A mother whose daughter was flying unaccompanied from Tennessee to Miami was told by American Airlines that she was missing after being allowed off the plane.
MailOnline and the New York Post reported that Monica Gilliam paid an extra $150 for a chaperone to escort her 12-year-old daughter to Miami airport, but was told in a phone call an hour after her flight landed that the company airline did not know where the girl was. She was traveling to visit her father and flew unescorted from Chattanooga to Miami last week when she was allowed to disembark despite wearing a lanyard to indicate she was not with an adult. The professional photographer said in a TikTok video that his daughter was removed from the plane by flight attendants and then continued walking. Not a single AA employee stopped her to see if she had an adult. [with her], Gilliam said in the video. Not a single Miami airport employee stopped her and even the TSA agent when she left the secure area and went to baggage claim didn’t stop her either, a- she added.
The girl managed to contact her father and he was able to guide her through the airport terminal and found her later, the mother said in her online video. “The complete abandonment of a minor in their care and the neglect displayed today is criminal,” Gilliam wrote in the caption of the video.
American Airlines said it “cared deeply” for its young passengers, took the incident “very seriously” and was reviewing it.
“A member of our team reached out to the customer to learn more about their experience,” a spokesperson said.