corporate-wage-slave

I kind of agree. For safety reasons at some point a child needs to be strapped in. That point is deemed to be from their year 2 birthday, which is arbitrary but there's no realistic alternative.

The safety of the child is primarily the parent's responsibility, the airline also has responsibility for that child and all the other passengers that may also get injured if the child becomes detached. So this responsibility is shared, except rightly or wrongly you knew more about this than the airline. Personally I don't think you should have got on the aircraft knowing this; if you did then you still should have cleared it with the captain, which s/he would not have done - s/he would have offloaded you or someone else. Having made the trip and accepted the risks I now think you best put it down to experience, it won't happen again to that child.

highpeaklad

Why don't you put a note in to customer services saying you were disappointed that despite having a ticket for a seat your 2 year old was forced to sit on your lap.
They can then take action if they see fit.

SteveF

Good answer!

lorcancoyle

Could always add in the "I've since discovered/been led to believe..." bits from here

Final 3 Greens

Although 2 years is an arbitrary limit, so are many in aviation and it is compliance with regulations and SOPs that maintain a safe environment.

There is little point having a carefully regulated safety regime, if a handling agent decides it does not apply to them, if it is inconvenient.

The CAA safety regulation group needs to be aware of this incident, so that they can discuss it with BA, hopefully they scan the forum.

Dave Noble

I don't think that there is any valid reason to complain

The person knew that there could well be an issue and people here suggested making sure with crew that there is no issue with a 2 yo without a seat

Passenger then deliberately chose to keep quiet about it ( rather than risk being offloaded I assume )

To then write in and complain that they got away with it seems incredible. If it is a safety risk, the parents delberately chose to flout it and keep quiet

I suppose the next question will be on how much compensation can get for not being denied boarding

lorcancoyle

It's not as if OP is going to be blackballed by BA for not raising with cabin crew, and incompetent agents need to be flagged for training somehow. How many other rules is the agent not following and exposing BA to liability for?

Though, is it covered in the safety briefing in an explicit manner? I can imagine BA might be unhappy if you were sitting in an exit row, were told to read the safety card for the exit row seat and didn't alert crew as you're obliged to if you didn't meet the criteria

dannyrado

I'd complain, in spades!!

The fact it is being discussed on a forum is irrelevant. I had a ticket for my child due to your (very clear) infant policy, i was instructed by a member of staff to get on the plane with that child on my lap, or else it was implied that we would not be flying. I have since been advised that this is not correct proceedure, and i'm absolutely horrified that this was allowed.

I can understand that the OP got on and kept quiet, i would've done the same to get home, but a complaint in my opinion is a must. If they do this to me on my upcoming trip, i'll be horrified.

angatol

.....

dannyrado

Yes I can. I was told to fly. I had no idea that it was illegal. Oh, and i'm not the OP by the way, i'm just putting myself in that position. Guess i'm just immoral.

Dave Noble

You can't have your cake and eat it

Either you are horrified and should not keep quiet or you don't care

Bullswood

I'd definitely complain to BA, as if nothing else it's probable that many similar foul-ups are being covered up by telling pax to put over 2 year olds on a lap because seats have not been made available. We were given same the same (nil) option by BA staff at BKK and my wife & child were given boarding passes (child's stating no seat even though 2 yrs 5 months old) & sent to the gate while I sorted out the release of the extra seat previously agreed/booked/PNR issued with BA by calling res in the UK (with zero help from local staff).

I wouldn't worry about your own response to the situation - it's not for the passenger to know whether the requirement for a 2 year old to have a seat is BA's own policy being waived by their own staff or if it's part of some wider aviation law. In any event, you are due an apology and/or compensation - you paid the fare required by BA for your declared situation (infant becoming 2 while away) and were thereby entitled under BA's fare rules as quoted above (whether unusually generous or not is irrelevant) to a seat for the child on the return. I imagine that BA will wish to resolve the matter quietly without the relevant authorities getting involved!

I would still be interested to know whether this was an oversales offload (I find it difficult to believe that anyone would do this to a child) or if your child's separate return PNR & booking had been cancelled due to a BA ticketing error as experienced by at least two of the posters on this thread?

Dave Noble

Indeed it isn't the parent's responsibility to know the requirements, however if that person then goes off , posts on a forum and gets advice, then cannot reasonable claim not to know at that point. Then to deliberately not to inform crew when knowing that there may be a safety issue and then to complain when getting home seems rather poor show to me

lorcancoyle

Maybe we should say "notify" instead of "complain"?

corporate-wage-slave

Doesn't a modicum of commonsense creep in at some point? This is less about the law (though it strikes me as a good one if it is a legal requirement), and a lot about the welfare of one, maybe many, passengers. The people who have a valid complaint are those sat near to the Original Poster. And the airline crew.