Completely OT but did you see this?

[GatorGal]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...emoved_from_plane_after_childs_temper_flares/

A Couple and their 3 year old daughter were removed from the plane prior to take off because they couldn't control the child and get her into her seat.

I bet the people seated around them were grateful.

 

[Stimpy]

I had a flight from.....well lets just say "heck" with my DD once and I totally agree with the flight crew on this one! The child needed to be seatbelted in for her safety and the safety of the people around her. Waiting for her to calm down would be unfair to the other passengers and would wind up costing the airline alot more time and money. And holding her during takeoff is against regulations and just waas not going to happen. I don't know what else the parents would expect. It's really sad that people can not take any personal responsibilty these days.

Ok, flame on....

 

[GatorGal]

I had a flight from.....well lets just say "heck" with my DD once and I totally agree with the flight crew on this one! The child needed to be seatbelted in for her safety and the safety of the people around her. Waiting for her to calm down would be unfair to the other passengers and would wind up costing the airline alot more time and money. And holding her during takeoff is against regulations and just waas not going to happen. I don't know what else the parents would expect. It's really sad that people can not take any personal responsibilty these days.

Ok, flame on....

My thoughts exactly, you just had the guts to put them out there! Thanks.

 

[Bibbidi]

I can definitely see where the flight crew would need to ask the family to take a later flight. It seems like AirTran went above and beyond by refunding their money and also giving them tickets to fly someplace else. However, I can also see where a child could throw a big enough tantrum to not sit in their seat. My oldest has some mild sensory issues, but part of that resulted in tantrums for what seemed to be no apparent reason, when in actually it had to do with something that she couldn't adequately verbalize. Thankfully we never had to fly with her when she was younger and now she's pretty much outgrown it. But as a parent of a child who has had uncontrollable fits, I can understand how embarrassing it must have been for the parents.

 

[brymolmom]

WOW - no wonder it's so expensive to fly anywhere...the family is 'in the wrong' and they got their $$ back AND an additional flight anywhere??? It makes me want to not calm my 3 year old down on our trip in a month.

That's horrible - they certainly shouldn't be rewarded for it. I agree that the airline should have worked with the family to get them on a different flight or whatever - but giving them all their money back plus more...

It's amazing how afraid of lawsuits everyone is.

 

[NotUrsula]

The interesting thing about this story is that they had a carseat with them and checked it. If they had had it on board they would have safely been able to restrain her in her seat, even if it took a bit of force to get her there.

 

[daisax]

The interesting thing about this story is that they had a carseat with them and checked it. If they had had it on board they would have safely been able to restrain her in her seat, even if it took a bit of force to get her there.​

They could have safely restrained her in the regular seat, too -- place child on seat, fasten belt, one parent on each side holds hand of child to keep her from undoing belt.

Sounds to me like they wanted a plane load of passengers to wait while they "talked" her into calming down and voluntarily getting into her seat and sitting down.

 

[mepperson]

I agree TOTALLY!!! That family should NEVER have gotten a refund PLUS tickets for later use PLUS they flew home the next day (but I don't know if that was on AirTran). Give me a break!!! Restrain your child for crying out loud. It doesn't matter if she screams her head off all the way - she needed to be in her seat.

FYI - when DD was 18 months old we were landing at DFW when her ears started hurting. Nothing worked - sippy cup, candy, etc. She screamed for at least 30 minutes during the whole landing process. Someone even threw a wadded up piece of paper at us So, I have been there. I still feel that the crew did the right thing and the airline did the WRONG thing by rewarding these people.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I think it was nice of the airline to reimburse the parents. I mean, what are they supposed to do, beat their child into submission? Children sometimes have their own issues going on. I'm sure the parents did their best to try to calm her down.

 

[AngieWin]

I think the airline was in the wrong. I think that the compensation was due (they turned down the tickets for a future flight I believe). As many times as I have had to wait on an airline for hours and hours, the extra minutes it would have taken for the child to be placed (not forcefully) in the seat is nothing in comparision.

The parents should have used the car seat on the plane, but I am glad the airline repaid the family.

 

[Barb D]

There's a very long thread about this on the Community Board, BTW...

 

[becca011906]

i think they should have used the car seat... it is farmilair to the child it's 'thier' space, and that is why kids need car seats on plans... can't judge if the parents are airlines were at fault (not my place to either) since i didn't witness it...

 

[disneymom3]

There's a very long thread about this on the Community Board, BTW...

Yes, but this one is probably going to stay friendlier!

