School is out for summer, and we can expect a simultaneous rise in UMNR (Unaccompanied Minor) travel. While traveling alone can be stressful for some UMNRs, Flight Attendants are the link to providing our youngest passengers with the best possible travel experience. As a work group, we are exceptionally well equipped to decrease their anxiety, ensure a positive travel experience, and ultimately, foster a life-long love of air travel. To parents and families who entrust their children to our airline and ultimately us for their safe passage to and from summer adventure spots, there is an expectation that we are specialists in this area and that we are competent and deserving of the confidence they have placed in us.
In setting the policies and procedures by which our airline agrees to accept children for travel, Inflight has developed the CARE acronym as both a reminder of our responsibilities and a guide on how to best ensure those are completed. CARE reminds us to Communicate, Accommodate, Remind and Escort our UMNRs. In addition, the My Flight App provides specific information about UMNRs on a particular flight to help us meet these expectations.
Keep in mind the following procedures:
- Use the UMNR Tracker App to scan their wristband when the UMNR arrives onboard and after they are seated and briefed. The App allows us to monitor the UMNRs journey and is an excellent resource for parents and Flight Attendants.
- As a reminder, minors aged 15-17 travel as adults and are not eligible for the UMNR program. They are identified as YPTA (Young Passenger Traveling Alone) in your My Flight App. YPTA do not require any special assistance from Flight Attendants and are identified so that Airport Ops personnel can help them in the event of irregular operations.
- Conduct an individual safety briefing and remind the UMNR that you will escort them off the plane upon landing.
- UMNRs preferred seating is an aisle seat in the last three rows of the United Economy cabin. Many of our UMNRs are themselves “Premier” customers who may travel in the Premium cabins or Economy plus. Additionally, while the maximum number of UMNRs per flight is six (6), you may have more than six on a given flight with the approval of Customer Service Solutions. UMNR space available travelers may also be on the aircraft and may be assigned any seat in the economy cabin.
- Check on UMNRs throughout the flight and while doing so remind them of the importance of remaining seated on arrival until they are escorted off the aircraft or specifically instructed to come forward.
- Introduce the UMNR to Flight Attendants seated at or adjacent to the boarding door of the aircraft. This is especially important when more than one Flight Attendant is assigned a cabin jumpseat adjacent to the aircraft door through which boarding and disembarking occur. This is an added measure, an opportunity for a double check, which helps in the event a UMNR does not remain seated and becomes mingled in the passenger flow off the aircraft.
- Remind the CSR on arrival that we have a terminating UMNR and that it will be necessary for the transfer of custody to occur. Also, ensure the United representative meeting the flight scans the wristband using the UMNR Tracker App.
Complete information on the handling of UMNRs can be found in your eFAOM> SOP > CHILDREN > UNACCOMPANIED MINOR (UMNR)