Airline Representatives Failed To Put Him On His Continuing Flight

A nine-year-old boy was left sitting an an airport waiting room at O'Hare International Airport for almost eight hours Saturday when representatives from United Airlines failed to board him on his continuing flight to Ottawa.

Julien Reid was traveling from a visit with his father in San Francisco to his home in Ottawa, which according to The Ottawa Citizen he does about six times a year. He had departed SFO at 0600, and had about a 3 hour layover in Chicago, departing at about 1350 local time. That flight was delayed, and it was scheduled to arrive in Ottawa at about 1735.

When Reid's Mother, Genevieve Harte, went to the airport to pick him up, he was not on the plane. She then got a call from the boy on the pre-paid cell phone his mom had given him.

MSNBC reports that according to the Citizen, Reid, a vegetarian, was given only a fast food hamburger to eat. He'd been in a "tiny little room cramped with kids" where the same video was reportedly playing over and over. When Harte asked to speak to the person supervising the kids, the attendant let slip that no one had come to get him when it was time for his flight.

Julien was finally placed on a flight leaving Chicago at 1900, after about 8 hours in the waiting room. Harte told the Citizen that she suspects that her son was intentionally bumped from an oversold flight. United has reportedly apologized, and plans to offer a refund of the unaccompanied minor fee Harte paid for her son to travel. They also would make an "undisclosed" gesture of goodwill.

For his part, Julien said next time, "I'll tell them to get me a better flight."

FMI: www.united.com