Due to an error in an American Airline’s reservation system, a 101-year-old grandmother was mistakenly identified as a 1-year-old baby, leading to confusion on board the aircraft.
According to the BBC and The Guardian on the 28th (local time), Patricia, who lives in the U.S., recently traveled with her daughter on American Airlines between Chicago and Marquette, Michigan, where she was mistaken for a one-year-old baby.
The issue arose because the airline’s reservation system failed to recognize Patricia’s birth year of 1922, instead registering her as born in 2022.
Airline staff were surprised when a 101-year-old woman appeared instead of a one-year-old baby.
Although Patricia and the staff laughed off the incident, it wasn’t the first time she had been mistaken for a baby.
Last year, while traveling with her daughter, Patricia requested a wheelchair for airport transit after disembarking from the plane. However, because she had been incorrectly entered as a 1-year-old baby, the wheelchair was unprepared, leading to disappointment.
This error occurred even though she paid adult fare when purchasing her ticket.
Patricia said, “My daughter made the ticket reservation online, and the airport computer thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922. The same thing happened last year, and they were expecting a child, not me.”
The airport computer system is presumed unable to handle birthdates over 100 years old, so it defaults to adding 100 years.
Patricia, who traveled alone without family help until she was 97, said these problems did not occur until she turned 100.
Although she laughed off the incident, Patricia expressed a desire for a resolution, especially since last year, she had no wheelchair prepared, and her daughter had to carry all the luggage and walk a mile. However, she is also looking forward to her next trip, which is planned for the fall.
Meanwhile, BBC reported that American Airlines did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.