Plane Travel

[milmom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

I know hypotheticals aren't welcome, but recently an issue came up with travel for visitation and I was wondering about some of the legalities that can arise.

My ex and I had each purchased one way tickets for our daughter's Christmas visitation. Generally I understand round trips are probably more economical, but southwest has a non-stop flight a few times a day from my area to my ex's area and they charge the same for round trip and one way. Our order spells out having each parent purchase a ticket to receive the child. We haven't had any issue with this agreement since it was signed for the summer.

Anyway, I arrived at the airport (in Maryland) with our daughter to find out her flight was delayed, initially it was delayed 2 hours, then 4 due to maintenance. As the plane was preparing to board the customer service rep let me know that there was a storm in Michigan and they were recommending unaccompanied minors not board the plane in the case they may have to divert to another area if the storm got bad. While at the counter it was brought to my attention that it wasn't a recommendation, but that they weren't going to let any unaccompanied minors aboard the plane. Apparently the recommendation was meant for the mother standing next to me who was putting her young teenage son on board. Our daughter was booked on the flight for the next day (this morning) and she took off today and arrived with no issue. My ex-husband said the attendant told him she has/will receive a voucher for $100 due to the delay. I plan to give it to him, since he was the one to suffer the most damages in the situation. It wasn't pleasant or inexpensive sitting in the airport for 6 hours only to make another trip the following day, but he missed a day of his visitation. I offered to let him change the flight back to Maryland so that he could make up the day, but due to his work schedule it won't be possible. Luckily after the summer of reestablishing a relationship my ex and our daughter are bonding really well, and my ex and I have gotten along extremely well in regards to visitation/co-parenting.

My question is hypothetical, but just curious for future events. If they had given me the choice to put her on the plane I probably would have chosen not to. I've been diverted before due to weather and even as an adult with two children in tow it was an unpleasant ordeal having to wait until the following morning to reach our final destination. Our daughter is 7, and the thought of her being stuck in an airport who knows where with only the airline attendants to help her is a bit unsettling. So had it been up to me, would I have been legally in the right not putting her on the plane? I wouldn't expect my ex to put her on the plane in this situation either, but just wondering. The mother of the young teen was having a pretty heated argument with whoever was picking the teen up at the airport in Michigan, and it just made me wonder what would happen if it were a choice and I decided not to. Or on the other hand if he were given the option and insisted on putting her on the plane. Is there a default to err on the side of caution? Our orders don't speak to this specific issue, only to missing a flight due to negligence and who pays for the cost of a replacement. Considering the current status of my relationship with my ex I don't see it being an issue, but it came to mind.

 

[TheGeekess]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

I know hypotheticals aren't welcome, but recently an issue came up with travel for visitation and I was wondering about some of the legalities that can arise.

My ex and I had each purchased one way tickets for our daughter's Christmas visitation. Generally I understand round trips are probably more economical, but southwest has a non-stop flight a few times a day from my area to my ex's area and they charge the same for round trip and one way. Our order spells out having each parent purchase a ticket to receive the child. We haven't had any issue with this agreement since it was signed for the summer.

Anyway, I arrived at the airport (in Maryland) with our daughter to find out her flight was delayed, initially it was delayed 2 hours, then 4 due to maintenance. As the plane was preparing to board the customer service rep let me know that there was a storm in Michigan and they were recommending unaccompanied minors not board the plane in the case they may have to divert to another area if the storm got bad. While at the counter it was brought to my attention that it wasn't a recommendation, but that they weren't going to let any unaccompanied minors aboard the plane. Apparently the recommendation was meant for the mother standing next to me who was putting her young teenage son on board. Our daughter was booked on the flight for the next day (this morning) and she took off today and arrived with no issue. My ex-husband said the attendant told him she has/will receive a voucher for $100 due to the delay. I plan to give it to him, since he was the one to suffer the most damages in the situation. It wasn't pleasant or inexpensive sitting in the airport for 6 hours only to make another trip the following day, but he missed a day of his visitation. I offered to let him change the flight back to Maryland so that he could make up the day, but due to his work schedule it won't be possible. Luckily after the summer of reestablishing a relationship my ex and our daughter are bonding really well, and my ex and I have gotten along extremely well in regards to visitation/co-parenting.

