Air New Zealand’s new Airband for unaccompanied children (Photo: Air Zealand)
Today Air New Zealand announced a brand new concept to keep worried parents less worried during their child’s domestic or international flight. Each child traveling alone will now receive an Airband from Air New Zealand when they check-in. This electronic wristband has a chip that is scanned at key stages of the child’s flight. The band then triggers text notifications, which goes to any five contacts cell phones, letting the contacts know exactly where the child is.
This sounds better than just watching a flight tracker show the route of your child’s plane and where they are that way.
The wristband is given to children ages five to 11 who are alone but children up to age 16 can opt into the service.
This is a great step for easing the minds of parents a bit. We hope U.S. airlines will look into a similar idea since there’s been plenty of instances of airlines losing unaccompanied minors.
“We believe this is the first time this type of technology has been used by an airline anywhere in the world for the purpose of providing caregivers greater peace of mind when their child is traveling alone,” said Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Carrie Hurihanganui.
“We have been [testing] it across our network over recent months and the feedback from parents and guardians has been very positive with many welcoming the additional reassurance of knowing where in the journey their child is.”
The wristband is free now through February 3. After that date the price is $15 for each one way domestic flight and $40 per child for each one way international journey.
Seems like a small price to pay for a little more peace of mind. Of course, nothing beats flying with your child but you have to give it to Air New Zealand for offering more peace of mind to parents if their only option is allowing their child to fly alone.
The post Air New Zealand’s New Solution to Children Flying Alone appeared first on Johnny Jet.
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