My oldest flew alone at younger than that. They are never really alone of course. They are handed off personally to an airline employee in charge of them, and that person personally hands them off to the adult picking them up. I put her on a red eye, so she'd likely sleep the whole way. I also put her in a pullup, just in case. She did great.

It's hard to imagine a kid that age flying alone these days, but I'd say it depends on how ready you feel she is. I'm 40 and any time I've flown, it's been with my mom/other family members (just because that's who I've always gone on vacation with!). So, I have yet to have even flown on my own! I'm not sure how I would have handled it at 9, but I probably would have been okay...I was allowed to stay home alone when I was 12 and my brother was 8. The world can just be a scary place, so I'd weigh out the pros and cons. Hope this helps! :)

I can't imagine her flying alone. My grandson and I traveled many times when he was her age but I would never allow him to fly alone. He loved flying but he would not have stayed seated or rested during the flight had i not been with him and talked to him, rubbed his back and arms (soothing) and gave him gummies to chew to keep his ears opened. Walking off the plane would have been different if he was alone because he always wanted to walk very fast.