Unaccompanied minor sent to wrong destination

Apparently an unaccompanied minor with all the paperwork set to travel from Boston to Cleveland on Continental airlines wound up in Newark instead.

As required by the airline, The parent walked the child through airport security to the gate, then spoke to the agents and then put the child in their care when it came time to board the plane.

The paperwork was complete and it stated the flight number, destination and phone numbers and addresses for the people meeting the child at the airport in Cleveland.

The parent then watched airline personnel take the child and the paperwork with the destination and flight number onto a plane. Everything should have been fine.

The parent had no idea that the child hadn't reached Cleveland until the Father-in-law called and asked where she was.

How could the airline staff put her on the wrong plane and neither flight crew noticed.

A Continental Airline spokesperson later issued this statement:

"We take very seriously our responsibility to care for unaccompanied minors on our flights. In this case, there were two flights departing simultaneously from a single doorway and miscommunication among staff members resulted in the child being boarded on the wrong aircraft.
"We are truly sorry for this error and have apologized to the family. The child was supervised throughout the entire process and was rebooked and routed to the proper destination on the same day. "


I have 2 Children that travel as unaccompanied minors on a regular basis. For me, This is completely unacceptable and there should be no excuse for this to happen even if there are two flights departing simultaneously from a single doorway.