Two American women have had to put up with some inconvenience during their recent flights due to ticketing systems that assume they are babies.

Ms Mildred Kirschenbaum, 100, said her milestone birthday had caused some complications due to the formatting convention for passengers’ date of birth.

“The code is two digits for the month, two digits for the day, and two digits for the year,” she said in a video on the Instagram page of her filmmaker daughter Gayle Kirschenbaum.

“I was born in 1923. So I put in 23,” she said, adding that this has made her an “unescorted minor” according to the airline’s ticketing system.

“The supervisor has to come. And they have to see me right through security. No one seems to know how to correct it.

“I’m going through my second childhood,” she quipped.

The Florida centenarian is something of a jet-setter, taking multiple flights even after turning 100. These include a trip to London in September 2023 for a transatlantic cruise and a quick stopover in New York for an appearance on a talk show just last week.

Her daughter told People Magazine the mix-up happens every time her mother flies, no matter how they book the flight.

Delta Airline, a favourite of both mother and daughter, told People Magazine that because of how several legacy, industry-wide back-end booking systems are built, the field for customers’ birth year allows the input of only the last two digits instead of all four.

While the design flaw does add to her waiting time, the elder Ms Kirschenbaum is not too miffed.

“I allow myself a half hour at the counter, I’m not going to get myself worked up with it,” she said.

Another centenarian frequent flyer Patricia told the BBC she faces the same problem: American Airlines’ system cannot register that she was born in 1922 – not 2022 – when she fills in her year of birth during the booking process.

The 101-year-old, who declined to give her last name, said: “It was funny that they thought I was only a little child and I’m an old lady!”

The former nurse was accompanied by her daughter on a flight when a BBC reporter witnessed the mix-up. She used to fly solo before she turned 97.

Patricia hopes the glitch can be fixed to avoid added hassle.

On one occasion, airport staff did not have transport ready for her inside the terminal as they were expecting a baby who could be carried.

“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.