My kids have flown solo using the unaccompanied minor programs on a few different airlines (including Delta) to visit aunts/uncles/grandparents, and as teenagers without the unaccompanied minor service.
Different US airlines have different policies, but Delta requires kids 5-14 to use the UM service, and makes it optional for kids 15-17.
I agree it’s unclear exactly what is happening here. The NYT article suggests they’ve suspended all unaccompanied travel for passengers under 18. But Delta’s website is ambiguous as to whether it’s just the UM program or whether they’ve actually banned unaccompanied minors altogether.
It makes some sense to me that they might be forced to suspend the UM program, as the details about who is authorized to pick the kid up are all stored in the Delta computer system. Plus it’s not THAT terrible for them to turn away those passengers, because a responsible adult is supposed to wait at the departing airport until the flight takes off anyway, in case the flight is canceled or something. So they have someone to take them home if they’re turned away.
Turning away 15-17yos who are traveling like normal passengers would be a little worse, since those kids might have arrived at the airport by themselves (my kid at age 15 once stayed home by himself a couple days after the rest of us had left, then got himself to the airport for a flight to meet us on our vacation). I still think the article overstates the issue, though, since those kids should still have a contingency plan for a flight cancelation, which can always happen.
