sammyindc

I disagree. In this instance, everyone knew what the passenger was trying to do (whether he did it or not) and diverting the plane was not at all justified.
I wonder what kind of response/compensation they got from UA.

BigBossman

Appears the Captain is a fan of Cartman and South Park...

hobo13

And by the looks of it, this is another 'penny-wise pound-foolish' decision that will take a few shares out of United's bank account.

johnathome

As others have said, be prepared to keep your kids occupied. We pack our son's backpack with enough stuff to keep him preoccupied as soon as those doors close. Complaining about the movie with others is a waste of time. Turn off the monitor and someone will complain to UA that the IFE wasn't working and will ask for compensation.

Question is whether a diversion was necessary. Assume UA management will look into this issue if crew did time out and the cost involved. Since we don't know full story, we are all speculating but by number of posts here, guess we all like to speculate

However, we all quickly blame the pilot/purser but there are plenty of jerks out there that we've seen on every flight/train/bus that we've been on.

COdbaUA

I have a feeling the parents were self-righteous and expect the world to comfort to their values and instead of being realistic and dealing with the situation in a more responsible manner. I was on a flight in FC recently and an economy passenger asked the FA's before take-off that no nut products of any kind be served on the plane because she had a severe peanut allergy. The FA's came to the cockpit and informed the pilot and he said that the lady was welcome to take another flight but that they were not going to quarantine the whole plane for her benefit. She stayed, nuts were served in FC and she lived to tell about it.

gailwynand

If UA wanted to save money, they could just get rid of the video programming on the overhead screens and show the flight information instead. I'd actually prefer that; I can't think of a single time they have shown something I wanted to watch.

mre5765

Law enforcement interviewed all the parties involved. No one was arrested or tried. UA allowed the family to travel on a different aircraft. Therefore the pilot over reacted.

That said, the family should have sucked it up.

jnojr

I have to agree... it's too easy to bring a laptop or iGadget and watch whatever movie you want.

kenn0223

I would prefer that UA prevent all passengers from tampering with the aircraft (including forcing electrically operated equipment back to move uncommanded). If the passenger does not comply I would support removing them from the aircraft.

At this point it's all speculation, but I agree with others here that there is almost certainly additional information that has not been provided.

exerda

I have on a few occasions seen a movie in-flight which I enjoyed. In general, I bring my own entertainment, but there have been a handful of films I actually tuned into.

goodeats21

Seems to me UA (pilot/purser/whoever) has confused a customer service issue with a security issue.

Newsflash...a complaining customer is not a security threat.

I admit that we are only hearing one side of this "story", but the truly sad part of all this: I don't doubt for an instant that (some) UA staff really use "security" as rationale for anything they don't want to deal with....

GoAmtrak

Moonrise Kingdom was awesome, especially as thoughtful PG-13 fare that would go above young kids' heads but by no means warrant covering their eyes. That's the kind of movie UA should be showing on the main screen. ^

I also miss the blocks of independent short films that PMUA sometimes showed, and high-brow cable shows like This American Life. Nothing wrong with pedestrian sitcoms either, as OP noted.

Crazyboutflying

Someone wondered how big a jerk that passenger May have been? Let me ask you a ?
When is the last time you actually expected several rows of people to not watch a movie because you were too thoughtless to bring your own entertainment
I have flown with 3 kids many many times and never considered that my whim was enough to determine what others watched or did onboard
I have seen those types of folks and the sense of entitlement is astonishing
What if other passengers were too intimidated to speak up?
Clearly we need to hear other opinions but the parents can control their environment not everyone else's and they should have come prepared

Gambleballs

PG-13 appropriateness can certainly vary widely. Take a look at Alex Cross's ratings in other countries v/s another PG-13 rated moved "Dumb and Dumber"... (From IMDB)


Alex Cross: Rated PG-13 for violence including disturbing images, sexual content, language, drug references, and nudity
Certification:
USA:PG-13 (certificate #47519) / Australia:M / Canada:14A (Ontario) / Netherlands:16 / Philippines:R-13 / Ireland:15A / UK:15 / Hong Kong:IIB / Singapore:NC-16 / Brazil:14 / Portugal:M/16 / Japan:G / South Korea:18 / Germany:16


Dumb & Dumber:Rated PG-13 for off-color humor
Certification:
Argentina:Atp / Australia:PG / Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) / Canada:G (Quebec) / Canada:PA (Manitoba) / Canada:PG (Ontario) / Finland:K-8 / Germany:12 / Netherlands:MG6 / Norway:11 / Portugal:M/12 / Singapore:PG / Spain:7 / Sweden:11 / UK:12 / USA:PG-13 (NO. 33160) / Ireland:15 / Iceland:L / USA:PG-13 / USA:Not Rated (unrated DVD version) / South Korea:12 / Canada:14A / New Zealand:PG / Italy:T


So just checking a few of these other countries ratings, it looks like children un 13 could not even be admitted to Alex Cross at all in the Philippines, no one under 16 in singapore. No one und 15 without an adult in Ireland.

weirdlyndon

Agreed. Seems like we're in a catch 22 with this thread. Sure, maybe Alex Cross isn't suitable for kids. Then again, a few months ago playing Monte Carlo for a plane full of people 21+ when that movie was meant for 12 year olds is

I think if the parents didn't approve of the movie, they should've either checked out the entertainment listings prior to flight and planned iPads, or other modes of child entertainment.