American Airlines Handing out Junior Aviator Logbooks to Young Travelers

For many, flying with children is an overwhelming experience. Even though I've done it nearly 30 times with my two-year-old and six times with both my two-year-old and 12-week-old, it doesn't get easier. That's why it really makes a difference when an airline goes above and beyond to make flying with children a bit more fun.

Last weekend, my family flew from Dallas (DFW) to Washington, D.C. (DCA) on American — our eighth segment with AA this year as a family — and I was surprised to hear something new. Since I'm an Executive Platinum member, the flight attendant gave my family a little extra attention upon boarding. He also asked to see my kids' Junior Aviator Logbooks so he could give them to the crew to fill out. I said I didn't know what he meant, so he asked me to wait a minute and disappeared toward the back galley. Upon returning, he handed me two rather nicely printed blue logbooks with American Airlines Junior Aviator Logbook embossed on the front.

The logbooks include a nice note from Captain Kimball Stone, American's VP of Flight, welcoming your child on board and hoping to perhaps see them at the controls one day. Next are five pages identifying the individual planes in American's fleet, complete with airframe statistics. The book has space for 17 flights to be logged, with columns for the flight date, route, aircraft tail number, flight distance in nautical miles, crew signature and crew comments.

This is a really great idea from American, and I really wish I had done this for all of my kids' flights since they were born. These logbooks will be a fantastic collection of memories years in the future when, hopefully, your kids are taking you around the world on their points and miles. Make sure to ask the flight attendant on your next AA segment if they have them on board — along with a pair of matching kids' flight wings.

Has an airline ever improved your experience of flying with young children?