<p>American Airlines cabin crew were expecting to look after a baby on board a flight from Chicago to Marquette, Michigan, this weekend.</p><p>But sitting in the seat designated for the infant, they instead found a 101-year-old woman, according to a <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wz7pvvjypo" rel=" nofollow" target="_blank">BBC reporter</a> who was also on the flight.</p><p>The centenarian, named Patricia, had booked the seat for an adult but laughed off the incident with the confused cabin crew.</p><div><p>Patricia, who didn't want her surname to be shared, told the BBC: "It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I'm an old lady!"</p><p>But she said it wasn't the first time <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-new-collection-premium-amenities-bedding-front-row-suite-2024-4" rel="" target="_blank">American Airlines</a> had mistaken her for a baby.</p><p>Patricia, who flies every year to visit family, said the airline's booking system couldn't seem to process the fact that she was born in 1922 rather than 2022.</p><p>"My daughter made the reservation online for the ticket, and the computer at the airport thought my birth date was 2022 and not 1922," she said.</p><p>During a previous trip, the BBC reported, the glitch meant that airport staff met Patricia after a flight without a pre-arranged wheelchair, thinking that they would just transport a baby through the terminal.</p><p>"The same thing happened last year, and they were also expecting a child and not me," Patricia said.</p><p>She had to wait on the plane until all other passengers had disembarked while they brought her a wheelchair, the BBC reported.</p><p>"I would like them to fix the computer as my poor daughter had to carry all our luggage and apparel almost a mile from one gate to the other," she said.</p><p>American Airlines didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.</p><p>Airlines are increasingly adopting automation across their systems to make operations more efficient, and passengers mostly embrace the convenience that technology brings to their travel experiences.</p><p> In the latest annual <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-airlines-americas-favorite-travel-customer-satisfaction-index-2024-4" rel="" target="_blank">American Customer Satisfaction Index</a>, app services, ease of making reservations, and airlines' websites were the factors that customers were most satisfied with when traveling with US airlines.</p><p>But while technology generally makes operations smoother and more efficient, glitches routinely pop up, often affecting more <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-chaos-disabled-passengers-says-pilot-helped-off-flight-2022-7" rel="" target="_blank">vulnerable passengers</a> with special requirements.</p><p>Errors with technology have also caused serious disruption to global travel.</p><p>A glitch in the UK's national automatic flight-planning system last August left <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-traffic-control-problems-delays-travel-chaos-holiday-weekend-uk-2023-8" rel="" target="_blank">air traffic controllers processing flights by hand</a>. The issue led to more than 1,500 flight cancellations across Europe.</p><p>In 2022, 12,000 <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-flights-pilots-scheduled-glitch-labor-shortage-travel-disruption-2022-7" rel="" target="_blank">American Airlines flights were left without pilots</a> after a glitch allowed them to drop assignments. The airline had to offer pilots triple pay to cover the fallout.</p></div>