No seatbelt for lap infants on AC TATL?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: star alliance, british airways executive club
Posts: 90
No seatbelt for lap infants on AC TATL?
Hi everyone -
Was flying ZRH-YYZ on AC (economy) direct last week. We'd already started pushback and still nobody had come by to talk to my wife and I about our 1.5 year old daughter who was on our laps. I hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if we'd be getting, for instance, a seatbelt.
She said, "No, not on this flight. Just hold on to her tight, facing you."
This seems reckless bordering on crazy, to me. (If we'd been on today's Honolulu flight my daughter would have been very badly injured.) But then I'm relatively new to flying with kids and thought I'd put it out there. Is this policy? Is there new research or legislation around this? Or just a hugely risky play by a flight caught unprepared? I've emailed AC, but, well . . .
Was flying ZRH-YYZ on AC (economy) direct last week. We'd already started pushback and still nobody had come by to talk to my wife and I about our 1.5 year old daughter who was on our laps. I hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if we'd be getting, for instance, a seatbelt.
She said, "No, not on this flight. Just hold on to her tight, facing you."
This seems reckless bordering on crazy, to me. (If we'd been on today's Honolulu flight my daughter would have been very badly injured.) But then I'm relatively new to flying with kids and thought I'd put it out there. Is this policy? Is there new research or legislation around this? Or just a hugely risky play by a flight caught unprepared? I've emailed AC, but, well . . .
#2
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: AC MM E50 , Former SPG, now Marriott LT Plat
Posts: 6,251
I have seen infants seat belts on other airlines ( that attach the the passenger's seat belt), but I have never seen these on AC.
We travelled with all 3 as lap infants at one point or another, and I cannot recall ever strapping them in.
Maybe it is something the airline should be looking at.
We travelled with all 3 as lap infants at one point or another, and I cannot recall ever strapping them in.
Maybe it is something the airline should be looking at.
#4
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Halifax
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite. NEXUS
Posts: 4,561
Like testing pharmaceuticals on pregnant women, this just isn't done.
People shorter than the proverbial sign are simply going to be pink mist when things turn south.
People shorter than the proverbial sign are simply going to be pink mist when things turn south.
#5
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 6,334
Hi everyone -
Was flying ZRH-YYZ on AC (economy) direct last week. We'd already started pushback and still nobody had come by to talk to my wife and I about our 1.5 year old daughter who was on our laps. I hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if we'd be getting, for instance, a seatbelt.
She said, "No, not on this flight. Just hold on to her tight, facing you."
This seems reckless bordering on crazy, to me. (If we'd been on today's Honolulu flight my daughter would have been very badly injured.) But then I'm relatively new to flying with kids and thought I'd put it out there. Is this policy? Is there new research or legislation around this? Or just a hugely risky play by a flight caught unprepared? I've emailed AC, but, well . . .
Was flying ZRH-YYZ on AC (economy) direct last week. We'd already started pushback and still nobody had come by to talk to my wife and I about our 1.5 year old daughter who was on our laps. I hit the call button and asked the flight attendant if we'd be getting, for instance, a seatbelt.
She said, "No, not on this flight. Just hold on to her tight, facing you."
This seems reckless bordering on crazy, to me. (If we'd been on today's Honolulu flight my daughter would have been very badly injured.) But then I'm relatively new to flying with kids and thought I'd put it out there. Is this policy? Is there new research or legislation around this? Or just a hugely risky play by a flight caught unprepared? I've emailed AC, but, well . . .
If you search other threads on travelling with lap children you will find that many would say the "hugely risky play" or the "reckless" behaviour is when one does NOT get the child their own seat... just sayin...
#6
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: YUL
Posts: 1,000
Just not a thing on North American airlines. I always found it weird too. I purchased seats for my under twos, and put their car seats in them. The safest option for me. Turbulence is scary, but I guess relatively rare to be as bad as the Honolulu flight today.
#7
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: YEG
Posts: 3,925
Doesn’t matter TPAC, TATL, domestic, etc. A lap infant sits on your lap. If you want to protect your kid with a seatbelt pay for a seat and put them in a car seat or use another approved child restraint device.
Regardless, a crew member should have briefed you on travelling with an infant without having to press the call button.
EDIT: I see that Transport Canada specifically disallows the use of “belly” or “loop” belts as they say it is more likely to harm a child.
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/chil...ren-on-a-plane
Regardless, a crew member should have briefed you on travelling with an infant without having to press the call button.
