The program targets kids with autism and other disabilities with a trip through the airport and onto an American Airlines plane, hoping to calm anxieties for kids and parents alike.

SOURCE: American Airlines

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By Kyle Arnold

Plano’s Janet Diorio has been dreaming about a trip to California or Florida, but she has been too nervous to fly for years.

Not afraid of flying, per se. She worries about the ordeal it could create for her 8-year-old daughter Caroline, who has autism.

Diorio, along with her husband and Caroline’s twin brother Ryan, got a dry run for a future vacation Saturday at DFW International Airport, as American Airlines restarted a program that the COVID-19 pandemic put on a two-year pause. The “It’s Cool to Fly American Airlines” program is targeted toward special needs flyers who want practice with the travel experience.

“I want to go on vacation but I thought, ‘How am I going to get my daughter on a plane?” Diorio said. “Is she going to sit in her seat? Is she going to run up and down the aisles?”

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Tweet me: .@AmericanAir brought back practice flights for autistic, disabled passengers. The program targets kids with autism and other disabilities with a trip through the airport and onto a plane, hoping to calm anxieties for kids and parents alike. https://bit.ly/3r73Tqj

KEYWORDS: NASDAQ: AAL, American Airlines, The Dallas Morning News, Kyle Arnold, Janet Diorio, autism