8.1 Infants, Children & Unaccompanied Minors

Infants

An infant is normally a passenger under two years of age. The regulatory anchor is Nig. CARs 8.9.1.3: a safety belt provided for the occupant of a seat may not be used during take-off and landing by more than one person who has reached their second birthday. In other words, one belt, one person aged two or over.

Bassinets are fitted only at approved bulkhead positions and provide no crash protection. Bayonet tables at bulkhead rows must be stowed for the same phases.

Children in flight: the physiology

Children are not small adults for the purposes of cabin physiology:

• Ear pain on descent is far more common. A child's eustachian tube is shorter, narrower and more horizontal, so it clears less readily as ambient pressure rises. The practical countermeasures are to feed an infant on descent, or to give a child a drink, a sweet or something to chew. A sleeping infant should be gently woken for descent so that swallowing occurs.
• Dehydration occurs faster because of a higher surface-area-to-mass ratio in dry cabin air.
• Hypoxia affects children sooner in a decompression, and the mask must be fitted to the adult first, then to the child — the reverse order commonly results in neither being protected.
• Thermal regulation is poorer, so children become cold or overheated quickly.
• Motion sickness is more common between about two and twelve years of age.

Unaccompanied minors

An unaccompanied minor (UM) is a child travelling without a parent or guardian, within an age band set by the operator, accepted under a documented service. The defining feature is a continuous chain of custody from the sending adult to the receiving adult.

Acceptance and documentation:

• The UM handling form travels with the child and identifies the sending adult, the receiving adult, contact numbers and any special requirements.
• Documents, tickets and identification are held by the crew or in a pouch carried by the child, in accordance with operator procedure.
• The ground handover to the crew is made by a named agent, and the crew acknowledge it.

On board:

• Individual briefing — exits, seat belt, call bell, lavatory location, what to do if they feel unwell or frightened, and who to ask for.
• Seating — where cabin crew can observe the child directly; not in an exit row, since anyone under 15 is disqualified under 8.9.2.11; not seated next to a passenger about whom the crew have any concern.
• Supervision — the crew check on the child at intervals, including during meal service and before and after lavatory visits.
• Not left in the care of another passenger. Passengers are not delegates of the operator, however kind and however convenient it appears.
• Safeguarding — any concern about the behaviour of an adjacent passenger towards a UM is reported immediately and the child is moved.

Disembarkation and handover:

• The UM leaves after the general disembarkation, escorted by a crew member or handed to the named agent at the door.
• The receiving adult is verified against the documentation, with identification, before the child is released.
• If the receiving adult does not appear, the child remains in the airline's care and the operator's procedure is followed. A UM is never released to an unverified person or left with airport staff who have not accepted the handover.
• The completed handover is documented.

Diversions and disruptions create the highest safeguarding risk in the UM process, because the receiving adult is at the wrong airport. The rule is unchanged: the child stays in the operator's custody until a documented, verified handover can be made.

Children and emergencies

• In an evacuation, small children are carried by an adult rather than sent down a slide alone. Infants are held securely, and the operator's procedure for carrying a child down a slide is followed.
• In a decompression, adults fit their own mask first, then the child's.
• In a ditching, infant life jackets are fitted in the cabin and inflated outside, exactly as for adults, and infants are never placed in an inflated jacket inside the cabin.
• During a planned emergency, children are seated with the adult responsible for them, and able-bodied passengers may be briefed to assist a family group.