“They Mistook Me For A Toddler,” Says 101-Year-Old Passenger After Ticket Booking Error
Due to an error in American Airlines’ reservation system, a centenarian was misidentified as a child, according to a story by UK broadcaster BBC, which quoted one of its own reporters who was traveling with the 101-year-old customer.
Patricia, the 101-year-old lady, was misidentified by the airline twice as a baby since her true birth year is 1922, while the airline’s system records her birth year as 2022. Patricia was born in 1922, and it seems that American Airlines’ computers did not account for this fact when reserving the tickets. Patricia is now almost 100 years old.
According to the report, Patricia’s incident was easily forgotten by the cabin staff and passengers when she boarded the light between Chicago and Marquette, Michigan.
The BBC cited her as stating, “It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I’m an old lady.” Along on the ride was her daughter, Kris. According to Kris and Patricia, this is not the first time they have run across this problem.
Once again, the airport confused her for a kid, so when the centenarian arrived inside the terminal, there was no transportation available for her. Patricia was cited as stating, “My daughter made the reservation online for the ticket and the computer at the airport thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922,” despite the fact that Patricia’s seat was reserved for an adult.
The airport’s computer could not comprehend dates from that far back in time, so it defaulted to a birth year of 100 years. She then said, “My poor daughter had to carry all of our luggage and clothes almost a mile from one gate to the other. I would like them to fix the computer.”
Patricia, a retired nurse, used to travel alone until she was ninety-seven. Even though she is elderly, she takes an annual flight to see relatives and avoid the harsh winters. She emphasized that, despite the uncertainty, American Airlines employees were kind and accommodating on both occasions.
She maintains that neither her age nor the flaw would stop her from flying, even if as she got older, she began to need her kids’ assistance to fly.
