Yeah, the unaccompanied minors thing is a real minefield. My story:
My son, roughly 12 at the time, was flying from the east coast to the Midwest on SW airlines to see his grandparents. He’d done it many times before. Non-stop flights. Easy-peasy.
Until, that is, standard-issue Midwest summertime thunderstorms. They reportedly circled the destination region for a while but couldn’t put down. So, they went to the next closest major-ish city and landed there, ostensibly to refuel. While on the ground, somebody made the call not to fly to the original destination that evening (it was the last flight of the day).
The first we learn of the issue is a call from my son saying that he’s in a different city from the one he’s supposed to be in and will be staying the night at a local hotel. The real kicker was that he’d be sharing a room with a flight attendant! I asked to be put on the phone with one of the airline attendants and explained, in no uncertain terms, the liability they were accepting should anything go wrong during this unplanned stop.
A short while later the airline magically decided that they could, after all, make it to the original destination that evening.
My take-home lesson was to never book the last flight of the day for an unaccompanied minor. Also, check the weather at the destination airport and get somebody on record as to the backup plan for your kid should landing there prove untenable.
