On the flip-side, I've been on flights where the children seated next to me were SHEER DELIGHTS!
I mean, they made the flight absolutely wonderful.
I was on a 4 1/2 hour flight and a young boy (2 1/2 or 3 ish?) was laying on his mom's lap and partially in the seat between us (open) as I was on the aisle. He just smiled at me and offered me some of his snacks. He was adorable. He offered to let me lay down next to him if "I was tired", although I don't think his mom would have appreciated that. But talk about a well behaved little guy? He was amazing.
I also remember this little girl, about 4 or 5 whom was amazingly sweet, and also kept offering me her snacks and smiling at me. I let her borrow my Nook Tablet with headphones so she could read the Children's books that come standard on it, with narration. She was pure joy as well.
I guess you take the good with the bad.
Just like all the other strangers you sit next to, in front of and behind on planes....
MSNBC is taking a (non-scientific) poll in response to the WestJet April Fools ad about child-free flights. So far 77% would pay extra for child-free flights, versus 23% who think it's just nifty for their kids to fly.
Cool.. Passengers willing to pay more, so that a child can fly free.. hence child-free.
Will MAS's entry into Oneworld undo this anti-family policy faster than economic pressure of having to fill up the premium cabins with whomever will take MAS's price? Will refunds be offered to passengers who are booked in the premium cabin but then are told at check-in that they won't be seated as booked? Will this be ok with aviation authorities in all the countries from which MAS flies?
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Let's be clear about this... MAS is implementing Child free cabins not child free flights. Even though I have a kid who I hope will be super well behaved when we fly, I can understand people not wanting to sit next to us, just in case. The A380 allows for this because of it's two decks. If BA were to implement a similar policy, I would have no problem with that either.
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I don't know how the Japanese do it, but their kids are generally very well-behaved even at Legoland. Even less whining and bad behaviour in public, possibly because they are expected to behave responsibly from young.
Also, they don't tend to fly until they are older I think.
I don't mind crying babies because they can't help it. I was on a flight once (Hong Kong to Singapore) where the baby refused to stop crying during take-off and landing, and for some reason the parents was separated, and the baby was with the mother. When the baby did not stop crying, the father stood up (yes, during take-off AND landing) to coax him/her. Not that it worked, but I was sitting next to this #$%$& who was playing on his iPad with the volume up high, so the baby was an angel by comparison.
The FAs did not do much; there was no bassinet for baby and the father was a few rows behind. I would have thought they ask some of the other passengers if they could change seats during landing. I know that the parents should have been the ones to book seats earlier, but during the flight, come on. Some of us do not have to be that inconsiderate right?
Like a lot of you, I fly at least 40 weeks in a year. In my last 10 years of frequent travel, I had only one instance of a toddler behind me kicking my seatback during a redeye from SFO. Either I don't notice bawling kids or people are making kids on planes a bigger deal than it really is.
50 years of flying, for one period quite regularly, have brought me to some general observations:
1. Overall, "Kids/Infants" flying is not so great or constant an aggravation, but unfortunately the encounters occur when we're frustrated by a variety of collateral issues (TSA, boarding, overhead bins, slow/absent/inept/impersonal service, etc.) and easily aggravated. Babies cry. Why, my new and beautiful granddaughter, even at one week, can match the tone and volume of a BNO&SF loaded unit train's locked brakes. Fortunately, not often and not for long, usually stopped by simply plugging a natural device into her USB port.
2. "Monsters are monsters", and the parents thereof are usually as ill-mannered and lacking in any discipline, self or externally-motivated, as the little ogres they have foisted upon the world. Ban the kids? We would still have to travel with the parents, little better behaved and often as loud as were their rug rats.
3. Long ago, I had a public elementary school principal, a maiden lady, red haired, favoring floor length velvet skirts and bright "sateen" blouses. In that forgotten era, she entrusted our teaching to our teachers, but gathered us regularly for indoctrination/brain-washing sessions on couth, courtesy and politeness to others. Around town, we were known as the Sanger Ave. (Elementary) Silk Socks Sissies (even the less affluent among us) for the "harsh" regime which we tolerated and the self-discipline that had been instilled within us. Well, of Sanger Ave. School nothing is left but the concrete arch of its entryway in the midst of a barren plot, and Miss Nina has long passed, but we need more like her today, and more parents willing to accede to and act in support of that sort of "childhood education".
It's simply amazing just how tolerant even the curmudgeons among us can be when confronted by children who display some respect for others and their surroundings....and how offensive I find the conduct and actions of parents either so uncaring or inept as to not be able to exercise a modicum of control over their brats.
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But talk about a well behaved little guy? He was amazing.
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