Should kids be able to fly on an airplane?

[columbia]

[grunthy]

I'd never considered they would go onto the plane before playing the family card. I guess not piping up until the last possible moment gives them leverage. When I complained about it, I was talking about them hassling the folks the gate.

Yeah, if you wait until you're actually on the plain to say anything, you're a jackwagon of a family.

Yeah definitely if you wait till being on the plain, but what about if you wait till your on the plane?

[count2infinity]

You're all banned.

[tifosi77]

non-mechanical reason

Seems reasonable actually. What other non-mechanical reasons are there for delay that one would think are more common?

The pilot actually just said "the biggest reason". I included non-mechanical because I hadn't fact checked it.

Other common delays would be weather (which is technically a departure delay, but has the same effect), clustered ground traffic, passenger illness, late arrival of your aircraft on its preceding route, etc.

[tifosi77]

I'd never considered they would go onto the plane before playing the family card. I guess not piping up until the last possible moment gives them leverage. When I complained about it, I was talking about them hassling the folks the gate.

It's happened two times to me post-boarding, and it has happened to Mrs Tif probably 11 or 12 times (she travels, for work, a lot more than I do).

Wait until you've boarded, that way you can give a personal plea to the actual passenger you are displacing.

[Shyster]

I could understand in the small-child context, but why else would someone need to sit next to family members? So they can annoy other passengers who are stuck listening to the jibber-jabber? If you need something to do, bring a book, Kindle, Gameboy, whatever, and then shut the heck up.

[PFiDC]

I could understand in the small-child context, but why else would someone need to sit next to family members? So they can annoy other passengers who are stuck listening to the jibber-jabber? If you need something to do, bring a book, Kindle, Gameboy, whatever, and then shut the heck up.

I'm pretty sure most if not all agree with this.

[Craig]

I sleep most of the trip. The reason i want to sit with my fiancee is so that i can impose on her personal space and thus increase my own comfort.

[columbia]

Get a room.

[tifosi77]

"Impose upon her personal space"

[dodint]

*smirk*

http://www.coveragemail.com/news/plane- ... ashington/

COUPEVILLE, WASHINGTON – Some passengers clapped after a 7-year-old and his family were removed from an Allegiant flight after he started experiencing allergic reactions, his mother, Christina Fabian, told KTVB.

“He began to get very itchy and he was scratching all over. He started to get hives, so we informed the flight attendant who informed us that there’s dogs on every flight and just smirked, which minimized his experience for me,” said Fabian.

The allergic reaction delayed take off, and soon the family was told they’d have to deboard.

“We understood. They helped us off the plane, but as we gathered our stuff the people toward the back of the plane clapped,” said Fabian.

What passengers on the flight didn’t know is the trip to Bellingham was on a bucket list. It was a chance to visit family for a very important reason.

“My dad is sick with stage four throat cancer,” said Giovanni.

Alvarado’s cancer is terminal and with time running out, the trip was supposed to be a special one.

“To make memories, and I am sad that this has to be a memory with my dad,” said Giovanni.

“As a dad I was just hopeless right there. I just looked at the people clapping. I was just shaking my head, I was like man lets get out of here,” said Alvarado.

As the family waits for the next flight, they try to turn something terrible into a teaching moment

“You don’t know how much time people have or why they are hurting. Just be nice. Be kind,” said Alvarado.

A cancer patient’s call for courtesy is the message he leaves behind as the family prepares to head home.

The airline, Allegiant, is in direct contact with the family and has offered their apologies for the negative experience and the inconvenience.

This story kind of has it all. A kid on a plane getting shafted, dogs somehow winning out over a kid, and the terminally ill relative that is usually the 'what if' scenario for dragging kids on a plane. It has something for for everyone.

Obviously I'm joking, 7 years is plenty old enough to me. I just don't think the people were clapping about the kid, I doubt they even knew about it. I'm sure they were just clapping because the delay was over. It was an Airbus A319, plenty big enough to not grasp the situation.

[tifosi77]

I saw this story earlier today, and lost a bet with myself. I figured someone else would post it and tag you wondering if you were in Washington today. lol

[dodint]

*smirk*

[dodint]

Was listening to a podcast this weekend, a major carrier pilot fielding all kinds of questions:

ZEKE MORGAN: Hey Freakonomics. My name is Zeke. I am a student in Waco, Texas and my question for the airline pilot is this: Why is there no kids’ seating on an airplane? It could be at the back of the plane separated by a thick curtain. And for any parents with young children, they could sit back there and at least spare most of the other passengers with their children’s noise. Let’s make this happen.

SMITH: Oh, trust me Zeke, you don’t want to go here. I recently did a blog post on AskThePilot.com about whether or not little children should be prohibited from business and first class. And, oh my God, the response I got, some of the letters, some of the hate mail I got, I was ready to ask for FBI protection. The almost violently angry letters I got from all the moms and dads out there who thought the idea was just insane. Kids’ class or family section — maybe that is an idea worth looking into. Something akin to the old smoking, non-smoking section. But don’t underestimate the hostility that comes with going anywhere near the idea of restricting kids on planes.
- http://freakonomics.com/podcast/pilot/

Sounds like parents are basically terrorists.

[columbia]

The problem would be solved if Zeke just donated to the Clinton Foundation.

[Kicksave]

Why does the family section have to be in the back? Why can't it be in the front? It's you trying to get away from the kids - not the other way around. /sic

[NTP66]

We need a poll asking which is worse on a plane, kids or adults (trick question - it's the adults).

[Kicksave]

A few weeks back when I had to fly to Dallas and back on the same day, the only time I was slightly annoyed by a kid was when the Parent's let this 2 year old walk up and down the aisle while boarding.

Pick up your kid, and GTFO of the way. No one wants to wait for you.

[dodint]

Why does the family section have to be in the back? Why can't it be in the front? It's you trying to get away from the kids - not the other way around. /sic

I read recently that coach flyers that have to walk through first class rate their overall experience on the flight as lower.

I posit that if I walked through the kid section while boarding I would rate a higher overall coach experience.

[NTP66]

The bulkhead areas are generally held for families if available. When we fly, if we're in coach, we're generally in the middle of the plane near the wing because you feel the turbulence less there.

[Orlando Penguin]

For those of you who don't like kids on planes...be glad you don't have my address. You can imagine how many kids I get on flights to and from. Fortunately, I pass out quick so I hardly notice them. Plus, they don't let em sit in the exit rows where I usually hide.

[NTP66]

Further proof that kids aren't the problem. Look at these clowns saving a seat for their carry on item.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

We need a poll asking which is worse on a plane, kids or adults (trick question - it's the adults).

Adults with children? I agree.

[NTP66]

We need a poll asking which is worse on a plane, kids or adults (trick question - it's the adults).

Adults with children? I agree.

I haven't had that experience yet (parents just letting their kids do stupid **** on a plane), personally. Every dadhole I've ever encountered on a plane was an adult.

[FistOfCaufield]

This topic shouldn't be about kids flying on an airplane. You know what you are going to get with a kid - it's how the parent handles it that influences the experience of other passengers.

If a baby is crying and I see the parents trying everything - I'm okay with that. I'll even help if I can. If a baby is crying and the parents have their headphones in, and pretty much ignoring everything - it's not the baby's fault... it's the parents apathy that makes me angry.