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“In Ivy’s case, FAA guidelines recommend an FAA approved child safety seat, something Elit was not aware of until her flight.”
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while this is a no-brainer for many of us…even if we weren’t aware of the recommendations…I have long-learned that there are many “successful people” out there that don’t have a lot of “walking around smarts.”
And yes, they should have rearranged the family member seatings so this wasn’t a big deal. The mom mentions that she teaches her kids to “own” their mistakes. This would be a good-time for her to role-model admitting a parent mistake.
(BTW…I don’t get this “some family in First Class, some family in coach” stuff. When we fly, we’re all in First or we’re all in Coach. That “some in better, some in worse” just seems weird to me.)
These weren’t 14 yos. They were young children, at least that’s what it looks like from the photos in article posted above. I agree with Busdriver–this is a situation where each side dug in and the whole thing escalated to a screaming match. That never should have happened.
I wish I wasn’t such a frequent flyer, having to deal with hours of torment from inconsiderate, self centered people. Flying can be at least a tolerable experience if everyone is aware of others and are generous and considerate. It can be so painless, even in coach, if you just think of other people. You get all these people crammed together, and if nobody cares about anybody else-- it’s pure misery.
My last flight, the guy behind me discovered a new way to cause torment. He had the tray table out, his laptop on it, and was playing a game where he had to type furiously, banging repetitively, as loud as he could. Making my seat shake constantly, and causing plenty of noise, while people were trying to sleep. Occasionally punctuating it all with farting. Every now and then I couldn’t stand it, and would have to moan, “Oh my God,” agreed with by the person next to me. Finally, slamming my seat back into the full recline position (which I would normally never do), got the message across, though the farting continued.
Flying, particularly in coach----cooperate and graduate. Get along and get off the plane without maiming anyone.
Well, you will have the same problem with the disabled 5 year old who is the size of a 4 year old, though. The cut off has to be somewhere and the mom should have moved to be with her daughter in a seat somewhere and she should have been happy to do it, really.
Actually, I think they were on their way home from their destination. It was a DR to Newark flight, so I’m guessing they’d been on vacation, and were on their way home. I doubt this is a family that lives in the DR.
I’ll cast my vote in favor of the airlines. I don’t have a problem with parents sitting separately from children when those children are old enough to fly unsupervised. However, I think a young child, and/or someone of any age with special needs who needs assistance should have a seat next to someone who is responsible for them. Buying a coach seat and then sitting in first class seems sketchy to me.
As to the other scenarios- religious reasons for being on a flight or sitting next to someone, it is nice to be accommodated, but it still is not the airline’s problem or responsibility.
(BTW…I don’t get this “some family in First Class, some family in coach” stuff. When we fly, we’re all in First or we’re all in Coach. That “some in better, some in worse” just seems weird to me."
It makes sense to me (under normal circumstances). Both big trips we took with our kids overseas, we redeemed miles and H and I were in first and the kids were in business (they were teenagers, so clearly able to take care of themselves and not be disruptions). I could also see getting 2 and 2 and switching midway through.
In a large extended family, it makes perfect sense that a) there is a cap on the number of award seats and b) there are enough self-sufficient children (say, 12 and up) that some could sit in coach. That part of it, by itself, doesn’t bother me. In a “normal” circumstance, I could easily see 4 young teens/teenagers in coach while parents were in premium.
I also have no problem with parent sitting separately from kids, as long as they aren’t too young. We are cheap, and never, ever pay for first class. Might use miles to upgrade, hope the airline upgrades us, or have our company pay for first class. In 30 years of flying I don’t think I’ve ever personally paid to fly first class, except if I can do it for $20-$30 via company deals.
What we do is attempt to get as many people in the family free or company paid upgrades, and take turns sitting in first class. The kids get first dibs, as it’s more of a treat for them. But I’d never have them in a separate cabin if they couldn’t take care of themselves.
I think you’d have to be pretty wealthy to actually be willing to pay for first class, unless there was an extraordinary deal. What amazes me is people who will spend 6K or more for international business class tickets, of their own money. I think I’d have to be worth many tens of millions of dollars before I’d pay for that.
I think HImom hit the reason for the purchased ticket a few pages ago. To get through the TSA, every individual over the age of 2 needs a boarding pass. And this child was over the age of two.
Unless this was a large plane traveling an international route, there were not 16 seats in the business or first class sections. Some of their party of 16 could have sat next to this young child. The airlines would have been most accommodating in terms of moving folks around to make that happen. Clearly, the family knew before they boarded, that the coach seat was not near the parents or other family members.
I worked with disabled kids for years. The families were strong advocates for their kids…but o don’t know a one who would have done what this family did. If they had known their kid’s seat was separated from the family, they would have requested a move to be near the child.
“Unless this was a large plane traveling an international route, there were not 16 seats in the business or first class sections.”
There are precisely 16 first class seats on most 737, such as the ones flown by Alaska, Southwest, Delta, and others. Larger planes have even more seats.
If that comment was made then I agree the flight attendant was totally out of line for not using more discretion. Sometimes the way things are said can make all the difference in the world.
Well then, this family could,have purchased all 16 seats in first class…if they had purchased early enough to do so. The article says they had four seats in coach. Why didn’t someone else agree to sit with the child…or swap,with a parent who was in first class.
These are well travelled passengers. Not first time flyers. Perhaps on previous flights, the family made prior arrangements. Who knows?