American Airlines keeps registering Patricia as a baby rather than the 101-year-old woman that she is as the system cannot compute that she was born over 100 years ago in 1922
An airline keeps mistaking a 101-year-old woman for a baby because it’s system can’t seem to compute that she was born in 1922 not 2022.
American Airlines keeps registering Patricia, who did not want to share her surname, as a baby rather than the 101-year-old woman that she is. It’s only system cannot seem to compute that she was born in 1922.
Patricia said she and the cabin crew just laughed the latest incident off. She told the BBC: “It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I’m an old lady!” Patricia did, however, say that she would like the system glitch to be fixed long-term as it has caused her some issues when traveling.
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On one occasion, for example, the airport staff did not have the transport ready for her that she required inside the terminal as, according to the system, she was a baby who could be carried. The BBC witnessed the latest glitch that Patricia faced because one of their reporters was on the same flight.
It happened when the centenarian was flying between Chicago and Marquette in Michigan. Patricia was on the flight with her daughter, Kris.
The former nurse told the BBC: “My daughter made the reservation online for the ticket and the computer at the airport thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922. The same thing happened last year and they were also expecting a child and not me.” Patricia’s booked her seat as an adult ticket.
It seems that American Airlines’ system isn’t able to process a birth year that’s more than 100 years ago, so it defaults to 100 years later. But Patricia, who flies to see her family and to escape the harsh winter every year, says American Airlines staff have been really helpful and kind on the two previous occasions that this has happened.
Patricia says that on a previous occasion she and Kris were left on a flight when all the other passengers had left because airport staff had not organised a wheelchair for her. She added that it would also be helpful for Kris if the airline knows her actual age when she is travelling with them.
She said: ” 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.” Patricia said she travelled on her own right up until the age of 97, after which she started to need a bit of help.
“I have some trouble with my eyesight now so I wouldn’t want to do it on my own,” she explained. But despite all the problems with the airline’s system, it has not put Patricia off flying and she is excited for her next trip, which is booked in for autumn. By then she will have turned 102, and hopes the airline will be able to record her actual age at that point.