I don't know what I think. It is hard to know really what happened when you aren't there firsthand. I mean, were they 15 min late already because of this child, or had they just gotten on? I would need to have seen it myself to make any sort of judgement about who was in the right.

 

[all4fun]

I have to admit I feel a little bit of sympathy for this family. I had a very similar experience with my ds just this morning. He rides the bus to preschool and he decided on his way out the front door that he didn't want to go. Well, he had to, because as soon as I get him on the bus, I have to leave for work. Anway, I spent about 10 minutes (usually takes 1-2mins) trying to get him in his seat and buckled in (he wears an E-Z-On vest w/the lapbelt) and when I got off the bus he was in tears (tore my heart out). I was really so close to just calling in to work late and driving him, but his bus driver assured me he would be fine.

We've also had experiences towards the end of long plane rides where he has not wanted to get back into his car seat (can't expect a kid to stay buckled in for 6+hrs, he needs to stretch his legs a bit too). So I guess I feel for the family having been in similar situations. I'm sure it didn't help that they had the added stress of having 118 other passengers watching the whole thing go down. OTOH, if that had been us, I hope I would have been a little more understanding of the airlines situation. They're running a business and other people are depending on them leaving on time. I think it was appropriate to put the family on a later flight if they had given them a reasonable amount of time to rectify the situation and it just wasn't working. The extra tickets were a bit much to expect, but that might also have just been a ploy by the airline to boost their image by offering them.

So I guess I can kind of see both sides.

 

[stacy6552]

You know, I could see it both ways....but then AirTran lost all credibility in this particular instance...They banned the family from flying for 24 hours! The child wasn't drunk. It seem pretty clear to me that a fustrated employee got on a powertrip.

 

[Chris]

I had a flight from.....well lets just say "heck" with my DD once and I totally agree with the flight crew on this one! The child needed to be seatbelted in for her safety and the safety of the people around her. Waiting for her to calm down would be unfair to the other passengers and would wind up costing the airline alot more time and money. And holding her during takeoff is against regulations and just waas not going to happen. I don't know what else the parents would expect. It's really sad that people can not take any personal responsibilty these days.

Ok, flame on....

No flames here~ I completely agree with you.

 

[LaraK]

All I can say is that there but by the grace of God goes most parents. My kids are usually fairly well behaved in public (at home they're nightmares), but they have their moments. I can not imagine having to be in that position.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I saw the other thread, too long to read.

I think the airline was right.

I do feel for the family, but still, I feel for the other people on the flight who had places to go.

This is why I always travel with suckers, a pacifier (if she is using it.) treats, food, and other brides and distractions. I also have possible meds for pain and congestion. Stickers, crayons, the list goes on.

Also a 3 year old is old enough to understand consequences. If you don't clam down, we don't get to ride on the airplane. The ultimate time out.

If the child was under 2 I think I might have a different opinion. Of course if that was the case with me I would of just popped her on the old ****.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I feel for the parents of this child, on one hand, I know from expierence how difficult certain children can be, but on the other hand, (hindsight of course) our plan B would have been plant their little butt into the seat, slap the seatbelt on them and the problem is solved. It takes a little bit of know how to get those seatbelts off. I had to show both of my DS's how to undo them for them to figure it out. Which makes me wonder if it was a safety issue or a matter of annoyance on the airlines part on why they asked them to leave the plane. Was it because they didn't want to listen to a screaming kid for X amount of time? If they were going to ask them to leave then I would think the amount of compensation they gave them would be expected. I mean really, how much did the airline actually loose by rescheduling and refunding them?

 

[maxtomsmom]

We recently went to WDW with my DS5 and DS2 1/2. We got DS2 one of the new FAA safety harness that attaches to the seatbelt. He's a handful and we have come to terms with this. Rather than take the risk, cause others much suffering, and a huge headache for ourselves not to mention the embarrassment, we decided to get the harness. The best money spent. He stayed in his seat during take-offs and landings. He did need to get up, but you can't expect an active toddler who needs to explore new surroundings to sit for 2 1/2 hours. On the way home he knew he was going to be able to get up once we got in the air. Sure I would have liked him to stay seated the entire time, but he spent a lot of time kneeling at his seat to play with his cars.

I feel parents need to anticipate their child's behavior. You know your child best. You know if it going to take a long time to calm them or that they are active and find amusement running up and down the aisle. Be a parent and take the lead. I know kids can do odd things that may surprise us, but still you must have some clue. It sounds like this child needs a lot of calming down time, perhaps the parents need to keep this in mind when traveling. I think the airline was right about asking the family to leave. Making them wait 24hrs and giving them 3 free round trip tickets is ridiculous.