Imagine putting your child on an airplane and she doesn’t arrive at her destination? That’s exactly what one couple from San Francisco says happened to them.



They say United Airlines officials couldn’t tell them where their child was for almost an hour, once they did, the parents wanted answers as to how to could have happened.



But it wasn’t until NBC Bay Area got involved that they got any response from United.



We met up with 10-year-old Phoebe and her mom, Annie Klebahn at San Francisco International Airport this week.



She wanted to tell us the story of how, they say, United couldn’t find her daughter.



“They admitted that to us on the phone: ‘We don’t know where she is.’ I mean that is an unbelievable thing to tell a parent,” Annie said.



Annie says she’s telling her story to warn other parents. She also says she hopes to get United Airlines to change its policies.



It all started this past June, when Phoebe’s parents took her to SFO to fly tp camp in Traverse City, Michigan with a connection in Chicago.



Phoebe showed us the wrist band she got at the beginning flight trip to show, “you are in the care of United.“ Phoebe added.



The Klebahn’s paid $99 for that wristband and the “unaccompanied minor” service that goes with it so that an airline representative escorts the child during the trip.



Phoebe arrived in Chicago and had an hour to catch her connecting flight.

Here is where the system broke down.

“They called for accompany, um, – and no one came. They called several more times and told me to wait at front seat. When no one came after a while they told me to go out and wait by the lady who scans your tickets,” Phoebe said.



She waited and waited, until she missed her connecting flight. Then she says someone from United escorted her to a room for unaccompanied minor and she asked to call her parents to let them know she had missed the connecting flight.



“What did they say when you asked to call?” “They said we are busy – not now, wait a minute. And I kept waiting and asking – but never had time to call,” Phoebe said.



Phoebe didn’t have a cell phone, according to her mom, because she wasn’t supposed to be alone. She was supposed to be in the care of United Airlines.



“I got a frantic phone call from the camp counselor saying Phoebe’s not on the flight from Chicago,” Annie said.



For the next three hours Phoebe was waiting at United for someone to take her to her flight. Imagine though what was going on 2,000 miles away—as her parents were frantically trying to find her.



“Of course you can imagine!!!! Panicked,” Annie Klebahn said.



Annie says she immediately called United and was put on hold. 50 chaotic minutes later, and only with the help of her husband’s premier status, she found a United employee in Chicago who took the time to find her daughter.



“We got to talk to her, she was calm. That was great,” Annie Klebahn said.



Phoebe made it on the next flight and made it to camp. Her luggage though, took another three days.



“I just wore the same clothes,” Phoebe said.

It was after the panic, that Annie Klebahn started asking more questions of United and getting more alarmed by the answers.



“The flight was on-time, so what happened? The service that United uses is outsourced. They are the ones who didn’t show up,” Annie said.



Outsourced?

Annie said she and her husband had no idea that United outsourced the unaccompanied minor program to a company called “Air Serve.” In fact, even on the website, United says, “An airline representative will meet your child upon landing and escort your child.”



“We took her to the airport and entrusted United with her care,” Annie said.



So Annie wrote a letter to United about what happened, filed a complaint with the airline, and hoped for a replay, a change in policy and perhaps even an apology.



Six weeks went by.



“After Diane, you sent the email to United, we got a phone call within two hours. Pretty amazing on a Sunday. But it’s astounding for us to think that it takes NBC News sending an email to get United to actually respond to something,”Annie said.



United also emailed me saying:

“We reached out directly to the Klebahns to apologize and we are reviewing this matter. What the Klebahns describe is not the service we aim to deliver to our customers.



We are redepositing the miles used to purchase the ticket back into Mr. Klebahn’s account in addition to refunding the unaccompanied minor charge. We certainly appreciate their business and would like the opportunity to provide them a better travel experience in the future.“ Charles Hobart/United Airlines Spokesman

According to Annie that is not good enough.

“They need to have a dedicated phone line for parents so that they can find your child for you. They have to overhaul the program – too many risks not enough disclosure, “ Annie said.



But so far, United has not made any public changes.

“They lost her – lost not her n the traditional sense. But we had no idea where she was,” Annie said.



For now though, she is grateful to know exactly where her daughter is.



United’s unaccompanied minor program accepts children 5 to 11 years old. Just to be clear there was a United employee with Pheobe at all times.



The company that escorts the unaccompanied minors, Air Serv, did not get back to us.

Below is the letter Phoebe's parents sent to United's CEO, Jeff Smisek: