A few days ago two parents left their 10 year old behind at the Barcelona airport because they discovered at check-in that his passport had expired and lacked a visa for travel. They boarded their flight without him, figuring that a relative could pick him up later instead of delaying their trip. Their tickets weren’t changeable.
Airport staff found the boy alone and contacted security. A woman who works in airport operations posted video recounting what happened. Authorities removed the parents’ luggage from the flight and brought the mother and father to the station where there son was being watched.
@limasin41 Historias de aeropuerto surrealistas!! #aeropuerto #abandono #historytime #flightdispatcher #viralvideos #paratiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ♬ original sound – Limasin
We’ve seen children left behind as parents took off on plane trips before. Most notably Kevin McCallister was twice left behind as his family took off – first awakening to an empty home after his family already departed for the airport, and then again when his faily flew to Florida while he mistakenly got on the wrong plane headed for New York City. There, he wound up a hero, stopping two bandits from robbing a toy story just before Christmas.
Authorities have not confirmed the family’s nationality and destination, or whether charges were filed.
When I was 10 I think I would have been able to sit in the airport and wait to get picked up. By the time I was 7 I’d go outside to play and be out pretty much all day. I’d go over to a friend’s house. And I just had to be back by sundown (or call, hoping to be able to stay over). But that was a many decades ago (long before cell phones were commonplace!) and those sorts of things just aren’t done anymore.
(HT: Enilria)
I see this happened in Barcelona; if it were Missouri, I hear they want to remove the protections prohibiting child labor, so they probably could have put they kid to work, liftin’ up bootstraps and all…
@1990: You might be confusing the ‘Murica first people with the Somalia first people.
I was in BCN, last year. How BCN managed fourth in Europe and 53rd in the world in airport rankings was beyond me, and the OW lounge barely helped. (So happy to get to LHR First Wing Lounge later that day). Subjecting a lonely child to this gulag is beyond the pale.
Of course banning shabby passengers and their shabby excuses would put airlines out of business.
Hopefully, BCN airport security and Spanish cops do better than the usual beating people to death.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35964931/ex-footballer-dj-dies-ibiza-cops/
Gary,
And the second time that it happened to Kevin, a nice man helped him locate the check-in area of the hotel he wanted to stay at. That man is 1990’s personal hero, the man he worships daily in all his posts here, as that man has top priority in all his thoughts…
But why? I need more information. I advocate only for children and peace
It takes a village.
Hillary Clinton
These folks were counting on “the village”.
@Coffee Please — What in ‘rugged individualism’ are you even talkin’ bout?
Once on a trip to a resort in the Poconos. About 60 years ago. We stopped for breakfast. My mother told me I had to eat the scrambled eggs. I said no I’m going home. She said fine, I found my way to the bus where I could get a ride to Philadelphia and my father. After hitching a ride I made my way to a bus stop and was picked up by the police. I ruined the family vacation that year, great memory and I still wont eat scrambled eggs.
Sorry folks. The parents should be criminally charged for child abandonment. The boy is going to be in therapy for years & have trust issues throughout his life. What a horrid way to treat a child. Because that is exactly what he is still…..just a child. No excuse’s whatsoever.
@1990
Come on man. Those two idiots were waiting for “The Village” to take care of their kid. A swipe at your girl Hillary and the idiocy of the parents
@johmmcsmthe oh please spare me. Maybe a relative was on the way to pick him up? And the parents are strategizing on the way to their destination way to get the kid a ticket and get him over there.
A lot missing in this story. Meanwhile, put down your pitch forks and torches.
About the the kid whom the unreasonable parents chose to abandon at the airport, he probably has maternal and paternal relatives living within reasonable driving distance of the airport who could pick up him up. If he has an internet-connected smartphone and phone charger, he could probably arrange to get himself rescued without his sloppy, irresponsible parents.
As an older millennial I dont see this as a big deal if the kid is generally independent. If the kid is more typical and -felt- abandoned, well then that’s going to least to trust issues.
@Coffee Please — Not ‘my girl,’ but I’d’ve still preferred her over the other guy. As far as the ‘village’ people, wait, isn’t that ‘your guy’s favorite? YMCA!
Of course Gary was an exceptional child. How do we know? He told us.
My son, at age 11, was supposed to fly SEA-LAX-LHR-ATH, with the airline (UA) taking care of him at LAX. The airline rep vanishesd so he made his own way, got to Greece A-OK.
@Gideon Yuval — Oof, regardless of this being for an unaccompanied minor, that’s a tedious route for Seattle to Greece. I get it; there are no nonstops from SEA-ATH, currently. Hopefully you got a great deal on the tickets, but 2 stops is bad planning when there are ample itineraries with just 1 stop. I’m assuming you didn’t book him in First/Business, so long-haul international economy can be ‘a lot,’ for anyone, especially when LAX and LHR are massive airports, and it’s a 10 hours time difference between SEA and ATH, too. Even most adults might struggle through that. Sure, you can claim it ‘builds character,’ but if anything went wrong, I’d never forgive myself if that were my kid.