Screaming 3 year old gets parents free airline tickets!

[Prairie Purrs]

If the flight was delayed 15 minutes, they may have had more than 15 minutes to get the kid in the seat, given that airlines allow parents with small children to board first. So it doesn't sound like the parents were making that much of an effort.

If parents want to conduct a Middle East-level negotiation whenever they need to coax their child into a car seat in the family vehicle, fine. But they certainly have no right to hold up a commercial flight when their parenting skills prove ineffective.

[Randi]

I'm glad to hear that they removed this family though, since even a 15 min. lateness can throw you off and add to your stress levels for catching a connecting flight - that and the fact that they were inconveniencing the other 112 people.

On the other hand, I do have sympathy for people whos kids just won't calm down - its one thing if you're in your car or at the mall and can go home, or take the time to calm down the kid, but entirely another in a forced public venue like a flight. So I think that the airline did right by reimbursing them the flight $, and they did fly home the next day. Like most of the other posts, the only thing thats annoying was the fact they were given free flight passes.

I totally agree with this!!

[lizbud]

If the flight was delayed 15 minutes, they may have had more than 15 minutes to get the kid in the seat, given that airlines allow parents with small children to board first. So it doesn't sound like the parents were making that much of an effort.

If parents want to conduct a Middle East-level negotiation whenever they need to coax their child into a car seat in the family vehicle, fine. But they certainly have no right to hold up a commercial flight when their parenting skills prove ineffective.

I do also. I have flown with a toddler before & I know what it's like. Did
you see the interview with the mother?

[Catlady711]

Did you see the interview with the mother?

No I didn't. But from what I read on other columns about her comments, sounded like she was being about as whiney as the toddler.

[RICHARD]

The mother was an AH that did all the talking while daddy stood off to the side and smiled in the interview.

They should have tossed the kid in the overhead bin and made the mom go with the luggage.

NExct time they should go to AVIS-two days driving with that little twerp will teach them.

[Cataholic]

The irony of letting parents with small children board first is lost on people that don't have children. The very LAST thing someone with a toddler wants is 'extra' time for their child to be seated. Toddlers don't sit well. They don't stand well, they don't stand still, etc. They are toddlers, not mini-adults. Most of us with children can roll eyes at what these parents were up against, but, most of us have also been there, too. I actually researched flights for what would best fit my chid's nap schedule, trying to consider the other passengers on the plane. As mentioned above, I scored on the flight out. Not on the flight back. He he he...living with children, just part of the joy of parenting.


When I flew in July, with Jonah at 22 months, I boarded the plane early. I needed plenty of time to figure out how to attach the car seat to the plane seat. However, my sister and Jonah boarded nearly last. You see, post 9-11, I wasn't allowed to board, fix up the car seat, and de-plane to wait with my child.

[Prairie Purrs]

I made the point about boarding early to suggest that "more time" wasn't going to solve this particular problem--unless perhaps the parents expected the plane to remain on the ground until the child's regular naptime rolled around.

The bottom line is that airlines reserve the right to boot anyone off an airplane who is disrupting orderly operations. Sometimes they take it too far, but in this instance they were correct to remove the parents and child. And the parents were entirely out of line to think that they had any right to hold up the flight to accomodate their out-of-control child.

[mike001]

I think the airline made a mistake by not removing them and ignoring them. This is the kind of kid that I could never tolerate. Amazing how kids today seem to just rule the parents. This is like paying for a night out at a restaurant and having a spoiled brat seated next to you or near you. I have gotten up and told the parents to please be gracious enough to remove the brat so we could enjoy our meal only to be told off in no uncertain terms.

[CathyBogart]

I have gotten up and told the parents to please be gracious enough to remove the brat so we could enjoy our meal only to be told off in no uncertain terms.

That has happened to me too. I'm not so polite in movie theatres.

[Luvin Labs]

I applaud the airline for kicking them off, though I do think they should never have given them free business class tickets for a future flight!

From what I've read, the brat was sitting in a seat in front of them. Why wasn't the brat put beside one of them and the other half sit in the other seat alone??!??

And that interview. All I noticed was the brat crawling all over her mother with NO stern warnings to sit her butt down. If the kid were very well behaved during the interview I would not be as pissed at the parents for not parenting their child properly. They had ample time to get her settled on the plane.

[Argranade]

So if every child acts like that they should all get a free ride ..

Well the fact that they got in free does not realy afect my life so I geuss I should not realy care lol.

[Lady's Human]

So does this mean we can fly to FLA with the kids, get on the plane with a non-napping 2 1/2 y/o and get free tickets?

Damn, and to think all this time I was doing the wrong thing by trying to do the right thing and be a responsible parent.

[Logan]

I had a 3 year old, once upon a time. She threw one, unforgettable fit, at 3 years old, and thankfully not on an airplane, but in a restaurant and I thought I would die before I finally got her out of there. That fiesty girl had a sip of something with caffeine and it set her off and she wrapped her legs around the high chair and I almost took her out of the restaurant in the chair!

If I had been those parents, I would have been so relieved that I got off of the plane. I could not have stood the embarrasement of an irrational child.

My "baby", who threw that fit, at 3 years old, will turn 16 years old on Monday. She throws different kinds of fits these days, and rarely, too, thank goodness. She and I don't get mad at each other, we just get frustrated sometime! LOL!!!

Logan

[CathyBogart]

Logan: Once, when my sister was about four, my mom took us out riding our bikes. At one point my sister decided to stop her bike in the middle of the street!! As the light changed, all the drivers were glaring at my mom who grabbed my sister's bike and hauled her kicking and screaming out of the street. That was the end of that adventure. -_-

[RICHARD]

My mom had six of us little AH.s..

After KNOWING what was in store for us when we were out of the public eye, it only took a glance from her to know that IF WE DIDN'T behave, the only way out of it was to have the booming voice of god tell her not to strike us.

And lo, we returneth to normal children, withoutest any attitude.

------------------

I love to watch kids tossing a tantrum look a parent right in the eye (After the parent threatens the "time out") with the EFF YOU, YOUR WORDS DON'T CARRY ANY WEIGHT look..

Makes me want to get an autograph before I see them on the news for some heinous crime they commit when they get older.