WestJet allows stranger to walk five-year-old girl off flight
Friday, December 14, 2007
CBC News
Friday, December 14, 2007
CBC News
The parents of a five-year-old girl travelling alone are furious with WestJet for breaking its own guidelines and allowing a stranger to accompany the child off a flight.
Sara-Maude St-Louis, 5, was taking her first plane ride Thursday from Edmonton, where she lives with her mother, to Montreal to see her father. The parents paid a special fee to ensure someone from the airline would look after her.
Her mother and stepfather took Sara-Maude to the gate under the impression that WestJet staff members would check on her during the flight and then escort the little girl off the plane when she arrived at her destination, which is the company's policy for unaccompanied minors.
Pierre Cataford, a father of four from Montreal, played games and drew pictures with Sara-Maude during the long flight.
The girl was wearing a large VIP tag around her neck, but Cataford told CBC News that he did not see flight attendants check on her.
When the plane landed in Montreal, Cataford said he waited for someone to escort Sara-Maude but no one came, so he walked the five-year-old off the plane as crew members waved goodbye to them.
Sara-Maude's father said he was shocked to see a stranger walking into the arrivals area with his daughter.
(snip)
Canada does not have a policy that makes it mandatory for airlines to look after children who travel alone.
"Canadian laws are set out that way as we speak right now and they give all the flexibility to air carriers to establish their own rules," said Jadrino Huot of the Canadian Transportation Agency.
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