image credit: Mashed Musings

Kim sent me an article which deals with an interesting and touchy topic related to flying and children.

The Consumerist wrote a post:
“Are Crying Kids Reason To Be Booted From An Airplane? U.S. Airways Thinks So.”

Being a Dad, my immediate reaction is HELL NO! 

According to the Consumerist article one of their readers was boarding a U.S. Airways flight at JFK Airport with her 1 year old and 3 year old. The kid needed to be seated in car seats so Mom pre-boarded and took their seats in the bulkhead (the first row of coach).

The kids were settled in and waiting to depart when a flight attendant came over and said due to regulations on the aircraft, children were not allowed to sit in the bulkhead. This happened 30 minutes after general boarding had begun. When Mom asked about the regulation, the flight attendant did not explain what the problem was.The flight attendant then told the family to switch seats which was a whole to do- gathering up their things, unbuckling the car seats and getting them installed in the new seats etc… This was while general boarding was still going on. 

According to the article “My youngest began crying when a fellow passenger picked him up (without my permission) while I was attempting to configure his car seat in a new location.”

She tried to calm her son by getting a bottle out of the overhead bin by their original, bulkhead seats. This is when a flight attendant told the family to leave the plane due to the crying.

There is a bit more to the story. Read the rest of the details and also see U.S. Airways’ reaction to this situation here.

After reading this article multiple times I felt like it had that he said, she said element to it. Something doesn’t seem to add up with the details given. I guess only the people on the plane know exactly what happened.

Either way, in my opinion a crying child should never be a reason to kick a family off of a flight unless the crew feels like the child is sick and/ or can cause the plane to need to make an emergency landing.

When I read some of these airline/ flying related horror stories it makes me think how lucky Kim and I are. Lucas is a great flyer and hasn’t really inconvenienced anyone or cried much on any of our flights. Hopefully this pattern continues making for stress free travel!

While on the topic of traveling with kids, check out this post from Mommy Points:
Apparently Nursing on a Plane is Still Controversial

What are your thought regarding crying children on planes? Is it grounds for removal?
Does a mom breastfeeding her baby in public make you feel uncomfortable?