Five seems awfully young. Is he even allowed to cross the street by himself? Could his grandmother fly up to visit him instead?
This. I would not send my 5-year-old on a flight alone unless we had literally no other option. I suspect that he would be able to entertain himself okay, but I think it would be stressful and somewhat frightening to him to be there without parents, and frankly I don’t think I could stand the worry. But mostly it’s just that I think he’s too young.
Robin, my son has traveled from Chicago to Arizona alone every summer for several years - but at five, he would have been too young. I think he was eight(?) before I let him go by himself the first time.
I just remembered - I flew younger than that, cross-country alone, but I was 8. And it was from Michigan to NY.
I do think 5 is a bit too young.
IMHO, the only way to fly with a five year old is to send them ahead unaccompanied.
Ah, if I’d only thought of that! Those would have been much more peaceful flights.
Every kid is different, but I wouldn’t have done it unless it was necessary with either my very independant would have handled it fine but mom wouldn’t have been comfortable son (now nine) or my more needy daughter who probably would have also been fine but may have been more likely to need attention (now eight). Necessary would be if Dad lived in a different state (instead of the same house) or some other situation I cannot imagine. I would not have sent them for a visit at that age - I’m not sure I’d send them for a visit now.
Hell, we just talked about kids soloing at five in public bathrooms and people thought that perhaps that might be young (though that was the age my kids started going into public bathrooms by themselves).
My aunt in law is a stewardess, and I wouldn’t trust her with my kids for ten minutes alone - she is the bitchiest, most unkid friendly woman in the world, and has told us about having to deal with unaccompanied minors - I’m sure that bitch has said a thing or two to kids you wouldn’t want yours to hear. But she is union and - as she points out - they can’t fire her for being mean to the little brats.
Yikes. Five years old and four hours is too low and too high, respectively.
I am going to echo the people who have said that the age does not make much of a difference. When it comes down to it, it will depend on your son. Has he ever flown before and has he flown that far before? To me, that makes the most difference. Growing up, I flew down to see my grandfather every summer with my mom and brother. When I had to fly alone, I was 5 (almost 6). As with every other flight, I had a bag full of games and coloring books as well as some snacks. Granted, my flight was only about 2 hours but it was uneventful because I had flown so many times before.
I was 6 ('though not a particularly “old” six) when I first flew unaccompanied, way back in '81. It was a 2.5 hour flight, though. I kept on doing the round-trip twice a year, so four flights total, until 14 or so. Most airlines, at 15, you’re no longer subject to their UM rules.
I agree that it depends on your kid, but I’ll add that kids are often (usually) better behaved for strangers than for their own parents. The person I would ask is his teacher. How is he for extended periods of time without you around? Is he the squirrelly kid she has to ride heard on all day, or does he keep himself occupied with only a few reminders? Can he tell a stranger he has to go to the bathroom? Can he wipe well and flush on his own? (You can always send him in sweatpants if he can’t do zippers and snaps yet.) Does he have any food allergies, and if so, is he good at recognizing and articulating his triggers to strangers, or will he sneak food he shouldn’t have while you’re not around?
If you decide he can do it, I would get him a cell phone for the trip (a disposable or pay-as-you-go $15 Tracfone will work fine) and program your number and grandma’s number into it. That way if anything goes wrong and he gets separated from his escort, he can call you right away. However, I will add that in my 36 flights unaccompanied, I was never lost for long - and only one time was I “lost” at all, when I dashed off to pet a puppy while the flight attendant was reading some paperwork. 30 seconds later, I got the lecture of my life from a very scared flight attendant, an airport security guy AND an airplane captain (who, to a 7 year old, was slightly less powerful than God).
They still give kids tours of the cockpit - the cockpit’s not locked until shortly before takeoff, and they bring my kids in there before takeoff to wow at the buttons and even push the throttle control and hear the engine rev in neutral. They’ll probably give him a pair of plastic wings (on a sticker instead of a pin, these days) and all the pretzels he can eat. Send him with a couple of bucks for headphones, and they’ll show him how they work, or even better, buy a cheap portable DVD player and a couple of DVD’s you don’t mind losing if he forgets it somewhere. It’s a $50 investment in peace and quiet.
Has he flown before? How does he behave on an airplane?
Have you floated the possibility to him? Is he excited, scared?
Is he going to school? How does he handle separation? HAve you left him with a sitter, at friends?
Is seeing gradma a treat so great that he will do anything for it, or is grandma the smelly old lady who pinches his cheeks while he runs away?
