Article overview
Description of the UM (Unaccompanied Minor) concept in the airlines, and advice for the parents of future UMs.
Originally published in May 1999.
Re-edited in December 1999.
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um...
by Sergio Ortega
those two little letters can mean
so much when you're a parent
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Trivia question
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What is the official nationality (not citizenship) of a baby born from French parents, on an Iberia aircraft, while it is flying right above the border between Morocco and Egypt? answer...
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 onder what the shortest article title ever on airodyssey.net means? It's a well-known abbreviation in the world of aviation which stands for "Unaccompanied Minors". This term is used to identify the young children (as young as 5, to as old as 17) who are travelling alone, and are taken in charge by special crew members for their entire trip, from the moment his/her relatives drop him at the airport, to the moment he is picked up by relatives. You have probably seen one on one of your air trips, or in a movie, like Bogus or Pandora's Clock. Most of the time you'll see them on holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
On your next trip, you can recognize them since they are usually with a flight attendant and wear a special label, that says something like "Unaccompanied Minor", "Young Traveller", etc., depending on the airline.
 How does it work?
- The parents call the airline and ask for unaccompanied minor service.
- The day of the trip, the parents stay with the child until boarding time. The child is given a sticker with the mention "Unaccompanied Minor" or "Young Traveller", depending on the airline. He/she may also be given a pouch containing the boarding passes, tickets, travel documents, etc.
- An airline representative escorts the child to the gate, and from that time until arrival, he is taken in charge by a flight attendant.
- If a connection applies, an airline representative escorts the child to the holding room or the boarding gate for the connecting flight.
- At the arrival, an airline representative stays with the child until a tutor or relative picks up the child.
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In other words, the child is NEVER left alone.
Advice for the parents of UMs
If you are a parent or a relative and are thinking of letting your young one travel alone soon, here is some useful advice:
- Check with the airline for Unaccompanied Minors service and restrictions for the age or the trip. For the US airlines, the restrictions are usually:
- Under 5 years of age: not accepted for UM service.
They must travel with a passenger 12 years old and up.
- Ages 5 - 7: travel within the airline, no connections.
- Ages 8 - 11: travel within the airline or interline, no connections.
- Ages 12 and up: no restrictions.
Usually, the airline will charge you a service fee (around US$30.00 usually), especially if the child is flying on connecting flights.
- Check also with the airline for special service reserved to children. Some airlines have a special menu (fast-food type, like hamburgers, hot-dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.) for example, and some others might even discount the nominal fee for the inflight movie. And of course, there is the widely-used "activity book" offered by the airlines.
- Try to make things as easy as possible for the route, and go for direct flights (direct meaning a flight with or without intermediate stops, but with the same flight number). If you must go for connecting flights, try to do it on the same airline. Also, try getting his/her boarding pass(es) in advance.
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Trivia answer
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It's impossible, because Morocco (Northwest Africa) and Egypt (Northeast) don't share a geographic border! But theorically, a child born inflight bears the nationality of the airline flying the aircraft. So this baby is Spanish.
| Give as many choices to your child as possible. For example, if you are getting advance boarding passes, let him choose if he wants a window or an aisle seat, if he wants to be at the front or the back of the plane.
- You can pack everything for your child, but you can let him pack a small bag by himself. He can put it in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of him. The latter choice would be probably more suitable, as he/she might be too small to reach the overhead compartment! You can put his teddy bear, his favorite book, his video game, anything he wants... and anything not too heavy for him to carry!
- Tell your child about the wonders of air travel, bring him books about aviation. You can also tell him more info about the airline or aircraft type he'll be flying into.
- You must also tell him about the slightly unpleasant things: the change of pressure for the ears, the possible pain on take-off and landing, the possibility of turbulence. For those three problems, I recommend you give your child small candy or chewing gum (if you are against sugar, make an exception for that day!). And if your child is afraid of flying on an airplane, reassure him by saying that the plane crashes he sees on TV or newspapers are very rare and that he will get there safely.
Conclusion
Children flying alone are more and more numerous and the airlines prove they can be responsible enough to take care of them. Besides, flying alone is an exciting experience of a lifetime for a child. You're going to miss him, yes, but be reassured: your child is in good hands.
Please note: Male gender is used in the text to make it lighter, but identifies both genders.
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