confusion or frustration,” Delta said.
The Transportation Department said in a statement that officials were “extremely concerned” about reports that some unaccompanied minors had been stranded at airports.
“We are seeking answers from Delta as part of our investigation and have made clear that we expect Delta to prioritize getting kids safely and swiftly to their destinations,” the statement said.
Most U.S. airlines allow kids 5 and older to fly without an adult, though until they reach a certain age they must pay a fee for extra assistance. Rules on which flights are eligible vary depending on the airline, but the youngest children are allowed to fly only nonstop. An adult must bring a child to the gate at departure, and someone needs to pick them up after arriving.
“The devil’s in the details and a lot of details are different airline to airline,” said Summer Hull, director of content at the Points Guy travel site and a family travel expert. She said some airlines might prevent an unaccompanied minor from flying if they expect an individual flight might run into problems.
While it’s disruptive for a child to be prevented from boarding, she said “it’s far more disruptive for that to go sideways in the middle of their journey and end up somewhere where there’s not one of their guardians.”
Delta says in its contract of carriage that it may temporarily suspend travel for unaccompanied minors “if there is a possibility that weather, irregular operations, or other conditions may cause a flight to be diverted.”
Southwest — which stopped allowing unaccompanied minors during its December 2022 operational meltdown — includes similar language in its contract. The airline says it might suspend unaccompanied minors on certain flights if circumstances warrant, but it rarely stops them from flying altogether.
Travel analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, said families’ complaints are legitimate, but he believes the move by Delta was necessary given its operational problems.
“It is the right decision for Delta to have made because with so many flight disruptions and with so many limited seats, Delta is wisely putting the well-being of these children first by saying, ‘No, we won’t transport them,’” he said.
While that decision may prevent more problems at airports, it still leaves caregivers in a difficult position. Cruise, the Virginia teacher whose daughter was stuck in Salt Lake City, said Tuesday that her child has had three rebooked flights.
“I’ve been on hold [on] probably four different calls a total of eight hours at this point,” she said.
Her daughter was supposed to fly home Saturday night after traveling with her 17-year-old cousin. The cousin was allowed to fly back despite the outage, but Cruise got word that her daughter would not be allowed to fly until Sunday. That eventually turned into Wednesday, and Cruise was not able to find tickets for herself to get to her daughter or for another relative to return home with her.
A family friend of Cruise’s who experienced her own cancellations is now scheduled for the same Wednesday flight as her daughter, which she called “a really nice silver lining.”
While Cruise said her daughter is having fun with cousins, the ordeal has been hard.
“She was texting me sad face emojis when she found out” about the latest cancellation, Cruise said.
Chris Perruna’s 11-year-old daughter was supposed to return home to New Jersey on Monday after visiting family in Atlanta. Instead, she spent the day at work with her aunt, a teacher who returned to her classroom Monday, while her cousins went to camp.
His daughter had a flight booked on Delta for Wednesday, but the family was concerned Delta would extend the ban on unaccompanied travel by minors again. So the family booked her a United flight out of Atlanta on Tuesday night for about $450, including the unaccompanied minor fee. Perruna said he and his wife have been nervous, but their daughter has been fine.
“I guess from an 11-year-old standpoint, she’s been seeing it as an adventure,” he said.
In Detroit, Amy Hellebuyck was awaiting her 12-year-old daughter’s return Tuesday afternoon.
After taking her first solo flight to California for her cousin’s 7th birthday, Averie Hellebuyck was meant to return home Monday morning. Her aunt, who was taking care of her in California, had to travel for work Tuesday, so a Wednesday return on Delta was out of the cards.
“Here are your most vulnerable passengers, these kids who need to get home to their families, and you’re not making them a priority,” Hellebuyck said of Delta’s approach. “You basically were abandoning them.”
She tried to get a flight to California, but Delta told her there was only a first-class seat available for $2,200. She asked if the airline could book her daughter on another carrier; the answer was no. She vowed to get in her car and drive to California if she had to after failing to find a seat for herself.
“It was a hot mess express,” said Hellebuyck, who works in communications.
Hellebuyck finally found a flight home on American Airlines for nearly $800 that left Monday night — which promptly got delayed. After some adjustments, her daughter was flying back to Detroit on Tuesday afternoon with a stop in Phoenix. Hellebuyck requested a refund from Delta and said she would love for the airline to reimburse her for the American flight.
“You pay what you have to pay to get your kid home,” she said.
She walked her daughter through a step-by-step plan in case of problems in Phoenix. On Tuesday, she refreshed her daughter’s flight status all day.
“I’m just ready to hug her,” Hellebuyck said.
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