[mnmjacks5]

So ANNOYED! I have written them a letter but am hoping maybe some of you can offer up an alternative or resolution to an entirely unacceptable and disturbing situation that occurred on one of Southwests flights.

3 days ago my 2 children ages 13 & 9 were returning home on a flight from LAX to ALB they were traveling alone (first time without a chaperone) but the flight was scheduled to have 1 stop with no plane change in Baltimore, the entire reason I picked this flight & this airline.

While sitting on the plane in Baltimore (a 30 min layover) my 9 year old son called me to check in and as we were talking the pilot or steward announced that if you were going to Albany please collect your belongings and go to gate A3 as this flight was now going to Tampa. My 9 year old & my 13 year old panicked. They have never been in Baltimore airport and they have never been alone on a flight where they had to switch planes. In fact they have never had to switch planes. A member of the staff asked them if they knew where they were supposed to go, they both said no and the staff member replied ‘Gate A3’ and walked away. I told the kids to grab their suitcases from the above compartment and to ask for help. I would call them back in 2 minutes. I called them back in about 3 minutes and my 9 year old was sobbing. He said he left his red backpack under his seat with everything in this world that was important to him. He said he asked the woman at the gate if he could go back to get it & she said no, he asked the woman if SHE could go get it and she said no, you can fill out a form when you get to Albany. I told him to go ask the woman at the counter there at the new gate & I would call there myself. His brother went to ask them woman & she told him there wasn’t time, they had to board and made them get on the plane. I was on the phone with the 800 # trying to get someone to get his bag while the planes were still right there in Baltimore and NOBODY would help me. They said they have no way of getting in touch with the gates in Baltimore and I would have to file a claim with them and again when I get to Albany but most likely it will turn up in Baltimore and if not then in Tampa. I really was not ok with this. 3 minutes would have solved this problem for everyone. The chances of someone turning in this bag are slim; it contained a DS, games for the DS, an I-pod, a PSP and games for the PSP. I tried explaining this to them that there was over $500 in electronics in his bag and they did not care, they would not help. My son was so upset that another passenger on the plane tried to give him money so he could buy a new game. My frustration over this issue is once again it could have been resolved in about 3 minutes. In regards to my son leaving the bag behind, he was in a state of panic. He was not supposed to get off the plane and was so afraid of being left in Baltimore that he panicked and left it behind. They BOTH panicked and of course not 1 member of the staff would help them in anyway.

I put in a claim on the phone, and again checked to make sure it was all set in the system when I got to Albany airport to pick them up, of course no one had found it at this point. On Friday morning I was on the phone for 52 minutes while the woman on the phone was checking all over to see if they had found it. FINALLY she said the bag was in Tampa and they were sending it to Albany. Long story short, it was not his bag, the wrong bag entirely. I described the backpack in detail, a Red backpack with black strings & straps, it had a Nike emblem on it and my son wrote his name Jacob DiRenzo across the bottom of the bag in Black Sharpie, again the bag contained all electronics and games. They sent a red backpack with clothes and a dinosaur in it. So once again, he was completely shattered thinking they had found it but they had not.

I called again today and was told that if they find it in the next 2 weeks they will let us know. I asked what happens when they don’t to which she said well, it wasn’t a checked bag so it’s not their responsibility. I beg to differ. While I understand things happen and while we all expected the flight to go off without a hitch and never anticipated a flight or plane change, I would have hoped that the staff would have assisted my children at least in some manner instead of leaving them to fend for themselves and when they asked for help your staff’s refusal to do anything for them.

What a disappointment in the airline & its staff. How do we go about trying to make this right? My children have to visit their father in Los Angeles twice a year and we really thought Southwest was the perfect answer as it flies out of Albany (which is 20 minutes from our home) and flies to Los Angeles without a plane change (well, without a scheduled plane change) and more to the point, as I stated this ALL could have been avoided if they just took 3 min to walk down the ramp to my sons seat and grab his bag.

[Ombudsman]

Did you pay for unaccompanied minor service? If so one would think whoever escorted them from the plane would have simply asked them to double-check that they had all of their belongings with them before changing planes. Unfortunately since it is was not a checked bag Southwest does not have any liability for lost carryon items.

[jimworcs]

I think you have a better than even chance of winning a small claims court case. Southwest failed to take adequate steps to assist a minor that was in their care, regardless f whether you purchased the unacvompanied minor service or not. File a complaintwith the DOT and in small claims. Southwest let you down and acted unreasonably in asking minors to handle this independently.

[azstar]

I think that Southwest only considers children under the age of 12 "unaccompanied minors". So, as far as the whole sorry lot of employees is concerned, the kids are "not their problem". Most airlines require an escort up until age 15.

[jimworcs]

They are wrong to do so, and still have a duty of care to act reasonably. Asking a nine year old to take responsibility is unreasonable, and i think a court would find against them. Of course, Southwest wont let it get that far, because they coukd not defend their employee's actions in court.

[azstar]

It is absolutely inexcusable that any employee was "too busy" to assist a 13 year old and 9 year old travelling alone.