American Airlines offers a mock traveling experience so parents of autistic children can get a trial run at traveling by airplane. After a two-year break, American Airlines has rebooted its “It’s Cool To Fly American” program to give hundreds of families with children on the autism spectrum some real-life airport and airplane experience.
Children with autism can have behavioral and sensory issues that can make travel especially challenging. And airports can seem chaotic even for people without these issues, so the program gives parents a real-life scenario to gauge how their child will react.
Parents and children participating in the program go through security, wait for the plane, and board. Then the plane does a half-hour taxi, speeding up and then slowing down before returning to the gate. The program does a lot to help families of autistic children to learn how their child might react to air travel, but it also gives American Airlines crews first-hand experience in serving families with special needs.
American Airlines hosts the free program just once a year at nine airports across the country.
Source: CBS Local DFW