Mother alleges American Airlines lost unaccompanied children in airport overnight

A mother is suing American Airlines over allegedly losing her sons overnight in Charlotte Airport. Photo / 123rf, file

A family is suing a US airline for “negligence” after the carrier allegedly lost their two children overnight in an airport, without food or water.

Amber Vencill’s children, aged 14 and 12, had been flying as unaccompanied minors with American Airlines on July 30, from Missouri to New York with a layover in North Carolina. According to the lawsuit, filed October 31, they were visiting their father’s family for the summer.

Having been told that they would not be making the flight to Syracuse, Vencill says American Airlines failed to tell her for hours that her two sons were missing in Charlotte Airport.

American Airlines’ unaccompanied minor programme offers chaperone services for children who need to travel without a parent or carer. For a fee, the carrier’s website says its service includes early boarding, childcare in a kids-only lounge and airport escorts until they can be picked up by a responsible adult.

It’s a much demanded service throughout holiday periods to accommodate the travel of families across the US.

While overnight travel is normally avoided, American Airlines says it has contingency plans in case of delay or cancellation.

“In the rare case that your child needs to stay overnight because of a missed connection, we’ll arrange for overnight accommodations, meals and supervision,” reads the website, adding that parents or carers will be phoned with an alternate travel plan.

The mother says none of this happened when her children’s connecting flight was cancelled.

Attorney Elizabeth Eilender of Jaroslawicz & Jaros PLLC, who is representing the case, says that the expected due care was not taken of the children.

Unlike mishandled luggage, there are a range of additional obligations in transporting children on behalf of their parents or legal carers.

“There’s no margin for error with children,” she told USA Today.

American Airlines was reportedly reviewing the legal filings and said it had reached out directly to Vencill.

“The safety and comfort of our customers, including unaccompanied minors in our care, are our highest priorities and we’re committed to providing a positive experience to everyone who travels with us,” American Airlines said in a statement.

After their flight was cancelled the airline said that they had called the children’s father, who was the named carer due to be collecting them. He was told they would be put on a flight the next morning.

According to the lawsuit filings, Vencill says she only found out by email, and this update had conflicting replacement flight times - telling her they would be travelling on the evening of July 31.

While the mother tried to call the airline to track down her sons, the next update she had on their whereabouts was from a Charlotte Airport worker who said they had been found in a “lost children’s room”.

“It was very scary for the kids, but it’s as terrifying for Amber and for her partner Ted,” Vencill’s attorney said. “They were frantic trying to find out the whereabouts of the boys.”

They eventually were able to board their flight to Syracuse in the morning without further issue, where they were collected by their father. However, Vencill argues that communication and care was lacking. She was shocked when she heard how they accommodated her sons overnight.

The complaint alleges her children were not offered food or water since the previous night and they slept on a “freezing” sofa.

The mother hopes the lawsuit encourages American Airlines to “take responsibility” for their unaccompanied minor service and that they will investigate the processes so this does not happen to any other family.