Miami International Airport and American Airlines teamed up to give a group of children with special needs the chance to see the behind-the-scenes operations of an airport and to experience the wonder of going on a flight from start to finish. There was excitement and joy as the children were given a tour at MIA, Thursday morning. “I get to sit here,” Daniel Duque said. “I had to do it with my parents.” Duque is one of the many children with special needs who got a tour on board an American Airlines aircraft. He was able to test out a seat in first class. “It’s pretty cool, it’s like a starship from ‘Star Wars,'” he said. During their tour, the children practiced entering the airport, received boarding passes, walked through security and boarded an American Airlines plane with the airline’s gate agents and flight crews. “We had a general, like how [an] airport works,” Dylan Sabina said. “We are excited to have all of these wonderful students, as well as their teachers,” said Dr. Diane Adreon, Associate Director of UM-NSU CARD.” In partnership with the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, MIA has hosted tours for more than 200 children with special needs. “More than 200 young people just like you have taken this tour to practice moving through the airport,” said Ken Pyatt, Deputy Director of Operations at MIA. The program also teaches workers at MIA. “Team members working today are getting invaluable training on how to best interact with individuals of all abilities,” said Julie Hughes, Managing Director of Customer Care of American Airlines. As for Duque, who went on an aircraft for the first time, he is no longer afraid of flying. “Think of it this way, you can have a great view of everything,” he said. “If we don’t travel, we have to see the world.”