http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/...ight24.article

. . . I'm behind AirTran on this one. I have a feeling these are "time out chair" parents, and this is the inevitable result.

I am with you LT. If I had a screaming unruly kid by me and the plane was already delayed 15 minutes because of it I would be tempted to shut that kid up myself.
And I don't think the airline should have compensated them so well.

Long discussion at :http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34933817

I'm totally with AirTran. Bravo!!!

I can't believe they offered three roundtrip tickets ... and the father still said he'd never fly them again! I love this part, too: "Julie and Gerry Kulesza, who were headed home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers, said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly. ''We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything,'' Julie Kulesza said.
They didn't have time to "console" the kid and get her in the seat? Doesn't AirTran let passengers with little kids pre-board? And how hard is it for a parent to strap the kid in?

And why is it that they won't hold a flight for 3 minutes if you're rushing to make a connection yet this brat held the plane for 15 minutes???

I can smell the lawsuit. It's an FAA rule you have to be buckled in for take-off. After they were told the 2nd time they should have been booted from the plane rather than hold it up for 15 minutes.

Before we get off and running on this one here, note that the US thread already has 160 posts, and the only truly reliable and applicable comment has turned out to be: "I wonder what the passengers around the family have to say about what happened."

Nobody cared to donate $5 for a martini to calm this baby down? Where is Wally these days?

Faina, that's Wally's problem with US carriers and domestic travel.

If it were an overseas flight on BA the kid coulda got a free drink and the seat belt sign wouldn't be on nearly as much.

"Nobody cared to donate $5 for a martini to calm this baby down? Where is Wally these days? "

Does AirTran even sell alcohol?

Wally doesn't give out $5 bills, but he would have given the baby a sip of his rum in his ziplock bag.

Well, I have to agree with AirTran's initial decision too, but LT's comment:

"I have a feeling these are 'time out chair' parents, and this is the inevitable result"

I've got news for LT. Spanking a hysterical child gets you no-where. And children will have tantrums whatever your discipline method.

Christy, I didn't read where the OP suggested spanking a hysterical child.

Wally, that would be a lot easier than trying to share your rum with a hundred or so passangers so they could sleep through the ordeal.

This type of situation has happened periodically on some of my flights. The parents think that "its all about them" and their "darling child". Kudos to Air Tran for giving them a wakeup call. Children need to know their limits and respect authority. On a recent flight of mine, the parents said that their daughter would not listen to me about sitting in her seat and putting her seatbelt on for takeoff. The mother said that "Lindsey" would probably listen to the captain if he came back and told her to put her seatbelt on. I replied"the captain is very busy trying to push back and put the plane in the air" to which the mother replied that she didn't know if Lindsey would listen to her. Duh? Lindsey was 5!!!

Dutyfree - it makes you wonder if they have a "Captain Hotline" for bedtimes...

"Hello, Captain Hotline? Yes, my 5 year old daughter won't go to bed, can you send an Airline Captain here immediately. No, I'm sorry, she won't listen to a Ship Captain; it must be an Airline Captain. 3 hour wait? Oh, but this is an emergency situation. Yes, very dire. We're trying to get pregnant, but she keeps coming in our room and jumping on the bed. We tried that, she just came into that room also. I'm sorry? Oh, yes we have a dog. Yes, he has a doghouse in the backyard. But it's raining. Well, yes, we really do want to get pregnant again. But the Airline Captain will be here in 3 hours? OK, then, I guess a few hours won't hurt. $395? Do you accept FF miles? Oh, I didn't realize bedtimes were blacked out. OK then, it will be credit card. Yes, if he goes to the doghouse first, we'll have the credit card with us. Thank you."

Someone told me the parents are suing. I hope that's not true but suspect it is.

Parents need to discuss flying with their children before the fly. If they have reason to believe their child will not behave accordingly, they need to find a different mode of transportation.

Can you imagine if you were flying out of a busy airport like LHR, and that one child caused the airplane to miss their slot in the take-off schedule?

Carrybean - I can't believe they'd get anything if they did. The airline has already offered far more in compensation that a lawsuit would get them.

Actually, maybe it will be a good thing if they do sue. They'd lose completely and would then have spent so much money on the lost lawsuit that they wouldn't be able to afford air travel again for years.

I don't think (and certainly hope) they don't get anything & doubt they'll have to pay if they lose since the attorney probably took it on a contingency basis.

I can sympathize with parents of a baby, there is nothing you can do, but a 3 year old? I have traveled all my life (starting at 1.5 yrs), and my parents would never have tolerated this behavior from me (I don't from my kids). I hope they never fly Airtran again - but I will.