Airline Removes Three-Year-Old Terror and Family
January 23, 2007 – 1:43 pmGood for AirTran Airways.
The flight from Ft. Myers to Boston was already 15 minutes late taking off when little Elly refused to get in her seat. The flight could not take off without all passengers in their seats and belted. Being three years old, Elly had to have her own seat and be belted into it. According to the airline the child was also hitting her parents and trying to get under the seat.
The airline personnel asked Elly and her parents to leave the plane. Good for them. They said,
The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family.
The airline refunded their purchase price and got them on another flight and also offered three round-trip tickets to anywhere AirTran flies. The father said that they would never fly AirTran again.
I’ll fly AirTran anytime they’re going where I’m going from where I am.
I’ve flown with three-year-olds, and babies, and most recently with a five-year-old on his very first flight. I’ve never had a problem getting any child in an airline seat and keeping them there.
On the other hand, I have well behaved (at least in public) children. I set limits and the children mostly abide by them. Children need and want limits. Julie and Gerry Kulesza were inconvenienced by having to leave the plane. The other 112 passengers got to fly to their destination reasonably on time and without having to listen to a screaming three-year-old all the way to Boston.
I hope Elly was a bit better behaved on the flight they actually took.
AirTrans actions make it more likely I’d fly with them. And as a favor to the flying public, the parents should post what flights they are taking, so we can avoid them.
[...] as Kim notes, when a kid starts behaving like that before the flight, well, sometimes airline personnel step in. [...]
This is the same airline that had to deal with Mike Vick’s water bottle - the one with the secret compartment, in which there was something that vaguely smelled like marijuana (or so said the news).
I have flown between Florida and Michigan many times and if there is a child that is so disruptive like this child that I had wished there were flights just for adults. It makes it so miserable for everyone else - I am so thankful to Air-Tran that I will fly them from now on.
WAY TO GO AIR-TRAN
Kudos to Air-Tran!!! They made the right decision and makes me just want to fly with them when I can. Whatever the reason for the child to be disruptive, the parents were not prepared to handle. I air traveled with my 3 children when they too were ages 3,3 and 8 (yes, twins) .. if you prep them for the travel and have stuff to keep them occupied they’ll be great travelers. Maybe they’ve learned a lesson. My only thought is that I thing AIR Tran was far too kind to the family by offering free round trip tix.
I think this should be proof to parents (those as well as any others) that their children need discipline! One broadcast I heard was that her mother was upset because it had been reported that the child was “hitting a woman”. She angrily replied” the child is 3 years old and that woman was me, her mother!” It appears that she saw nothing wrong with her 3 year old hitting her; I would say to her that there is a big problem with that picture!!! Kudos to the airline and every poll I’ve seen has been around 90% in support of their action.
[...] Tran requested that a misbehaving three-year-old and her parents leave the plane when the parents couldn’t control her and the plane was already 15 minutes late for takeoff. [...]
I agree with AirTran’s actions, but kimsch, surely you are not so myopic as to think your experience with children five and under is either universal or the gold standard by which everyone should measure their parenting capabilities. The whole “Well I can do it, why can’t you” argument is pretty tired.
I would like to know WHY the parents were compensated for anything! They were rewarded for being incapable of getting a 3 year old to sit down!
The ones who should have gotten roundtrip tickets were the other passengers. I bet they didn’t get refunds when they missed their connections.
Before slagging off the parents, why not try putting yourelf in their position?
Before slagging off the parents, why not try putting yourself in their position? NO parent chooses for their child to be disruptive and it is also not their fault! They are just as annoyed as you, but they also have to deal with the embarrasment aswell. Children will be just that, CHILDREN, and it doesnt make them monsters!! They are not an inconvenience either!! Handling 3 year olds is not easy, and to give your opinion loosly on how they should be handled, especially if you dont have any children, is offensive. Yes, some children are angels, but most arent (speaking first hand) and parents blame themselves enough without people making them feel worse and pointing the finger when they know nothing about it! This airline is obviously not family friendly, otherwise they would not have been so hasty, and my advise to people with children would be not to use it!
Oh, please! Ok, genius: how do you get a three year old who is in full defiance mode to sit in their seat? It’s a child, not a dog or a doll. And here’s a little fact you might want to consider: the flight was already 15 minutes late and that had nothing to do with the child. The real problem is people who are SUPPOSED to be customer service acting like they are officials.
And by the way, if your children are obedient little angels who do what you say — great! One day they’re going to make good little obedient servants (employees) to those defiant children. . .