EDIT: I see that Transport Canada specifically disallows the use of “belly” or “loop” belts as they say it is more likely to harm a child.
https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/chil...ren-on-a-plane
Last edited by YEG USER; Jul 11, 2019 at 8:38 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: YYZ
Posts: 1,671
Having flown both on airlines that offered lap infant seatbelts and on those that didn't, I have been led to believe that the difference is driven by carriers' home country regultions. These in turn are driven by the decades old debate around whether we prefer our infants crushed by their own parents or thrown freely accross the cabin. Neither sounds like a good option and hence forking out the extra dollars to get the kid his/her own seat is generally the safest course of action.
I have also heard (albeit I have no reference info to back this up) that the whole idea of allowing infants in lap was apparently to make it more financially attractive for families with infants to fly, thus reducing the volume of cars on the roads and hence reducing the volume of vehicular accidents, injuries and fatalities. This logic would of course apply to overland flights only, but apparently it made (or was going to make) a huge difference, for example within North America.
I have also heard (albeit I have no reference info to back this up) that the whole idea of allowing infants in lap was apparently to make it more financially attractive for families with infants to fly, thus reducing the volume of cars on the roads and hence reducing the volume of vehicular accidents, injuries and fatalities. This logic would of course apply to overland flights only, but apparently it made (or was going to make) a huge difference, for example within North America.
#9
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 413
Of the countries I've flown in with my almost-2-year-old:
US - pretty much ignore your existence (shocker, I know)
Canada - Give you a briefing each flight on exactly how to hold your child and a personal reminder about the oxygen mask rule
Australia - seat belt extender
TBH, I'm not really sure what the seat belt extender accomplishes. I tried seeing how much my baby would move with both mine and his at the tightest possible. He easily smacked into the seat in front of me.
US - pretty much ignore your existence (shocker, I know)
Canada - Give you a briefing each flight on exactly how to hold your child and a personal reminder about the oxygen mask rule
Australia - seat belt extender
TBH, I'm not really sure what the seat belt extender accomplishes. I tried seeing how much my baby would move with both mine and his at the tightest possible. He easily smacked into the seat in front of me.
#11
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 28
This is the scary bit about flying with a child on the lap. Even a small drop in altitude can cause harm. Or a hard landing due to wind in the area.
I know it’s less expensive to hold your child then to purchase a separate ticket. Though the savings doesn’t seem worth the potential risk of injury.
I know it’s less expensive to hold your child then to purchase a separate ticket. Though the savings doesn’t seem worth the potential risk of injury.
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,716
There is actually sound reasoning for both sides.
The European authorities require the lap belts use because of the risk of the child flying out of your hands.
North American authorities generally don't allow the use of lap belts because of the risk you could squish your child in an emergency, either crushing them beneath you or into the seat in front of you.
The European authorities require the lap belts use because of the risk of the child flying out of your hands.
North American authorities generally don't allow the use of lap belts because of the risk you could squish your child in an emergency, either crushing them beneath you or into the seat in front of you.
#13
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YYZ
Posts: 18
As she would have been if an infant belt was provided... but not in use at that specific moment in time?
If you search other threads on travelling with lap children you will find that many would say the "hugely risky play" or the "reckless" behaviour is when one does NOT get the child their own seat... just sayin...
If you search other threads on travelling with lap children you will find that many would say the "hugely risky play" or the "reckless" behaviour is when one does NOT get the child their own seat... just sayin...
That being said I have had two occasions where I might have well done lap ticket:
- 4.5 years ago on an AC BEH where it was our family of 4 plus one other person, the captain insisted that we had to hold our 22 month old child for the whole flight. It was our last leg home after a red-eye so I gave up arguing pretty quickly.
- SQ last year, while flying with 18 month twins a senior FA insisted that they could not be in their car seats during take-off, landing or anytime the seat belt light was on and they gave us the seat belt extender loop things. I was not impressed, showed them printouts from their website that showed it was allowed but lost that argument (at least I won the argument at the gate to take the seats on board with my printouts). Luckily after take-off the FA in our section never mentioned anything about taking them out of seats when the light was on or when we landed.
My advice now is to pay for the seat, take a carseat to strap them in and just in case. bring printouts from the airline website around car seat use.
#14
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: YEG
Programs: Table scraps from Aeroplan and AmEx Plat
Posts: 894
Keep in mind that some of the low-cost airlines now have such terrible seat pitch that many car seats cannot fit property. In fact, we flew Swoop and Spirit this week, and I remember one of their websites saying straight up just that.
#15
Join Date: Mar 2019
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 91
I’ve never been offered a lap belt (have flown AC and WS with the little one). AC has usually given us a briefing and WS has every time. I’ve always heard the risk of injury from the belts is too high. I suppose buying the extra seat is the safest