I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to report you to British Airways
 

Very 'interesting' flight back from on the BA164 TLV to LHR last night. The flight was pretty much full particularly with parents and young children. Boarding was chaotic and once finally on board it didn't get any better...

Now I know travelling with children is always difficult, especially the young once but on this flight many parents seem to lose all sense of responsibility once we were in the air, with children running around, screaming etc. The cabin crew tried to restore some order but there really didn't seem to have much effect. One crew member told me that he had done the route 15 times and it had never been like this - bit of a madhouse!

However, there was one exception - Couple with small child (ca. 1-2 years) completely ignored the child and had placed the food tray on the floor near emergency exit - presumably so the child could feed themselves without them intervening. 5 mins later and the entire floor area is covered with couscous, salad and who knows what else as the child decided it was fun to stand on the tray and kick food about across the floor. What did the parents do? NOTHING!!!

2 mins later the purser came racing up with his iPad and started to chastise the parents about their responsibilities and the fact that this was a "brand new aircraft" etc etc. He then told them they would be reported to British Airways as the plane would need to be taken out of service and there would be implications. Now I'm not sure if this is true (it didn't appear to be) but the look on their face was priceless! He left and both the parents talked together for a minute or so, and then got out their pack of baby-wipes and proceeded to clean the plane! On one hand, I thought that this was too much, but on the other, it seemed to make for good karma. Later they requested the purser to come back and inspect and he told them (trying to keep a straight face) that he appreciated their efforts and that he wouldn't be reporting them.

I thought the crew handled it very well considering the circumstances. What are your thoughts on this?

Hopefully in the future they will think better and consider the impact on other passengers...

Oh god, Alex Cruz might be reading, and we might all be given wet wipes of clean the seats around us before we can be allowed to fly again...

Brilliant. I hope that he does. Serve them right. I wonder if El Al would tolerate this sort of nonsense.

Given? More likely supply your own.

New sku for BOB.

If one's child makes a mess, one should clean up after him/her and not leave a debris field for someone else to clean. It's only decent. Well done of the crew member.

Sorry? I thought that was why we were given hot dishrags?

that is certainly what I use the ones I get given for .....

I get that karma is a ..... and all that, but I prefer not to have representatives of a company actually lie to its customers. I suspect it would have been possible to convey the same message and even if appropriate a warning while remaining truthful.

Thanks for the report OP ^

A unique (IME, at least :eek:), but ultimately satisfying pattern of events.

Re-affirms my faith in human nature : largely because of the wholly admirable stance taken by the Purser ; and then partly because of the remorse and corrective action shown by the (initially negligent) parents.

@ European Pete - your post crossed with my own. Fair enough, I have some sympathy with the point made in your second sentence.

Well done cabin crew. ^

Hopefully they won't be back because those type of people never learn.

I agree, and always attempt to leave anywhere in a relatively clean and tidy state. Ok, may not be immaculate but larger food items should be cleaned up etc.

However, this shouldn’t just go for the children. There are some pretty untidy adults out there as well!

Truly.

Interesting post OP and thanks for sharing. Perhaps the crew were having a bad day with the departure being delayed according to flightaware meaning they would have a later than planned arrival home.

It sounds like the purser handled it very well; hats off to him. But heaven forfend what would have happened if it had been a pair of those obnoxious parents who think their child is a perfect angel and everything he does is beyond reproach.