‘They Thought I Was A Little Child’: 101-Yr-Old Passenger Mistaken For Toddler Due Ticket Booking Glitch

The American Airlines’ ticket booking system could not compute that the centenarian Patricia was born in 1922. (Image: Unsplash/Representative)

Centenarian Patricia told a news outlet that this is not the first time American Airlines' booking system registered her as a toddler.

A centenarian found herself mistaken for a toddler due to a glitch in American Airlines’ booking system, UK broadcaster BBC reported citing its own reporter who was on the plane with the 101-year-old passenger.

Patricia, the 101-year-old woman, was mistaken for a baby twice by the carrier because the airline’s system registers her birth year as 2022, while her actual birth year is 1922. While booking the tickets the American Airlines’ systems apparently cannot compute that Patricia is over a 100 years old and was born in 1922.

The report said that both the passenger and the cabin crew were able to laugh it off when Patricia boarded the light between Chicago and Marquette, Michigan.

“It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I’m an old lady,” she was quoted as saying by the BBC. She was travelling with her daughter Kris. Kris and Patricia said that this was not the first time they encountered this error.

Another time the airport mistook her for being a toddler because of which they did not have transport ready for the centenarian inside the terminal. “My daughter made the reservation online for the ticket and the computer at the airport thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922,” Patricia was quoted as saying even though Patricia’s seat was booked as an adult ticket.

The airport’s computer defaulted to a birth year 100 years as it was unable to process dating from such a long time ago. “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 further added.

Patricia is a former nurse and used to travel solo until she was 97. Despite her old age she flies every year to see family and escape the cold winters. She highlighted that on both occasions American Airlines staff were kind and helpful despite the confusion.

As she grew older, she started taking help from her children to fly but says that neither her age nor the glitch would deter her from flying.