Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

Precisely the reason I will be driving everywhere until my son is at least 10!

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

I think the 24 hour No Fly ban was absolutely excessive.
What did Airtran do about that? Pay for their hotel accomodations? Probably not.

If it was my son, he'd be in his seat end of story. I can and have removed him from under things while he was throwing a tantrum hitting me. Get him buckled and pull it tight. And he can keep crying til he forgets why he even started.
When they are as far gone as they describe here, there is no "talking to them". A meltdown is a meltdown its not about being spoiled, sometimes hearing "no" or any kind of reasoning from a parental figure at that point would make it even worse.

But if the parents were unable to get her in her seat, then I guess I have to side with the Airline.

Hey and what about the last flight I took with my son. The one where he was strapped into his seat behaving nicely until WE had to wait 15 additional minutes for some beyotch to get on the plane? Where was she? Not on the plane, not in her seat... she shouldn't have been allowed to board IMO.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

according to the news this morning the child didn't want to take her seat. they said the child was too old to sit on the mother's lap for the flight

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

As a mother myself I think there are too many rude inconsiderate parents on this planet that don't think their loud, crying, talking, screaming, whatever child is disruptive to others. I can't believe how many people in movie theaters let their kids cry, how about in church? Last year I shushed a woman & her toddler that were talking in a regular voice throughout the entire palm sunday mass. When it was over she confornted me & yelled at ME & told me church is for children.
IMO too many people think the world revolves around their rotten kids, what ever happened to children are to be seen & not heard?
Kids today are not taught self control.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

I understand both sides. Yes kids cry, but honestly if I were on a plane with a kid screaming and having a tantrum I would be so annoyed. And so would all the people around who wanted to have a quiet flight. So either you let the child fly and not upset the family or you make everyone else around them upset.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

This is a long one, so bear with me....

I worked a flight last year where the same situation occurred- except it happend on landing. The girl was about 4. Her parents initially wanted her on her mother's lap so she could nurse.... When I explained the laws (children 2 and up must be in there own seat), I got the usual eye roll and sigh, but they complied.

The kid screamed and kicked the whole way up to cruising altitude. Unpleasant, but at least she was safely in her seat. She was allowed on her mother's lap, nursing, for most of the flight. If her mother had to get up to use the restroom,the kid would FLIP out. So much so that I truly thought there was something truly WRONG with this kid.

On landing, they again insisted she be on her mom's lap. I again explained the reason she needed to be in her seat. This time they were adamant- saying "She will hurt herself- she was choking herself with the seatbelt before." I told them to switch seats, one parent on each side, so they could more easily control her (keep her in her seat). Mind you, at this point I figured we were not dealing with a spoiled child, but a child with emotional/mental issues, so I handled it with kid gloves....

Her father called me an effing nazi (nice). The kid was COMPLETELY out of control, writhing, screaming, flailing- so much so that the CAPTAIN could hear what was going on up front and called back to ask if we were killing kids or something.... She landed in her seat, but was up running around while we were taxiing to the gate (yes, the parents allowed this).

The Captain made the decision to have the family pulled when we arrived (they were supposed to go on with us on another flight), for the simple reason that this child was completely out of control, and the parents seemed hellbent on doing what they wanted anyway. They weren't banned from flying, but were sent on the next flight, with a toddler carseat, complements of the airline.

That, by far, was the worst experience I've ever had regarding kids and parents in 14 years of flying. I sympathize with the crew on that AirTran flight. There are laws that we need to follow. If we allow them to be bent or broken, WE (the crew) are held personally liable if it goes reported to the FAA.

6 months after this incident, my company received a letter from the father. Thankfully, I had also received numerous good letters from passengers on that flight, so I had people supporting my side. He was threatening to sue my company if we didn't pay X amount of money for causing them stress. He also said he was going to go to the news stations and tell them how my airline doesn't allow mothers to NURSE their babies....

Amazing the spin people will put on things......

Sorry so long- but that news story made me shudder......

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

Based on the articles I read.... all I have to say is to the airline.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.

I don't know if I think it was good or not. I guess it is a good point that the child could have been ill and it is better not to have her on the plane. But if that were the case, if that is why she was removed, then the airline should have made that clear to the parents.

It sounds like she was removed because she was distrupting the other passengers.

Also -if it is unsafe for the little girl - meaning if she wouldn't sit down - then I also think it was good she was removed.

Re: Cryng child and her parents removed from flight.