ATLANTA — A Dunwoody father of three says the fallout and chaos from the global tech outage has left his children stranded at different airports across the country.
On Monday, J. R. Reed told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden that he had spent more than 20 hours on the phone and computer in an attempt to get his kids, ages 15, 12, and 10, on a flight back to Atlanta.
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“My oldest is currently stuck in Charlotte,” he said. “My middle child is stuck in LaGuardia (New York) and my youngest is stuck in Orlando.”
Reed, who has earned Million Miler status, said that all three of his kids were visiting relatives in different states ahead of a family trip to Disney World. The plan was for his two oldest children to fly to Orlando, where they would meet up with their younger sibling. But on Saturday, Reed’s 15-year-old son was denied access to a flight after he tried to board a plane in Charlotte.
“Delta had instituted an embargo on their unaccompanied minors program and would not be allowing any unaccompanied minors to fly,” he said. “Delta made an explicit decision to pull the plug on this program. They haven’t communicated that and it’s incredibly hard to find on their website. There is no proactive notification.”
Reed added that his 12-year-old daughter was also denied access to her flight from LaGuardia.
“You took my kids out and you’re responsible for bringing them back,” he added.
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On its website, Delta posted the following statement regarding the unaccompanied minor program:
“Unaccompanied minor travel is currently paused through Tuesday, July 23. Those already booked will not be able to travel. Please do not book new travel for unaccompanied minors during this time.”
Reed said his children have been staying with family members while they wait to fly back to Georgia.
“They don’t appear to be prioritizing kids and safety above frequent fliers,” he said.
“When the gate agent heard he (son) was 15, he said ‘You can’t get on the plane.’ He was there at the airport by himself,” he said.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to Delta and a spokesperson said they are looking into what happened.
Reed said he believes the Atlanta-based airline is putting its profits before customer service.
“It was a money-saving decision,” he added. “It’s not a technology issue for them.”
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