Travel with Children - CARES harness - experience on Aer Lingus (short haul), Delta (long haul)

Dear all,

I wanted to share our recent experience with the CARES harness we brought onboard for our 18-month old travelling with us in standard coach class to the US from Ireland. We bought this harness in the US, and I don't believe it is sold in Europe - FAs and other passengers were not familiar with it here.

Aer Lingus (intra-Europe) checked the label to confirm it was FAA approved, found it in their on-board manual but eventually didn't allow us to use it, saying it was only permitted for passengers in bulkhead seats - which we did not have.

Delta (Europe-US) said the harness was allowed but ONLY if the passenger behind agreed they were not inconvenienced and their tray table could be freely brought down and not 'locked up' by the harness belt. I believe this may be a problem with tables on some smaller aircraft, but on this 777 the tray tables could be opened and closed with no interference from the harness belt, so we were good to go !

Cheers,
J-

Aer Lingus (intra-Europe) checked the label to confirm it was FAA approved, found it in their on-board manual but eventually didn't allow us to use it, saying it was only permitted for passengers in bulkhead seats - which we did not have.



Yet their own webpage states:

An AMSAFE CARES Harness that is supplied by the passenger may be used for securing children and children with disabilities, please contact specialassistance@aerlingus.com if use of a harness is required.

I wonder if they want you to call so they can assign you a bulkhead seat? Very unclear. Thanks for reporting back.