A classic case where there is more than enough blame to go around.
(One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons is of a guy coming out of a meeting room saying to another "Good news…there wasn’t enough blame to go around. ) 
Airlines should make it a rule that they will fly unaccompanied minors providing they are escorted to the boarding gate by a guardian.
@Kajon - again, different countries, different rules. Airlines cannot dictate to each country what the rules should be in their particular international airport. They can choose to abide by them or choose not to fly unaccompanied minors.
ETA: And as @PrimeMeridian correctly pointed out, in a lot of other countries passengers must go through immigration before heading to the departure gate. I can easily envision a scenario where the family accompanied the child to immigration, presented their credentials and when all was checked, handed the child off to the airline employee.
Cross-posted with @PrimeMeridian 
This may be possible for US domestic flights, but not doable for international flights departing from some countries, as per post #33.
The US is the only country I’ve flown out of that doesn’t have immigration exit control. Most other countries won’t let you pass Immigration control without a boarding pass and an exit stamp in your passport.
I was allowed to accompany my 8 year old niece to the boarding gate for her international flight home. But I had to ask and they said yes. They could have said no. There’s a lot that is just not in our control and knowing that, I would not send a 5 year old on a flight alone. I can understand that some people have to though.
Just because one ‘can’, doesn’t mean one ‘should’.
A 5 year old as an UAM…qualifies as the latter.
A lawsuit against JetBlue will probably cause a change in airline policy - no more UAM’s under the age of X…where X is greater than 5.
I would never have allowed any of my children to fly alone at that age. I can’t imagine why any responsible parent would. I don’t care if there is supposed to be a designated adult responsible for them. And if it’s part of a divorce decree, then one parent, or other relative, should be making the effort to fly with the child.
I worked for a personal injury lawyer for a year or so many years ago. Based on that experience, my guess would be “emotional pain and suffering.” The child or parents or both have PTSD from the experience, etc.
I wonder if the boys have the same or similar first names…‘Tommy, time to get on the plane’ wrong boy goes…
Whether kid was 5, 8 or 12 is irrelevant - the parents paid the airline for a service and they failed to deliver. You had one job …
I never had to make use of this - though I think my kids flew direct to FL to visit their grandparents when they were about 10 - but there were 2 of them, which makes all the difference!
I agree ^^^. I would never have put my 5 year old on an international flight alone, but that’s really beside the point. The airline offered this “perk,” accepted a fee to deliver, and screwed it up royally.
My D starting flying Jet Blue from Austin to Boston and back for summer camp as an unaccompanied minor at age 10 and not only did they have the rule that the child had to be escorted to gate and stay until the plane took off but they were very strict on checking id’s and would only allow children to fly unaccompanied on direct flights.
I agree that since the flight was from outside the US the grandparents were likely not allowed to go to the gate.
The airline offered a service,and it did not hold up its end of the contract. Yes, she can sue for emotional distress, not whether she will get anything is a different issue, but she has grounds.
My two girls flew on American once, they were 14 and 11. I didnt want to pay for the unaccompanied minor charge, but was told the 14 yr old was not old enough to watch the 11 year old. Once my kids landed, I found out that American really didnt watch them at all! I promptly call customer service and got a refund of the fee I had been charged.
3scoutsmom - was your camper accompanied by anyone from the camp? My kids flew to summer camp as well (ORD-MPL) but there were counselors in charge of them as there were a whole slew of kids from our metro area. Pity the poor fellow passengers who get caught on flights with a bunch of excited chatty campers!
I’m not so sure about the account the family of the boy in OP’s story wasn’t accompanied to the gate as several posters here have stated.
According to the local news reports here in NYC, the family concerned not only accompanied the child in question to the gate, but waited half an hour after the plane took off to ensure he was on the flight and that it took off without incident.
In short, the overwhelming onus for this screwup is on Jetblue…not the family or parents involved who did everything they could including paying $100 for one of their employees to accompany the child to ensure he reaches his correct destination.
@Pizzagirl No, she was flying up for Girl Scout Camp. When we moved from the Boston area to Texas the only thing my D was concerned about was that she wouldn’t be able to return to her beloved Girl Scout camp. I promised her we’d find way. Every summer she’s flown up was picked up from the airport by her BF and her parents and then they went to camp together. This summer she was a camp counselor there.
Was there a connection? Because if the above is true, surely the parents would have noticed they were at the wrong gate for the wrong flight.
The gate the family accompanied the child to before handing him off to the Jetblue employees responsible for getting him on the right flight may have been a general gate beyond which only ticketed passengers would be allowed past…including children.
After the handoff to Jetblue reps responsible for ensuring the children are directed to correct flights and accompanied by an adult chaparone, mixups could have happened at immigration exit control or during the stage of assigning Jetblue chaperones to each child and directing children onto individual flights.
Mixups which would be the complete responsibility of the Jetblue employees at the point the family handed off the child to the Jetblue reps at the gate.
With all the security and check and double check, mix ups at hospitals still happen and babies get switched. I’d think the boys wouldn’t even know there was a problem, the airline just put them on another flight and switched them back. I don’t think it was that big a deal.
I’ve seen the fights in court too where a child is required to travel to visit a NCP. In the case I heard, the father booked a non-direct flight because it was cheaper, and the mother/grandparents wanted an order that the child, who was about 7 or 8, to only be on a non-stop flight, which I agreed to and ordered. I remember the ticket was about $400 and that was 30 years ago. It was a very large expense for the family, and there is no way they could have afforded an extra ticket for an adult to accompany her there and then either stay for 2+ weeks or fly back, and then fly there to bring her back.
I did know a family who could afford that. When the little girl went to visit her father and his family, her maternal grandmother would accompany her, stay in an hotel for a week, and then they’d fly back. The grandmother got along fine with the father and his family (mother didn’t) so it was not a burden. Many divorces are not cordial in any way, and they don’t work together to make visitations work in the best way.
May have, might have, etc. Earlier you said they accompanied the child directly to the gate and watched the plane take off. I get the idea that you really have no idea what actually happened.
In any case, I agree that the airline is ultimately at fault since, clearly, the right child did not arrive at the right destination. If the parents sue, I predict that the airline will open up their checkbook and settle out of court.