In a recent quirky incident, American Airlines mistakenly identified a 101-year-old female passenger as an infant in their booking system, leading to a surprise encounter for airport ground staff when they saw her in person.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the woman, who declined to reveal her last name, goes by the name Patricia. Born in 1922, she is currently 101 years old. Patricia regularly takes flights to visit family members each year but has encountered being treated as a baby by the American Airlines system on multiple occasions.
One time, airport ground staff did not provide her with a wheelchair because they thought she was an infant who could be carried.
During a recent flight with her daughter Kris between Chicago, Illinois, and Marquette, Michigan, on an American Airlines flight, Patricia experienced the mix-up of being identified as an infant by the airline system. BBC reporter Joe Tidy happened to be on the same flight and witnessed the event unfold.
Patricia told Joe that her daughter had booked her ticket online, and the airport’s computer system mistakenly took her birth year as 2022 instead of 1922.
She mentioned that a similar incident happened last year when they also mistook her for a child instead of an elderly woman.
Even though Patricia’s ticket was booked as an adult fare, the airport computer system failed to accurately process the birth year, leading to this issue.
Despite the warm assistance from American Airlines ground staff whenever she encounters such a problem, she hopes for improvements in the company’s system.
She recounted a past incident where she and Kris were left in their seats after all other passengers disembarked because the airport staff thought she was an infant and did not provide a wheelchair.
Patricia believes that if American Airlines systems could correctly register her age, it would also benefit Kris. This is because on a previous occasion, Kris had to carry all the luggage and clothing for nearly a mile in the airport terminal after everyone had left the plane.
Patricia used to travel alone until the age of 97 when she started relying on her family’s assistance. She said, “My eyesight is a bit of a problem now, so I prefer not to travel alone.”
She eagerly looks forward to her next trip in the fall when she will turn 102 years old. She hopes that by then, the airline’s computer will reflect her true age.