A brief rant about the Helicopter society (not JAWM)

[Barb_]

We fly a lot. Airport/airline employees are subject to an incredible level of daily stress and aggravation. They are overworked and probably underpaid for what they do, because I have no doubt that they are likely shortening their lifespans 5-10 as a result of their jobs. You probably couldn't pay me enough to work in an airport as a career. I'd have to be pretty desperate. I worked at publix as a teenager and had little old ladies cuss me out or hit me when they thought I'd misscanned something or forgotten their green stamps. I still wouldn't work at an airport.

 

All that to say, I'm thinking the airlines are reducing support for plane changes simply for lack of manpower. The employees are tightly scheduled, heavily burdened by tasks, and not really free to babysit our kids, especially in the case of a missed connection or cancelled flight.

[linders]

I'm afraid it didn't start with the Helicopter Society - it started with the It Is Someone's Fault (But Not Mine) Society.

 

Imagine your child wander out of the security area, close enough to another family that everyone thinks she is with them. And can't return. And problems ensue. And the parent (not you, I think) blames the airline or airport or whoever. It happens all the time now - it is Someone's Fault. And the person pointing the finger wants the Someone to pay. When individuals no longer want to take personal responsiblity, the people/companies around them have to be cautious.

[SKL]

Hmm ... my kids are 8 and they have been in airports a fair number of times.  They could handle getting out of the plane and finding the next gate if it is in the same terminal.  They could handle going and asking someone in a uniform for help it things got more complicated than that.  I would not expect them to try to get to a gate in a different terminal just yet, but at age 11 I don't think this would be difficult for an experienced traveler.

 

I don't agree that there aren't a lot of people willing to help others out in an airport.  I find travelers and airport personnel to be very helpful.  Almost anyone would bend over backward to help a child.  (And not by calling the cops.)

 

I think airports should have someone they can call as needed in case a kid gets stranded, to make sure the kid gets his basic needs met during unexpectedly long layovers.  I would think this would be useful for teens as well.

[duckens]

How much of this is because of recent state legislation (within the past few years) of "childcare workers and volunteers" being fingerprinted and background checked?  Would that apply to airline employees that specialize in childcare?

Disclaimer: I support these laws.

Hive members have posted in other threads how these laws may affect their children's coop classes and sports teams. 

Our children's preschool (which is not associated with any sort of homeschooling) is a coop.  Everyone takes a turn working in the classroom, so everyone needs to be fingerprinted and background checked.  The litmus test in our preschool is "taking kids to the bathroom."
 

So imagine this from the money-making pov of the airline corporate overlords (the ones making seven figures for income):
 

--They now need to have these employees fingerprinted and background-checked. ($$)
--They need enough of these employees to be vetted in this manner to handle, say, five or more different children flying through any given major airport. ($$$)
--They need to make sure that they have enough of these special employees working on any given day (no calling in sick or going on  vacation themselves).  ($$)
--They need to improve employee retention for these employees because they would be harder to replace.  You couldn't just ask any random employee to step into this job at a moment's notice.  You might need to pay *gasp* $12/hour rather than $10/hour. ($$$)

I just can't see the corporate decision-makers in the aviation industry willing to make that investment in their employees.  

[lynn]

Rules must have changed. My ds went from tucson to Milwaukee with a plane change at 11. I forgot the air lines. That was 10years ago though.

[Ravin]

Could your daughter fly into one of the main hubs that does have a direct flight, then fly into Amarillo? It would be more complicated and expensive, but it might be a solution.

 

I don't have any people in any of those places who could meet her, and she wouldn't be allowed to fly without a designated person to meet her at the other end.

[Ravin]

It would also be cheaper to rent a car and drive (maybe to meet my mom halfway) than to fly along with her and then fly back.

 

Of course, if the job interview I have this week goes right, I could well be working up in Navajo Nation, in which case I can probably drive DD to meet my mom on my way to work.

[Laura Corin]

It would also be cheaper to rent a car and drive (maybe to meet my mom halfway) than to fly along with her and then fly back.

 

Of course, if the job interview I have this week goes right, I could well be working up in Navajo Nation, in which case I can probably drive DD to meet my mom on my way to work.

 

Best of luck with your interview.

[SKL]

How much of this is because of recent state legislation (within the past few years) of "childcare workers and volunteers" being fingerprinted and background checked?  Would that apply to airline employees that specialize in childcare?

 

Disclaimer: I support these laws.

Hive members have posted in other threads how these laws may affect their children's coop classes and sports teams. 

 

Our children's preschool (which is not associated with any sort of homeschooling) is a coop.  Everyone takes a turn working in the classroom, so everyone needs to be fingerprinted and background checked.  The litmus test in our preschool is "taking kids to the bathroom."

 

So imagine this from the money-making pov of the airline corporate overlords (the ones making seven figures for income):

 

--They now need to have these employees fingerprinted and background-checked. ($$)

--They need enough of these employees to be vetted in this manner to handle, say, five or more different children flying through any given major airport. ($$$)

--They need to make sure that they have enough of these special employees working on any given day (no calling in sick or going on  vacation themselves).  ($$)

--They need to improve employee retention for these employees because they would be harder to replace.  You couldn't just ask any random employee to step into this job at a moment's notice.  You might need to pay *gasp* $12/hour rather than $10/hour. ($$$)

 

I just can't see the corporate decision-makers in the aviation industry willing to make that investment in their employees.  

 

I'm guessing they already background check their workers.

 

They would not have to train all the employees to do all of that, just cross-train some of the experienced ones.  But I was thinking they should have on file some outside company that can step in on a contract basis.  Thus they would not have to do much training and they wouldn't have to pay for people to be standing around "in case" the services were needed.

 

I think the only reason they don't already do this is that there are so few parents letting kids travel alone in the first place.  There isn't enough critical mass to justify the expense.