Yes, agree Calmom. This couple needs to purchase a car seat with adaptive technology for this child and move forward. There are even restraints and seats designed specifically for flying if this is a frequent traveling family. The mom is very fortunate that she got a somewhat “public” apology. I don’t think United needed to do this. A very good friend had a child with even more issues than this one and he lived almost to 20 and well over 6 feet tall. I saw with my two eyes what equipment is available not only for day to day care but to adapt to a growing, upper middle class family that wants to maintain a normal as possible life style for the other kids in the family and the parents. I really think the possibility exists that the mom might just be in denial as this little girl is transitioning from baby to toddler and just figured she could 'get away" with it for a while longer.
The mom says she wants to spread awareness…but I fear she is the one that needs to be more “aware.”
Hmmm. I just did a Tumbler search and got the page doesn’t exist notification. Although at this point all of it has been reblogged a million times and you can find any of it very easily. But, it started on Twitter with her outburst being picked up by CNN. I also found her Pinterest. She likes fancy furnishings and has pics up of her kids bedrooms. That account is still active. None of this matters at all. though. She should have had the 11 year old switch seats. Easy-peasy.
I think this is a pretty good PR move from United. They haven’t gotten this much support since…ever.
I also believe that the mom has helped spread awareness that people need to get their little kids into appropriate seats for small children on flights. Honestly, she never knew that? Anyone who has ever taken a flight one single time in their life has seen kids sitting in them, and the parents hauling them down the aisle. I’m not sure that she has helped spread awareness for disabled children in any positive manner.
As far as not getting assigned seating, I doubt that it was a matter of that they were not told if the seat were going to be in coach or first class. Unless people got upgraded from being frequent travelers on the mileage tickets. It is likely that they just didn’t have assigned seating before they checked in. But I guarantee you, if you need someone to move up from first class to coach so you can have a second seat in coach, no problem, you can get it.
It’s even more obnoxious knowing that these were frequent flier tickets bought by someone else. If you are lucky enough to have that deal, even if they tell you they are oversold and now you have to go back to coach, or whatever reason, you suck it up and go.
The tumblr is still up. Un-freaking-believable. She neglects to mention how she bought the seat for her totally dependent child in “steerage” and didn’t just go back and sit with her there, which would have solved the entire problem. Also…
To me, this seems to have been a power struggle between the mom and the FA - which of course the FA was going to win. I still believe the very best thing would have been for the mom to clear her plan to hold the child with the airline before showing up at the airport. But I am somewhat sympathetic to the mom, even once she boarded the plane, based on the report that the other FAs argued with the one FA, so there does not seem to have been agreement among the FAs that the child needed to be in her own seat - this is the mom’s account so it might or might not be true, but do we know for sure that there is not an official exception to the rule that would have allowed the mom to hold the child?
I do think FAs sometimes get too aggressive with their right to boss passengers around. I once had an agent insist that I needed to take some things out of the front pocket of my roll-aboard carry-on so that it would fit in the standard-size carry-on measurement box that they had at the gate – even though all of the roll-aboards were being gate-checked because the overhead bins on this (small commuter) plane could only handle briefcase-size bags. Of course, I took my few things out, but it was totally unnecessary. (And this is where I do lose sympathy for the mom - even if the FA was wrong, the FA is in charge - and the mom holding up the whole plane for an hour to argue was also wrong.)
“The tumblr is still up. Un-freaking-believable. She neglects to mention how she bought the seat for her totally dependent child in “steerage” and didn’t just go back and sit with her there, which would have solved the entire problem. Also…”
According to another blog, the other family members did take the coach seats upfront when boarding so the mother, father, and the 4 kids could sit together in premium. Assuming that is true, it may not be accurate to suggest they stuck her back there or intended to stick her back there by herself. It does sound as though they did have a seat for her in premium, but didn’t plan to use it. It may be that when the FA insisted, they said - look, she can’t hold herself up - and the FA then said - well, we can move you to coach and that will work better logistically since you can raise the armrests and hold her.
Of course, if someone had that many miles to buy that many tickets with miles, wouldn’t s/he be experienced enough as an airline passenger to know the rules about needing a seat for each child age >= 2?
If the girl cannot use a seat without discomfort, then the parents should have brought proper equipment on board with them. But there’s no evidence about the “discomfort” part – there are reports that the child was in a stroller in the airport and photos online showing the child strapped into a bicycle seat. The problem seems to be that the child needs to be strapped in place and/or supported to keep her from falling over — which is exactly why products like this are sold: http://kidsflysafe.com/buy-now/
I know plenty of teenagers/young adults who have never flown, and lots of adults who fly maybe once every 5-10 years; I know of people who have not flown since 9/11.
If there were such a rule, don’t you think that rule would be all over the internet by now? 'Look, here’s the rule that says the FA can make a decision overruling the FAA! Look, here is a rule so clear that the pilot should have just told the FA to back off!" There is no rule. I have seen flight attendants take babies out of harnesses because they are not safe. I have seen FA’s make parents wake sleeping toddlers (much smaller than Miss Ivy) and make them be buckled in for turbulence and landings. It is the requirement. Babies who are 2 years and 1 day must have a seat, and they must sit in it. If the baby is flying as a lap child the parent has to prove the baby is under 2 - and they do check! My neighbor had a pretty hefty almost 2 year old, and she always had to prove the baby was under two with the baby’s passport. They always brought it because they were always questioned.
The mother made a fuss and I still can’t believe the pilot didn’t just toss her off because they have tossed passengers for a lot less and got the plane moving.
I wouldn’t have expected the grandfather to know about all the flying rules for young children…his racking up that many miles could be from business trips and credit card use… The parents should have known since this was their 4th child and they fly a lot.
They seem to have been misled because some previous flights did not enforce the rules.
“Oh get a grip, to use your own favorite phrase. You really think we all don’t fly?”
I don’t have the number handy, but something like less than 15% of all Americans fly in a given year and the majority never fly at all. CC is more affluent than the gen pop, but yeah, I expect there are people on here who rarely fly and are relatively inexperienced in flying.
“Of course, if someone had that many miles to buy that many tickets with miles, wouldn’t s/he be experienced enough as an airline passenger to know the rules about needing a seat for each child age >= 2?”
I wouldn’t necessarily expect the grandfather to know, but I would expect the parents of 4 children under 11, who come from an affluent family and travel frequently, to know. Their other children weren’t born 11,8 and 6 years old.
And the parents DID know that they needed to BUY a seat. They thought they could get away with not USING it.
“The girl CANNOT USE a seat, at least without extreme discomfort.”
No. She can use a seat. She sits in a car seat in a car. She sits on mother’s lap. She sits in a bicycle seat. She sits in a stroller. She needs assistance and support. Both you and dstark are acting as though she has rigidity across her middle where she physically can’t bend or something.