My brother was 9 when he first flew alone. He loved it. The difference between 5 and 9 is, of course, too much for this to be of any use to you. At around 11, I would fly alone just for kicks on the company jet (in the cockpit most of the time).
ETA: Or, on review, read the 2 previous posts.
I did it when I was that age, and was fine. But I had a somewhat easy going temperment, and had taken flights with adults before that. It’s really going to depend on the temperment of your kid. Have they been left by themselves before? Are they clingy? Can they entertain themselves? Are they adventurous or phobic?
Too young. My daughter is turning 5 in Jan and I would not consider it.
I think it depends on the kid.
My youngest started cross country solo trips at 10. He was more than fine. My oldest started at 13.
My husband’s children have been flying solo on Southwest since they were 5, 7, and 9, usually making 2 trips a year from their home in New Mexico to ours in California. The youngest at 5, was perfectly fine, but she had her two older siblings to keep her company. Still, I think she would have been fine on her own. Now at 12, 14, 16, almost 17 (and almost 21), all of our kids are pretty seasoned travelers.
Definitely pack a bag of coloring books, snacks, games, etc.
I just had a weird idea: give the kid (and yourself!) a test run.
Could you take him to a large unfamilar place, and give him a task to do?How about a shopping mall-- Drop him off in the care of a “flight attendant” (i.e a friend of yours who he has never seen before) who will walk with him, say, to the department store, buy a T-shirt and then meet you later at the “gate”.
(I dunno—on second reading, this seems like a silly and contrived idea. Sorry 
)
Carry on.
I flew unaccompanied from about three on. I was fine, and thought it was great fun. So yes, if you think your son would be fine with it, he probably would be fine.
I think the big question is how much the child is able to entertain himself quietly. Will he sit for hours coloring or playing a quiet game?
If yes, then he could probably pull it off.
I wouldn’t. The time he spends on the plane isn’t a big issue (unless there are delays), but what if something happens and his grandparents are late getting to the airport to meet him? Flat tires, weather, traffic jam, accident – I wouldn’t be able to depend on a flight attendant to stay with him.
Can you get another ticket so someone you know can fly with him?
My son made his first unaccompanied flight 3 months after turning 6 and has flown a total of 6 round trips on his own. Most of those trips have been on Southwest. They board all the UMs together so often he sits with somone close to his own age or a savvy pre-teen who has “been there” and doesn’t mind playing cards with a little kid.
A few times there have also been motherly types at the gate who’ve patted my arm and said “We’ll keep an eye on him”
He carries on a backpack crammed with word searches, goldfish crackers, playing cards. His interests have evolved a bit, but on those early flights he’d take a Where’s Waldo or Look Alikes book with him. I don’t know if your son is as absorbed by that sort of activity as he was. A favorite stuffed animal helped, too.
One time at BWI they let my mom have a gate pass also so we could both go to the gate with him. I had prepared her to be bored and lonely waiting for me in the pre-security area. So that was nice.
The first time he was going he told me he was scared that he might get off the plane and go the wrong way and not find his dad’s car. Once I explained that his dad would be right at the gate he relaxed.
You (or whoever takes him to the airport) is required to stay at the gate until the plane has not merely left the gate, but is off the ground. Someone from the gate crew will tell you.
When he got home from that first trip he said it turned out not to be too scary but that it was seriously boring. Now that he reads we pick a nice long book for each trip.
The only hiccup we’ve ever had was that one flight (From Balt. to Phoenix) was rerouted to Texas to let an ill passenger off. I usually follow his flights on a flight tracking website and freaked out a little bit but a quick call to Southwest cleared it all up (for a moment it seemed it wouldn’t - “I’m sorry ma’am I’m not permitted to give out that information” - but explaining that my young son was on that plane alone cut through all that. She explained why the plane was landing and that the other passengers would not be getting off.
I don’t know if I’ve shared anything helpful. I guess the most important bit has already been posted, that it depends specifically on your kid. If you think he’s ready for it you should know that Southwest takes good care of their UMs.
Not to mention what happens if the flight gets diverted elsewhere due to weather problems.
My kids flew when they were 10, and were fine, but 5 just seems too young. I love Southwest in general, but I don’t trust any airline that much these days.
When we sent my 91 year old grandma back on a plane last year (she’s all there but she can’t hear worth a damn), we asked at the check in desk if we could go through security and wait at the gate with her. I figured they’d let my mom go and I’d just wait, but they had no problem letting us both go. They gave us these “not a boarding pass” dummy tickets, and security tore them up once we were through. In other words, don’t assume you can’t do it! (I’m sure they could have said no, though. The same lady upgraded her to first class to give her some more room, even.) We didn’t have to do it beforehand, though.