disneywithchildren

Protect our Children!

A rule that needs to be changed!

Back on January 1st, 2012 I started the new year off by being kicked off a plane while traveling with Julia.
Why did this happen you ask? Did I make threatening remarks? Did I yell bomb?
No- I got upset because the seats that I paid extra for to guarantee I would be seated next to my 3 year old daughter, Julia, were taken by other people, and the stewardess told me I had no right to them.

She wanted me to wait (not sure where I was supposed to wait that was never made clear) till everyone had been seated. I was essentially told to get out of the way with my 3 year old in tow plus our two carry on bags.

I admit I yelled at the stewardess that this was unacceptable. I wanted to be able to sit down with Julia.

This got me escorted off the plane with Julia. Julia was hysterical. She was crying. Passengers offered to give us their seats. We were treated like criminals- all the while  my daughter sobbing- we will never get back to NYC- I will never see my daddy again.

This was not a good start to 2012.

I would love to name the airline, and I might at some point. However that is not the point of this post. NOTE- I know people will be trying to guess which airline. I fly Delta 99.9% of the time- it was not them.

Why did I get so upset? I fly 4-5 times a year. I am aware of the fact that at age 2 an airline is under no obligation to seat the child with his/her parents/caretaker. They can be separated and seated next to strangers.
I knew once everyone was seated there would be no guarantee that there would be two seats next to each other,  and the airline was under no obligation to seat us together. The thought of my child being seated next to a stranger brought out the Mama Bear in me. I started to panic. I could not let that happen.

But the truth is- it should NEVER happen to anyone, but it does.

I personally know people whose children as young as 2 have been seated away from them. What usually ends up happening is some seat shuffling by passengers so a child can be seated with at least one of the adults he/she is traveling with. However until that happens the parent/caretaker(s) are stressed and freaking out.

I have witnessed this first hand-and being an emotional person I almost started to panic, and it was not even my child. In Feb 2011 I was on a flight from Orlando to NYC. It was a full flight. Many adults traveling together had not been seated together, and were trying to get passengers to switch all the while the staff begging them to just take their seats. I can see how  not being seated with your traveling companion(s) could be frustrating, but they were adults.

I was in a row of 2-just Julia and me. Across was a row of 3. There were 2 elderly women in the aisle and middle seat. I saw a mom, dad, a little girl who looked about 3, and an infant. The mom and the infant went into the seat that was right behind me. The dad was seating the little girl in the row with the 2 elderly women. He asked the woman in the middle seat if she would take his seat which was in the row right behind this one by the window. She said no-she said not to worry-she would be a grandmother to the little girl. For the record it took every fiber in my being not to jump up and tell her how selfish she was being. The woman in the middle seat right behind this selfish woman must have realized what was happening, because she offered to give the little girl her seat, and sit in the seat assigned to the little girl.

I was relieved. Once we were enroute to NYC the mom and I started chatting. I asked how the little girl got seated away from them. She said they were all assigned different seats, and the airline claimed they could not switch the seats, but they were sure someone would switch with her husband once on the plane. I asked the age of her daughter. The mom said 2.5. I commented that her daughter seemed to be handling it well. The mom said she did not think her daughter really understood that her father would not be sitting with her.  How would you even explain that to a child. The mom said they were hoping someone would switch. Luckily it all worked out, and the little girl did not have the chance to really be aware of what was happening. Trust me-you know how everyone dreads the crying, screaming child on a flight. Make a young child sit with a complete stranger, and I can almost guarantee hysterics from the child will begin.

This is outrageous! I really believe that the majority of adults flying with children do not realize this is a possibility, because if they did the airlines would be under pressure to change this policy. My belief is that the families that this happens to end up with a kind adult switching at the last minute-and it becomes a non-issue. But I have now heard stories, and talked with many parents who basically had to worry up until they boarded the plane that their young child would be sitting with a stranger.

On a personal note-2 years ago one of my friends was flying from NYC to Europe. She was traveling alone with her 2.5 year old and 6 month old. The airline had seated the 2.5 year old in a different row, and said there was nothing they could do. Once again, it worked out once she was on the plane-but not only was she stressed at the thought of flying for the first time with an infant and a toddler by herself, she had the added anxiety of her 2.5 year old sitting next to a stranger without her.

I realize that the first response is to start making jokes-sounds great-I’ll sit back and relax while someone else deals with my child. But that is exactly the point. Do you as a parent, or do you know any parent who would just let some random stranger take care of their child. Plus the passenger(s) next to your child has no responsibility for them-your child is on his/her own. What if there is an emergency on the flight-is the passenger next to your child going to help with the oxygen mask? What if the child needs help with entertainment, snacks, opening a juice box?  What if the child gets sick?

Two days after I got escorted off the January 1st flight, Julia and I were on a Delta flight back to NYC. Upon the descent Julia threw up-it was all over me, it was all over her. She was crying and upset. I had to use my cashmere sweater to clean up the mess. How would a stranger deal with this? Would anyone be helping her. Remember this happened on the descent-a parent would not even be able to get up and help with the situation.

Taking the concerns a step further-parents/caretakers have no way of knowing who is sitting next to their child. We are talking about very young, defenseless children-a 2 year old cannot protect him/herself. In a world where parents demand and have a right to know who is interacting with their children, it is unthinkable that airlines have the right to let a child as young as 2 sit next to a complete stranger.

My purpose in posting this is to get the attention of parents, the airlines, congress, everyone and anyone. There needs to be a mandated law that if a minor child is boarding a plane with a parent/caretaker he or she must be seated with at least one member of their party.

Protect our children.