Source: Wall Street Journal
Author: Avery Johnson

As school vacations arrive, airlines are changing some of the ways they process unaccompanied children.

Late last year, the State Department tightened its restrictions for children to get passports. It's no longer good enough for a parent to apply for a passport in the child's name -- both parents and the child need to be present. If one parent comes alone, he or she needs to have a notarized form from the other parent.

As a result, many major airlines now are communicating that rule on expanded Web pages about traveling with children. US Airways has moved its online section on children to its front page. There, parents can book minors online and download and print out the forms they need to present for an unaccompanied child.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines has a program run by its pilots to greet children in designated holding areas where they wait for flights and talk to them about the plane. After giving the child an autograph, the pilot lets the flight attendant dial the child's parents from an onboard phone using the pilot's personal credit card.

At Delta Air Lines, service fees for solo children travelers have been raised to $50 one-way on all flights; it used to cost $40 one-way for direct flights, $75 for connecting flights and nothing for the shuttle.