Well if the OP was elite and the five kids were non rev, he would have a legit complaint:) Unless I did a SDC or stood by for an earlier flight, I would be upset if my upgrade didn't clear and five non-revs were in first. An elite should always get priority for a first class seat over a non-rev

I got seated on the lower level of an Amtrak train from Kansas City-Albuquerque with my 4 year old on the 8th July, woke up on the 9th to hear someone on the phone to Amtrak complaining that he was sharing with a small child and that the lower level should be for people who needed it, the small child in question was occupied the entire time watching dvds on her dvd player, to the point that noone else knew she was there until they passed me ;)

In Maui, during Breakfast, my not 5 year old.. back then one year old was crying.. and this lady walked by and said can't you stop him from crying? in a manner I think she was absolutely horrified hearing any crying..

My theory.. some of these mother's have heard so much crying during their motherhood years, that they are stressed out even from the presence of children crying..

My son was sitting pretty good for most of the meal.. and it wasn't out of the ordinary I though for a few minutes of crying while dismantling him out of the high chair..

Why should it worry someone in another part of the plane that there are four or five children in first class? Presumably they were entitled to be there. One might as well complain that there is anyone in first class: perhaps they should shut the area down or turn it into economy class seating?

And as long as the children were well behaved, I don't see why it should worry other passengers in first class either. If the children are not well behaved, well, that's a different point. (Mind you, not all grown-ups in first class are well behaved or considerate of their fellow travellers...)

What kind of restaurant was it? Was it the kind of place where "a few minutes of crying," would destroy the ambiance, or was it a "family" kind of place?

They are there primarily for your safety. ;)

Mike

Embassy Suites.. where everyone gets their breakfast in the morning.. all suite hotel with lots of families in the restaurant and staying at the hotel..

Usually at Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea.. they have a Keiki table with lots of stuff for kids.. so no problem there..

Agreed.

Oh yes, sorry, I must haveen busy buying swampland or something like that.

So???
 

Your profile lists that you have ZERO status with anybody. Please tell me why you are complaining?

I don't think anybody understands ALL kids. :)

Yes it does. If a [normal] kid is always out of control, it's because the parent is too lazy/stupid to do seize control. The easy thing to do is to let the kid do its thing; the parenting part is harder.

No, they should NOT be allowed to. If you know that for whatever reason your kid is out of control, you should NOT be taking your kids on flights, in restaurants, etc. It's selfish to subject everyone else to your kid's antics.

Well said! ^

Given the total number of children who fly every day and the total number of actual disruptions caused by children on airplanes, either (a) parents are indeed doing a good job of keeping their "out of control" kids off airplanes or (b) this entire situation is extremely rare to begin with.

Probably a little of each. First, the vast majority of parents that I see flying seem to do a good job with their kids and don't create a nuisance. Second, probably around 80% of the flights that I'm on don't include any passenger disruption or nuisance of any kind, so I think disruptive passengers are, themselves, reasonable rare.

HOWEVER, at least in my experience, the small percentage of parents who do cause disruptions and imposition (I always blame the parents, never the kids) result in nuisances so great and so protracted as to be both notable and memorable. There's been at least one poster in this thread who has said, in essence, "I paid for my ticket and if my kids are disruptive, too bad on you!" I've said this before -- it's unfortunate that a small percentage of parents ruin it for the responsible ones, but there you have it.

80%!! :eek: If I had 20% of my flights with a passenger disruption or nuisance, I'd be irate. I'm not sure who I'd be irate with...airlines, passengers, the FAA, the TSA, Obama, the Republicans, all of the above....but I'd be irate. :mad:

Maybe I've been lucky...just one incident in my flying lifetime where I was worried that a disruptive child was going to cause a problem. Another one where it was an adult causing the situation. A thousand-ish total lifetime flights...

I don't disagree with that. On a thread recently about the disruptive passenger (an adult in this case) who delayed a UA flight to FRA by an entire day, I mused that I'd want to sue the hell out of the passenger who caused the problem. I know that's irrational...a lawsuit that would fail to go anywhere...but I sympathize with the feeling.

My personal opinion is that children who are not mature enough to stop crying/whining on command (age 4?) should not be allowed to fly business of FC. but beyond that, why not?

My kids flew J to Europe a few years ago. They were 8 and 7 at the time. They were well behaved; I quickly stopped my son from playing with his seat, which was one of the shell kinda-sorta-almost flat sleepers.

Were the kids you observed misbehaving?