FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 1999
Contact: Julia Cartwright 703-274-3900 Ext. 6239

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Issues Safety Tips for Parents Arranging Travel Plans For Children During the Hectic Holiday Season Alexandria, Virginia –

According to estimates from some of the nation’s major airlines, more than a half million children fly alone annually, many during the busy holiday season. Children under the age of 18 traveling without an adult are classified as “unaccompanied minors,” and today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) released safety tips for parents who are preparing to send their unaccompanied children to visit with loved ones for the holiday season.

"Parents may feel that an airport is a safe place, because it is an enclosed place,” said Nancy McBride, Executive Director of NCMEC’s Florida Branch and author of the new tips. “Parents should remember that airports have the same dangers that any public place has, and they should make certain that they take precautions to ensure their child's safety while traveling by airplane," she added. Most airlines have consistent regulations about unaccompanied minors—they must be no younger than five years of age, eight if their itinerary includes a change in flights. For a fee ($30-$60), most offer to arrange for escorts to meet arriving planes, to accompany the child from one flight to the next. Children 12 and older can fly unaccompanied on most airlines.

To help safeguard children along the way, NCMEC offers this list of safety precautions you can take to ensure your child’s safe arrival and departure:

1. Plan ahead. Request copies of the airline’s policies on unaccompanied minors. When you are ready to make your child’s reservations, make sure you indicate that your child will be traveling alone. Opt for direct or nonstop flights over connecting ones. Inquire about the meals to be served and attempt to secure seat assignments in advance -- a bulkhead seat provides your child with more room and a location on the plane where flight attendants can have easy access to him or her.

2. If your child is flying alone for the first time, visit the airport in advance, tour the gate area and help acclimate your child to his or her surroundings. Instruct your child to pay close attention to the cabin procedures so he or she can know what to expect and feel more confident about traveling without you.

3. The day of the flight, plan to arrive early, giving yourself plenty of time to complete mandatory paperwork and to pre-board your child. Plan to send your child on board with one piece of carry-on luggage that contains identification, medications, a piece of warm clothing such as a sweater, to ensure comfort during the course of the flight. Include some money for use in case of an emergency.

4. Wait until your child’s flight departs before you leave the airport. If inclement weather threatens to change your child’s schedule at the last minute, you will need to be there to make alternate arrangements.

5. Because the airline will need to verify that the person meeting your child at the final destination is the one you have authorized to pick up your child, be sure to advise that person to bring along a government-issued form of photo identification such as a driver’s license. Some airlines designate a site in the airport as a waiting room for unaccompanied minors. Check in advance to make sure you know where you can meet your child upon his or her arrival.

6. Finally, make sure your child understands to: Never leave the gate area with anyone other than the designated individual whom you have pre-arranged to meet the flight. Be polite but restrained with people met during the flight and decline to answer personal questions about him- or herself. Seek out the assistance of a flight attendant if he or she needs help.

For free, specially-designed safety tips prepared for families whose children will be flying unaccompanied, please call the NCMEC’s hotline (1-800-THE-LOST) or click here to view these safety tips online.