Unsavoury company
From Mrs Catharine Jessop
Sir: Your correspondent Duncan Reed (Letters, 17 March) asks whether other airlines operate the same rule as British Airways, which does not allow men to sit next to unaccompanied children. I am glad to report that my son, then aged eight, when recently travelling unaccompanied to the United States on a Virgin Atlantic flight, sat next to a charming businessman with whom he had what seems to have been an enjoyable and edifying conversation. My son, who is a veteran of several such flights, taught his companion how to operate the video games provided on the seat-back televisions and in return was entertained with stories about New York.
It is a pity both that Mr Reed's colleague should have suffered such degrading treatment and that the child he was moved away from will have been taught to believe that all men are a threat.
Catharine Jessop
Dunstable, Bedfordshire
From Diane Aldred Sir: I read with interest the letter sent to you by Duncan Reed about his experience on a Paris-bound British Airways plane. I was travelling back to London from Nice recently with my sons. My 14-year-old was in the middle seat next to a young girl of similar age, and I occupied the aisle seat. A stewardess asked us if we would change seats as the girl was an unaccompanied minor and my son was not allowed to sit next to her. In answer to Mr Reed, it is apparent that age is not a consideration, mere maleness is, and even taking your mum along does not get you off the hook!
Diane Aldred
dianealdredg mac.com
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