At least the luggage got there

Maybe you saw the story about how Continental Airlines placed two young girls flying solo on wrong flights in separate weekend incidents.

Taylor Williams, 8, was supposed to fly from Houston to Charlotte, N.C, to see her father last weekend. She would have too if her father had met her in Fayetteville, Ark., where they plane she got on landed.

THE NEXT DAY Miriam Kamens, 10, was scheduled to fly from Boston to Cleveland. Instead, she wound up in Newark, N.J.

None of the parents are too happy about it. They paid a $75 unaccompainied minor fee, which means an escort and other procedures to prevent what just happened. Parents believe Continential is in CYA mode and giving them the runaround.

But, hey, they're getting their $75 fee refunded. There's a bigger question here too: would you let your 8- or 10-year-old fly alone? I probably would if I felt comfortable the airline had procedures in place to minimize risk. But I'm sure these parents felt comfortable too.

I'll say this for American Airlines. They may charge a ridiculous amount for luggage and they may still lose it, like on a complicated flight from Amarillo to Dallas, but they've yet to lose a child.

But give them time.