- Author, Joe Tidy
- Role, Cyber correspondent
A 101-year-old woman keeps getting mistaken for a baby because of an error with an airline’s booking system.
The problem occurs because American Airlines’ systems apparently cannot compute that Patricia, who did not want to share her surname, was born in 1922, rather than 2022.
The BBC witnessed the latest mix-up, which she and the cabin crew were able to laugh off.
“It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I’m an old lady!” she said.
It happened when Patricia was flying between Chicago and Marquette, Michigan – a flight this reporter was also travelling on.
Patricia was flying with her daughter, Kris.
“My daughter made the reservation online for the ticket and the computer at the airport thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922,” she told me.
“The same thing happened last year and they were also expecting a child and not me.”
Patricia’s seat was booked as an adult ticket.
But it appears the airport computer system is unable to process a birth date so far in the past – so it defaulted to one 100 years later instead.
The former nurse, who flies every year to see family and escape the cold winters, says on both occasions staff at American Airlines were kind and helpful, in spite of the confusion.
American Airlines has not responded to a request for comment.
Despite seeing the funny side, the centenarian says she would like the glitch to be fixed as it does cause her some problems.
For example, airport staff do not have transport ready for her inside the terminal as they are expecting a baby who could be carried.
Another time Patricia and her daughter were waiting inside the plane after other passengers had left, as airport staff had not arranged a wheelchair for her.
She says having her real age acknowledged would also be beneficial for Kris.
“I would like them to fix the computer as my poor daughter had to carry all our luggage and apparel almost a mile from one gate to the other,” she said.
Next trip
Patricia travelled solo until she was 97, but has been reliant on help from her family since then.
“I have some trouble with my eyesight now so I wouldn’t want to do it on my own,” she said.
But she is adamant the IT problems will not put her off flying, and says she is looking forward to her next flight in the autumn.
By then she will be 102 – and perhaps by then the airline computers will have caught on to her real age.