My question is hypothetical, but just curious for future events. If they had given me the choice to put her on the plane I probably would have chosen not to. I've been diverted before due to weather and even as an adult with two children in tow it was an unpleasant ordeal having to wait until the following morning to reach our final destination. Our daughter is 7, and the thought of her being stuck in an airport who knows where with only the airline attendants to help her is a bit unsettling. So had it been up to me, would I have been legally in the right not putting her on the plane? I wouldn't expect my ex to put her on the plane in this situation either, but just wondering. The mother of the young teen was having a pretty heated argument with whoever was picking the teen up at the airport in Michigan, and it just made me wonder what would happen if it were a choice and I decided not to. Or on the other hand if he were given the option and insisted on putting her on the plane. Is there a default to err on the side of caution? Our orders don't speak to this specific issue, only to missing a flight due to negligence and who pays for the cost of a replacement. Considering the current status of my relationship with my ex I don't see it being an issue, but it came to mind.

If she were 15-16? Maybe. Not a 7 year old.

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

I know hypotheticals aren't welcome, but recently an issue came up with travel for visitation and I was wondering about some of the legalities that can arise.

My ex and I had each purchased one way tickets for our daughter's Christmas visitation. Generally I understand round trips are probably more economical, but southwest has a non-stop flight a few times a day from my area to my ex's area and they charge the same for round trip and one way. Our order spells out having each parent purchase a ticket to receive the child. We haven't had any issue with this agreement since it was signed for the summer.

Anyway, I arrived at the airport (in Maryland) with our daughter to find out her flight was delayed, initially it was delayed 2 hours, then 4 due to maintenance. As the plane was preparing to board the customer service rep let me know that there was a storm in Michigan and they were recommending unaccompanied minors not board the plane in the case they may have to divert to another area if the storm got bad. While at the counter it was brought to my attention that it wasn't a recommendation, but that they weren't going to let any unaccompanied minors aboard the plane. Apparently the recommendation was meant for the mother standing next to me who was putting her young teenage son on board. Our daughter was booked on the flight for the next day (this morning) and she took off today and arrived with no issue. My ex-husband said the attendant told him she has/will receive a voucher for $100 due to the delay. I plan to give it to him, since he was the one to suffer the most damages in the situation. It wasn't pleasant or inexpensive sitting in the airport for 6 hours only to make another trip the following day, but he missed a day of his visitation. I offered to let him change the flight back to Maryland so that he could make up the day, but due to his work schedule it won't be possible. Luckily after the summer of reestablishing a relationship my ex and our daughter are bonding really well, and my ex and I have gotten along extremely well in regards to visitation/co-parenting.

My question is hypothetical, but just curious for future events. If they had given me the choice to put her on the plane I probably would have chosen not to. I've been diverted before due to weather and even as an adult with two children in tow it was an unpleasant ordeal having to wait until the following morning to reach our final destination. Our daughter is 7, and the thought of her being stuck in an airport who knows where with only the airline attendants to help her is a bit unsettling. So had it been up to me, would I have been legally in the right not putting her on the plane? I wouldn't expect my ex to put her on the plane in this situation either, but just wondering. The mother of the young teen was having a pretty heated argument with whoever was picking the teen up at the airport in Michigan, and it just made me wonder what would happen if it were a choice and I decided not to. Or on the other hand if he were given the option and insisted on putting her on the plane. Is there a default to err on the side of caution? Our orders don't speak to this specific issue, only to missing a flight due to negligence and who pays for the cost of a replacement. Considering the current status of my relationship with my ex I don't see it being an issue, but it came to mind.

You got the make the decision this time. If he were sending her, he would get to make the decision. The court would determine if the parent being harmed (him in this case, you if he were to decide not send her) was being harmed WILFULLY. Due to weather, most likely not. HOWEVER, it would depend on the specific circumstances which no one could tell you but the court if it were to happen.
Best thing: TALK TO THE OTHER PARENT. Offer makeup time (like you did this time) or the voucher for travel. Do what you can reasonably do and then send the child on the next possible flight.

 

[milmom]

Thanks, I figured it was fairly obvious. Again, I wasn't given a choice, but had I been given one would have chose not to send her more than likely. I had spoken to my ex and let him know at the time I thought I had a choice that I was choosing not to send her. Again, like I said in my first post, my ex and I are getting along extremely well and I wouldn't feel uncomfortable discussing it with him and making the decision. Nor would I feel he would act inappropriately either. It was more a curiosity thing how a court may view it. As a parent I make my decisions based on what I think is the best interest of my child/children but also know that I'm not an objective person in the situation. After reading this forum and others for some time I've realized that emotion is removed from the court and I wasn't sure if my line of thinking was more emotional than rational.

