Watched every step

When Katie and Stephen Nicholson got off the TWA plane at Lambert Field last month, they were carrying their own carry-on luggage and were traveling alone. 

They looked like veteran travelers except for one thing. Katie is 10 and Stephen is seven. 

They and many other St. Louis youngsters were taking advantage of TWA's "unaccompanied minors" program. Under that plan, youngsters five to 15 get special attention to make sure they are safe while traveling without an adult. 

Sharon Reynolds is a TWA customer relations person working with unescorted kids at Lambert Field. She said TWA may handle as many as 800 unaccompanied youngsters a day in the summer vacation season. 

"Someone from the airline is responsible for them every step of the trip," she said. 

When a parent takes a child to the airport, they have their ID checked. When a flight attendant takes responsibility on the plane, she signs the special airline ticket the child carries. 

When the child gets to her destination, the gate attendant checks the ID of the adult picking up the child. In case of flight problems, the children get other special attention.

That happened last month when 13-year-old Christopher D'Angelo and his sister, Laura, 10, were coming home from a trip to the West Coast. Their flight ran into bad weather and was forced to land in Wichita to get more fuel. 

Christopher said, "The flight attendants came by with drinks and stuff." Laura added, "They came by to check on us a few times." 

Thirteen-year-old Julie Sartorius has been traveling alone between St. Louis and North Carolina since she was seven years old. She thinks she's "getting too old" for the program. 

But, last Christmas, she was glad for extra help when a mix-up caused her father, Jeff, to miss her arrival. He said, "I was sitting at one gate and her plane came in to another one." 

By the time he checked with TWA personnel, Julie had been escorted to a special kids room at Lambert. There, the airline provides TV, video games and magazines as well as refreshments while kids wait to make connections. 

Sometimes, kids are given overnight accommodations in the case of  severe weather. Last May, Reynolds said two children missed two different flights. They were looked after the whole time by airline workers until they got on the right flight. 

"These are our babies when they're in the program," Reynolds said.

Sometimes, airline connections can be a little complicated. For Christopher and Laura D'Angelo, they first flew from St. Louis to San Francisco to visit their aunt and uncle. 

But, the group then flew to Las Vegas for a sight-seeing trip. They also drove to Scottsdale, Ariz., to meet their mother, Mary. On the trip back to St. Louis, Mary was on one airline and the kids were back on TWA. 

That's when the bad weather took over. But, the children were in good hands until they met up with their mother in St. Louis. 

For Katie and Stephen Nicholson, their trip to Florida was to visit grandparents. The TWA program helps by making travel cheaper. There is a $30 per-kid fee but the parents don't have to buy tickets to accompany them. 

Ann Nicholson said, "That means the kids can go more often and Poppie and Grandma Sue get more quality time with them."

 Tim Nicholson said, "We were reluctant to let the kids go alone. But, we're pretty confident now." His wife said, "The kids are seasoned travelers. We took Katie on a plane when she was three weeks old. But, we're very protective of them in this day and age." 

Katie provided her mother a very special reminder of her first trip alone. That was three years ago and she wrote about the trip during an essay contest at school. Her "I love my Mom because..." essay was judge the best for third graders that year. 

Ann was invited to school for the award presentation. Katie said, "My mom cried when I read the essay to the class."

For information about the TWA "kids alone," you can call Sharon Reynolds at Lambert Field at (314) 429-9593.