studentff

How is a temper tantrum a safety issue?

Child running up/down the aisle is a safety issue. Not buckled in is a safety issue. But supposedly none of that was going on here. If the kid was buckled in, regardless of what noise was coming out of the kid or how hard the parents were having to hold him down, I don't see how it's a safety issue. There's no silence requirement for takeoff, and the noise of the engines or any serious incident is going to make it harder to understand FA instructions than a screaming child. And realistically, if the parent could have held the child 20 seconds after takeoff, the tantrum almost certainly would have stopped.

Now, such a racket is a comfort issue. And if the airline/captain decided to go back for the comfort of the passengers, whether or not that is appropriate is a legitimate discussion. But calling an unruly child who is buckled into a seat belt a "safety issue" is disingenuous IMO.

dodger 1k

As some have pointed out, none of us were there. But since the Captain was there, and has sole discretion and responsibility over the aircraft and safety of flight, I have to side with his judgment.

The parents rolled the dice by taking an unnecessary leisure flight with toddlers. They lost. Better luck next time.

KatanaPilot

Hmm apologies in advance for disagreeing - but the Captain was up front behind locked doors, so he wasn't there in person to observe either.... He had to listen to and rely on whatever the FA was telling him....

As I read more about this event, more interesting facts are coming out.... Apparently there were other passengers advocating for this family / siding with them, so we cannot rule out that the FA went on a power trip and other passengers / independent observers saw right through it.

Another point about delays - once the girl was buckled in, they could've taken off causing minimal delay. Instead the Captain chose to delay further by returning to the ramp, off loading the pax and thus having to find and offload their bags.....

If all the girl wanted was for her mom to hold her, and she was already in her seat buckled in, it wouldn't be a safety issue to takeoff. In 10 minutes, once at altitude with seatbelt sign off, the girl can then climb into mommy's lap, and most likely fall asleep for the remainder of the flight. Everyone will have a nice flight to Boston, and this is how it should've been.

I recall reading about other airlines training their FAs to "de-escalate" any situation. None of us witness the event, but based on what I've read so far, there was no de-escalating of any kind by the FA.....

MarieS

Again, the quote from the mother was that they had them buckled in and were holding them down with all their might. This is not under control. Do you really think that holding a screaming child down with all your might was in control? What was going to happen when the parents got tired? Were other passengers going to volunteer to hold them down with all their might? If there was turbulence they might have to hold them down with all their might for the entire flight. What would be the physical damage to a child screaming for the entire flight?

No, they had to leave the plane. I wouldn't want to take responsibility for two out of control children.

And the interview on the Today show really highlighted how little control the parents have with these two children. Guys, drive to Disney World until you've got a better handle on this behavior.

JCK75

Excellent point. I think the "all their might" comment is an admission that the situation was not at all under control. This was obviously more than simply a crying child or baby.

JAX2BOS

Once again none of us were there so it is hard to judge.

I will say, however, I watched the family interview on the Today Show and one of the kids was climbing all over the place. I had to chuckle, they couldn't even control the daughter on the tv show (this time it appeared to be the older one).

I believe this would have been avoided had the family elected to bring FAA approved child restraint systems (carseat) onboard. They had seats for everyone both children were over two. This way the child would have been safely restrained accordingly and timely without any type of disruption.

-Just sayin'

Ducati

For those who are lauding the decision made by jetblue, you probably don't have children. It's akin to men believing they know better than women about how to care for women's bodies. Lol. Let the flames begin...

Ducati

^

And everyone knows FAs have raised their own children and always use common sense. Lol.

bmg42000

If you need to hold them down while the seatbelt is on then thats an issue .
Its a safety issue and its better to solve it on the ground then to deal with it in the air (especially with an international flight). I have a child and I would not want to hurt the other passengers if my child was not calm. I also kept him in the carseat until he was 3.

JCK75

We can only go with what the mother said. She said that she was holding the child down with "all her might." This is, by definition, not "under control."

If the mother's best defense of the situation is actually an admission that the situation was not under control, I think the only reasonable conclusion is that the situation was in fact not under control. If it was not under control, then getting the kids off the plane was not an inappropriate response by the flight crew.

I'm certainly willing to hear other points of view, but I think MarieS's point wins the day.

jiejie

Everything has risks. Of course medication can be the answer. Just because parents have to "roll with the punches" doesn't mean they get to force everybody else crammed into a cramped metal flying tube with no means of escape to also "roll." You sound like one of those arrogant, entitled parents. Hopefully you can keep control of your kids better than these parents can. Comments similar to mine are part of the BACKLASH that is way overdue.

As for other passengers "siding with the family" well, control of the airplane is not a democracy. Captain gets final say, that's why he's got the 4 stripes on the shoulder.

pbuntrock

So, you asked for a flame, you got it. I am so sick of special cases!! I'm a women I'm special, I've got kids I'm special, I'm over 70 I'm special, I have service dog because I wear glasses. I bought a ticket like you, I just want to board the plane, relax and get to my destination. I don't want to deal with your problems, I don't want you to deal with my problems. I fly over 200k a year, this is all way out of control. And I don't really see how your body has anything to do with how your screaming out of control children ruin my flight

sargenet

I read the articles and saw the video of the tv interview. And even though I was not there...I understand why Jet Blue might have made the decision to remove the family.

And yes, I am a mother. My son started flying when he was 8 months old. And we took a number of trips when he was 1, 2 and 3. Boy oh Boy... I do not miss those times!! Thankfully he has always had good flights and I never went through him having a tantrum on a plane.......

But I can remember some MAJOR TANTRUMS that took place at that age when I needed to buckle him in the car seat in my mini-van. Times when he was fighting, kicking, not getting in the seat tantrum!! With me physically trying to restrain him to get him buckled in. And my husband was helping me! And even when I got him buckled in he continued to scream and throw a fit for the next 30 minutes on the drive home!!

Geez it was horrible! So here we have a child...age two...who did not have her nap and she decides to have a fit. The mother admitted they were doing everything they could to hold her down in her seat. The situation did not get better. She might have been buckled in but still kicking, screaming, crying etc. The tantrum could have kept going on for another 30 minutes or more with the child physically still trying to get out of her seat.

It sounds like a very bad situation. Made worse by the fact that JetBlue only had a limited schedule. I am not surprised that so many people agree that the airline did the right thing.

WebTraveler

Look pal, I didn't side with the family or anything else. I said that you just don't go callously medicating kids (or people for that matter) responding to your incredibly stupid comment. The captain simply made a call and that's what he did.

Maybe you should actually read what I wrote before spewing off. Simply put you are an arrogant, a-hole with some know it all attitude. You think you are somehow better than everyone and somehow think medication or drugs are the answer? You have no medical and pharmaceutical background and have no idea what the heck you are even talking about other than perhaps your own experience as a drug user or drug dealer.

Hhonor Gguard

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