I used to fly a lot for work, and would have appreciated the staff removing a few people from the plane before takeoff (read: the really really stinky guy next to me, the toddler that cried from the waiting room straight through for the entire red eye flight from LA to Toronto, the toddler that screamed from the waiting area right through the entire flight from Toronto to Newark, etc.) --

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.

No one offered ME free flight passes when i had to wait on the tarmac on Contenental for 13 HOURS for a flight from Toronto to Newark (about 1.15 hrs). *grumble grumble stupid airline* ...