FWIW I felt horrible about the situation in general. Like any other inconvenienced traveller I was definitely frustrated. Had the flight not been delayed for mechanical reasons she would have made it to Michigan before the storm. It also would have been nice to not have to spend 6+ hours in the airport with a 7 year old that also did not want to spend 6+ hours in an airport. Unfortunately my ex husband doesn't work in a position to change his time off, and he doesn't have paid vacation and probably can't afford to take more time off to get the extra day at the end of the trip. I understand in our situation the solution is easy, we talk out the issue and come to a solution. I just didn't know what would be the legally right thing to do if we didn't have a decent relationship.

Thanks for your input Geekness and OG!

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

I have faced the same scenario with my child going from south Florida into the Chicago airports. BTW, I love Southwest airlines - they are the easiest folks to deal with for UMs. In my case, my X is NOT a reasonable man who called all sorts of folks trying to force the airline to take my child onto the flight - we landed up delayed for two days also. He took it up with FOC also that I had to be found in contempt - I wasn't.

They key is that keeping the child safe is what really matters. I prefer non-stops when there is a greater danger of bad weather - direct flights CAN get stuck which has happened for me.

My child now travels with a phone and debit card so it's easier.

 

[milmom]

She takes the nonstop flight from BWI to Flint. It's awesome, it's only about an hour and a half long flight and super cheap if you get it far enough in advance. Much better than driving to meet half way, which was a 10+ hour day for all of us. We were ecstatic when Southwest took over Airtran and ultimately the Airtran flight from BWI to Flint. My mom lives about 10 minutes from the Flint airport and it cheaper and more convenient than flying into Detroit. It's still a 45 minute or so drive to Flint for my ex, but better than the haul to Motown. It also helps that my ex has been extremely cooperative and we've been getting along well so my post was really more for peace of mind in case somewhere down the road things get crazy. He wasn't around for some time and things were difficult so I like to seek assurance that I'm being reasonable as well as legal in my decisions. I tend to be overly protective and can be controlling when it comes to her and am still extremely cautious with my ex given the past.

She does travel with a cell phone with numbers for his family as well as mine since they all still live in Michigan, and also a piece of paper with the names and numbers written on them in case something were to happen to her phone. I could probably get her a pre-paid debit card to carry as well. I was trying to think of a safe way to send her with emergency money because on one of the return flights this summer there was a problem with her reservation and the unaccompanied minor fee wasn't showing as being paid, and my ex had no money to pay it. They wouldn't let me pay from my airport, and wouldn't take a credit card over the phone at his airport. I ended up having to call southwest and get a new ticket issued while her plane was preparing to board. It was a headache.

I'm thankful that my ex and I are on very good terms at the moment, and I'm thrilled our kiddo is happy in both homes and after the many short visits this summer, and continued phone calls was definitely comfortable and excited to visit her dad for Christmas. This is the first Christmas in four years she's spent time with him, and after I calmed her fears about Santa getting mixed up over where to leave her presents, she was chomping at the bit to get there.

 

[TheGeekess]

She takes the nonstop flight from BWI to Flint. It's awesome, it's only about an hour and a half long flight and super cheap if you get it far enough in advance. Much better than driving to meet half way, which was a 10+ hour day for all of us. We were ecstatic when Southwest took over Airtran and ultimately the Airtran flight from BWI to Flint. My mom lives about 10 minutes from the Flint airport and it cheaper and more convenient than flying into Detroit. It's still a 45 minute or so drive to Flint for my ex, but better than the haul to Motown. It also helps that my ex has been extremely cooperative and we've been getting along well so my post was really more for peace of mind in case somewhere down the road things get crazy. He wasn't around for some time and things were difficult so I like to seek assurance that I'm being reasonable as well as legal in my decisions. I tend to be overly protective and can be controlling when it comes to her and am still extremely cautious with my ex given the past.

She does travel with a cell phone with numbers for his family as well as mine since they all still live in Michigan, and also a piece of paper with the names and numbers written on them in case something were to happen to her phone. I could probably get her a pre-paid debit card to carry as well. I was trying to think of a safe way to send her with emergency money because on one of the return flights this summer there was a problem with her reservation and the unaccompanied minor fee wasn't showing as being paid, and my ex had no money to pay it. They wouldn't let me pay from my airport, and wouldn't take a credit card over the phone at his airport. I ended up having to call southwest and get a new ticket issued while her plane was preparing to board. It was a headache.

I'm thankful that my ex and I are on very good terms at the moment, and I'm thrilled our kiddo is happy in both homes and after the many short visits this summer, and continued phone calls was definitely comfortable and excited to visit her dad for Christmas. This is the first Christmas in four years she's spent time with him, and after I calmed her fears about Santa getting mixed up over where to leave her presents, she was chomping at the bit to get there.

WalMart offers a set of cards for Parent/Child. I send one with Daughter when the HS band goes on trips. I can refill if necessary (because I have the other card).