An Australian airline 's policy prohibiting male passengers from sitting next to kids traveling alone has fueled a social media firestorm and caused the company to review the rule . `` I am an emergency service worker when I 'm off that plane , but as soon as I boarded it I was a presumed pedophile , '' firefighter Johnny McGirr told CNN Australian affiliate Network Ten . While on a Virgin Australia flight earlier this year , he was seated next to two young boys traveling alone until he says a flight attendant asked him to trade seats with a woman . TSA to investigate racial profiling claims . `` It was interesting , like I had done something wrong . Really embarrassed , '' said McGirr . He was on a flight from Brisbane to his home in Sydney . Virgin Australia said its long-standing policy , initially based on customer feedback , allowed for unaccompanied children to sit next to women or an empty seat . `` In light of recent feedback , we 're now reviewing this policy , '' it said on its blog . `` Our intention is certainly not to discriminate in any way . '' In the United States , no major airline prohibits men from sitting next to unaccompanied minors . `` Airlines are acting as custodians of unaccompanied minors , and therefore have the ability to move them to a different seat if they believe that is in their best interest , '' a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman told CNN . `` However , DOT has statutes prohibiting airlines from having discriminatory seating policies , including on the basis of gender or age . ... Therefore , airlines can not have policies forcing a man to move if seated next to an unaccompanied minor , but they can , if they choose , have policies requiring an unaccompanied minor to be moved if he/she is originally seated next to an adult male . '' Airlines CNN contacted said they take other steps to ensure the safety of children traveling alone . On United Airlines `` there is no specific seating policy , '' airline spokesman Joe Micucci told CNN . `` That said , United has an overlapping security approach designed to ensure the safety and security of unaccompanied minors . '' On Southwest Airlines , which does not have assigned seats , unaccompanied minors are seated near the front of the cabin , according to Whitney Eichinger , Southwest Airlines spokeswoman . `` We do not restrict who sits next to an unaccompanied minor , but our flight attendants do check on them frequently in flight . '' `` We defer to the expertise of our trained gate agents and crew members who are tasked with ensuring the safety and security of all of passengers . '' US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie Jr. told CNN . `` We also intentionally do not announce the boarding of unaccompanied minors so as not to draw unwanted attention to children traveling alone . '' The time I lost my kid in public . British Airways updated its unaccompanied minor seating policy in 2010 after a lawsuit accusing the airline of discriminating against men . `` We have a specific seating department that follows guidelines to ensure that we place an unaccompanied minor in an appropriate seat , spokeswoman Caroline Titmuss said . `` On some services , this will be in a specially created unaccompanied minors zone within a short distance of the cabin crew in the galley . '' Virgin Australia 's policy to prevent men from sitting next to the unaccompanied minors has supporters , including John Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States . `` We 're trying to prevent child victimization , '' he said . `` We know the overwhelming majority of sex offenders are male , so by removing that situation you 're lowering the risk . '' Australian airline Qantas also has come under fire for a similar policy prohibiting men from sitting next to unaccompanied minors . The airline declined to comment . Are you a window flier or aisle seater ?
Man said he was asked to trade seats with a woman . He had been sitting next to unaccompanied children on flight . Comment: No major U.S. carriers have such a policy .