CLTF

So I was on a plane last night in international business class. PAID seat for the baby. The flight attendants were SO unfriendly and hostile. I got sick of being told he was a lap child and treated like a second class citizen. I did not get a menu, and was not offered a welcome drink unlike every other passenger. Rather than a welcome aboard at the door the guy just leered at me and tried to block me going to business class!

long story short the service sucked (other passengers loved the 1.5 year old baby but the flight attendants clearly felt we did not deserve to be in business...even though we bought 3 tickets), but that is not my issue.
Here is my question - we were told NO car seat allowed in the A330 business class seat due to the airbag. This makes sense, however, on the back of the actual seatbelt car seat instructions for a child are clearly printed. The use of the seatbelt extender disarms the airbag and allows the car seat to be used - there was even pictures on the seatbelt showing how to use it! I told the cabin crew and since the flight attendants seemed to hate babies they claimed they would not let us use it as even though it was within FAA policy it is apparently against AA policy. I am calling BS, as they did not even know the seatbelt had the child seat instructions printed on it until I showed them, and they clearly just had no training or care to learn about childrens safety in business class.

So my question is, can children use the car seat in AA business and First class? The seatbelt and FAA say yes, and AA sold me the seat for the child. I have a few more flights in first class to Asia this summer with AA for him and I, and if they really dont allow it per AA policy, I will cancel and fly with another carrier.
So is this policy or lack of training and just bad service?
please help.

JDiver

We will not tolerate "child bashing" in this thread; posts opining children should be banned in Business or First are unwelcoming and also are pointless given American Airlines sells tickets to and permits children in all cabins of service. Such posts have been and will be summarily deleted.

Please remain on topic with replies to the OP.

/Moderator

zitsky

I'm curious, did you call AA customer service? If so, what did they say?

akcae

Just be careful -- foreign carriers are not required to allow FAA-approved child safety restraint devices, i.e., harnesses and child seats. If you rebook to another carrier, call and confirm you'll be allowed to use the seat lest you encounter another problem.

JDiver

If I were you, I would contact AA about the holding of service and different treatment (not the safety seat, as these can not be used on the A330 series aircraft), offering your ticket numbers, flight information, a summary of facts and your concerns over your future bookings. You may gain some compensation, but IMO and more importantly, these FAs should receive proper training (and they should receive some "attitude readjustment", but no telling to what extent they might).

Use the online form here:

Or, write

Rest assured this attitude is pretty rare in my experience (and I've been flying AA since the 1940s). I'm pretty sure you won't see this apparent negative attitude and service discrimination because of your being a parent on your future flights (and such discriminatory service practices are undoubtedly not allowed by AA).

American's infant and safety restraint policy may be read here. Approved seats are allowed to be used on AA. While I do seem to recollect there may be an aircraft type where approved infant seats may not be used, given the instructions you describe I'm not sure it's the A330.

LATER: approved child safety seats CAN NOT be used on the following AA aircraft:
See this page. Under "Safety seat requirements" swipe or click on "View seat width dimensions". Business seats not certified for safety seats show thusly:

Swipe or click on manufacturer, e.g. Airbus

A330-200 Business class 20*/ 20.5" Main Cabin 238 / 16.3 - 17.8"

*Not forward facing seats and not authorized for child restraint systems

JDiver

One can not call Customer Relations, and Customer Service would have only been appropriate before the fact.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...er-thread.html

The OP now has the link to AA policy about approved child restraints and safety seats, which are allowed in most aircraft.

akcae

My personal experience flying AA, and specifically A330 with LUS crew, with an 8yr-old and a 2yr-old would certainly indicate the OP's experience was an exception. My kids were welcomed by the crew, treated well, and received extra attention by the FAs chatting up the 2yr-old.

ijgordon

When flight attendants are rude or even hostile, my approach is to gently ask them if there is a problem. Call them out (nicely). Let them know that you know that they're not performing up to expectations. Do this preferably within earshot of a witness so you don't get accused of disregarding a flight crew's instructions or worse.
Barring that, things are not likely to get any *more* uncomfortable, and maybe the gentle goading will help them realize their behavior is not being perceived well.

Of course if service is just indifferent, it's harder to address directly IMHO.

I guess the question for the OP is whether the real issue was the FA behavior, or primarily the car seat. Didn't hear many specifics on the behavior issue in the OP. I've been skipped over for PDBs, usually it's not intentional, and I'll just flag someone down and ask for a drink. And I would think once you showed boarding passes for business class, the greeter would have let you through.

3Cforme

The DOT (as of February this year) requires carriers to post info on minimum seat width, and for infant car seat suitability, on the web site. AA's pages for Airbus aircraft note that the A330 seats are not forward facing in Business and that car seats shall not be used.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/ourP...seatdimensions

JDiver

Thanks for that. I knew one aircraft type was an exception, anyway, and you managed to find the information and link to it. (The information is revealed when one clicks on the "Seat dimensions" in-page link; look for an asterisk immediately following the first dimension.)

This means FAA certification for car type seats has not been granted by the FAA for the A330 seats because they are angled in relation to the fuselage and not forward facing..

Note that the same page indicates the "772" refurbished Boeing 777-200ER (16 of 47 777-200ER hulls currently), the Boeing 777-300ER "77W" and the Boeing 787-8 "Dreamliner" Business class also do not permit use of car seats.

Mark_T

Follow the link from that page for seat dimensions, it is detailed there and no, the seats the OP was in are not approved for a child restraint device.

billgrates3

I'm surprised by the FA's reactions! every flight I've been on where babies to small children where in J (that's not a large number of flights tho), the FA's all tend to fawn over the cute little ones.

but as others have stated, forwarned is forearmed... so best to check the fine print about car seats and kids in general before ticketing.

3Cforme

IIRC the CFR actually demands a web page - 'Call for more info' doesn't cut it. Props to the DOT on this one.

JDiver

The seats are listed on the page on aa.com, but the links to use are not obvious.

I've added a wikipost. The thread is retitled and rededicated to the use of child safety seats on American Airlines.

/Moderator

wrp96

I agree that the links weren't obvious, and the little stars that indicate child restraints can't be used are hard to see.