E

This is definitely a trollish thread, but here goes anyway...
Could we agree that 1) in a crash, kids are safer in their own seat, and that 2) parents should keep their kids from bothering other passengers to the extent that this is possible?

suze

E- I agree that would definitely be an improvement!

ahhnold

SanParis is correct. Young children end up on parents lap regardless if they are in a reserved seat.

Not to condone not buying a seat, but that is what usually happens on a flight.

sam

SAnParis - You just don't get it. During take-off and landing especially, and times of turbulence, the child should be in their own seat and buckled, for everyone's safety. During the flight, and the Captain has said that it's okay to get up and move around, then I would probably hold the child most of the time too, and I sure would breast-feed in front of you too, hope you don't mind, oh and I weigh about 300 pounds and take up more than my fair share of my seat and maybe some of yours too, but I'm sure you won't mind. Have a nice long flight, and don't expect me to buy a second seat for my fat bulging belly either, it costs too much. I suppose if I can't afford it then I shouldn't go, or I should leave my fat belly at home

TheWeasel

So anyway, getting back to gyppielou.... yeah, that would suck being stuck next a heavy person with a kid on their lap kicking you the whole time. For free. I hope it happened on the way out, so you at least had happy things to look forward to. At least if they had a seat for the kid (even if they didn't use it), you would've had a buffer zone.

Did you figure out how get some revenge at some point, or did you just have to suffer the whole time?

Orcas

We flew when our kids were quite young and could not afford to buy them seats. Plus, as has been stated, they would have wound up in our laps anyways, during a long flight. We flew to visit my parents. My father was in a wheel chair and getting to our place was difficult for him. Our kids behaved well nearly all the time. The only time we had a problem was when we experienced a major flight delay that meant sitting in the airport for 5 hours and then having the flight changed so we had an out-of-the-way stopover, meaning what was to have been a 5 hour flight took 12 hours. By the end, my daughter had had it and was crying, which is what we all wanted to do.

Anyway, point is, people should try to be understanding and supportive. Almost everyone I have seen flying with children has done their best to keep the kids entertained and happy, and problems are rare.

I experience more problems with people putting their seatbacks into my lap on planes because the seats are too close together; stuffy and disgusting smelling air that is low on oxygen; and overly large people spreading into my seat. Let's face it, flying these days is to be endured. It helps to go in with a good attitude. Also, it doesn't seem right to generalize from one or two bad experiences. It is easy to criticize until you have your own children....

GoTravel

71% of the people in airplane crashes survive the initial crash. The majority of fatalities happen after the plane crashes.

SAnParis

My wife breast feeds on planes all the time, suffice it to say that would be difficult to do w/a child in a car seat. I've not once said that it isn't safer to have a child in their own seat, in the proper mechanism. On that point (& that point only) we agree. However, from a practical side of things, sometimes we don't live in a perfect world. The sad thing is that extremists' (I am refering to sam here)like yourself, only see issues in black & white which in turn cause many of our problems. I'll agree w/Orcas...we would all prefer not to sit next to the screaming child, the over-weight person or the 'chatty Kathy' on a plane for our own obvious, selfish reasons. But doesn't that person(s) have the same right to be on the plane as you do ? I guess the most disturbing thing is that some people are unable to have an intelligent conversation, have differing viewpoints or opinions, & just agree to disagree... Without getting mad, vindictive or psycho. GoT, does whatever you're referencing give any kind of stats on kids injuries/fatalities in seats v. w/out seats ?

Cassandra

I used the JetBlue crash simply to help people imagine just how hazardous it would be to have un-belted children in a crisis, not as an example of people who actually had kids in their lap on the JetBlue. That said, I can't imagine believing a child stuffed between my feet would be adequately safe in a violent landing or, worse, crash!

Yes, let's agree that kids should have their own seats, esp. for take-off, landing, turbulence, or emergencies; and yes, let's agree parents should be responsible for their kids' having appropriate behavior with respect to traveling with others.

karens

Me, too. I'll agree: Secure the kids and EVERYONE should be courteous to others.

I've never actually experienced a "bad" kid on a plane, except for one time, and that was my own. Thankfully, it was an isolated incident and he's flown at least 8 times since then with appropriate behavior. (Sometimes we do learn what works only after we first learn what doesn't!)

The most obnoxious person I sat near was a kid - who was 20 y.o. She was sitting b/w her parents and put her seat so far back I barely had any room - and I weigh 104 lbs. She even did this during taxing for take-off (the FA's were already secured in their seats, so they didnt' see it). I asked her politely to put her seat up and she asked me Why. I told her we were on an active runway. She replied that as soon as the plane started moving, she would put it up. I very cautiously told her that perhaps she was unaware of just how little room was available when the seat was all the way back. She replied - Why, yes she did know b/c her dad was experiencing that problem!! OK - she knows it's bad, her parents know it's bad and no one suggested that maybe she could put hers up a tinsy bit - when it was supposed to be up IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Sigh. The riff-raff we all have to fly with.

Judy24

Here’s my 5 cents: We live in a world with babies, toddlers, adolescents, teens, young adults, middle aged adults, older adults and senior citizens. Sometimes people behave calmly and quietly and sometimes they’re cranky--no matter what their age. (And I don’t for one minute believe that a cranky child on an airplane is always the result of poor parenting skills.) Therefore, we all just have to learn to accommodate each other and recognize that it’s a two way street. If I as a passenger encounter a cranky toddler, I would at least hope that the parent would be making a good faith effort to keep the child from annoying me. That’s all anyone can ask for.

Another point

Ahhnold says: "SanParis is correct. Young children end up on parents lap regardless if they are in a reserved seat.

Not to condone not buying a seat, but that is what usually happens on a flight."


What you say is true—but it's not the whole story. Even if the child does end up on the parent’s lap, it's usually not the entire time, and they still have the option of placing the child in his/her own seat upon takeoff and landing or if the child wants to nap or play quietly. But the most important aspect is that by having a seat for the child next to the parent, it usually means that another passenger is probably not stuck sitting directly next to the parent holding the child who may be encroaching on the other passenger’s space.

sam

Here's an interesting article from an airline publication.

http://www.avweb.com/newswire/9_43a/.../185896-1.html

Wednesday

I have had good and bed experiences flying with children on board, but one thing I wonder about, that another poster mentioned not wanting to pay alot....why would/should child seats cost less than adults ? On my last flight from SLC to MCO recently, with all pushing of the attendant buttons, and the "I want, I wants" for hours, these seats required MORE attention and time that other passengers. Why should they cost less ?