[SIAPassenger2010]

I couldn’t agree more about badly behaved kids and screaming babies! While some of the reasons may be due to apathy from parents, babies encountering genuine discomfort, etc., we should actually encourage parents to take their kids on board only if there is a genuine need or if they can afford to do so. It is really unfair to expect other full paying passengers to put up with these discounted passengers. How about airlines imposing full fare or extra tax for these passengers? After all, they may incur cost from soiled seats, providing milk or infant food, toys, games, etc to these young passengers paying discounted fares? The airlines also suffer loss of goodwill from full paying passengers. If the situation is bad in the business class, imagine how much worse it is in the cramped economy seats having to put up with these young passengers? So airlines, how about this proposition?

[FlyingChinaman]

SIAPassenger2010

I do not have kids (only a little boy at heart!) and therefore I do not need to defend parents travelling with noisy kids/babies BUT your argument of FULL fare passengers should not put up with DISCOUNTED obnoxious kids/babies is flawed! It implied that obnoxious kids/babies travelling on full fare will have the right to make themself a nuisance to the other fellow passengers BUT not the ones paying discounted price!

In my mind no passengers, young or old, full or discounted fares should disturb their fellow passengers unduly. I certainly do like to be made a victim on board a plane.

May be it is time rename this thread to nuisanse passengers!!!

[RatRellim]

There’s a time and place for everything, and as far as a bratty kid goes in premium class (or equally boorish adult) I cite a canoe for 1, an unpopulated golf course (or maybe on a driving range to be used as a target instead of a yardage sign), or finally the Augean stables.

[TiredOldHack]

Heh. On my recent BA246 back from Buenos Aires, there was a whole bratty family in Club World on the short leg from BA to Sao Paulo.

12 year-old (or thereabouts) kids bouncing between the seats (who had to be ticked off by the cabin crew), paterfamilias gabbling on his mobbly before the nosewheel even touched down… Thank God they deplaned there, because the thought of having them all the way to LHR made my blood run cold. Augean stables – yeah, but I think the Spartans tackled the problem earlier.

[Charles-P]

Had a discussion about this last week while sitting in the Etihad lounge with a fellow passenger. He told a story:

He was flying from JFK to London and a family of four took up seats just behind him, about 30 minutes into the flight both children started crying getting louder and louder. After about 15 mins he stood up to see two screaming children with both parents asleep wearing eye masks and ear plugs. A crew member saw him and said,
“Sorry we have tried to wake them but it seems they have both taken sleeping pills” The children continued to cry despite the best efforts of crew and a woman sitting nearby. After about four hours it seems the children cried themselves to sleep.
Shortly before arrival the parents awoke to a number of crew and passengers confronting them. Incredibly their response was laughter and the woman saying to a number of people,
“I don’t care what you think and you can’t do anything about it”.

[dutchyankee]

Charles-P, unbelieveable and inexcusable!! I would have shook the parents relentlessly to wake them up. Children will be children, but parents must be held accountable for their children’s behaviour. It is a shame no legal action or formal reprimand was possible against the extremely negligent parents! Thanks for sharing that story, wow!

[Charles-P]

Well with regard to the “relentless shaking” I agree however during my flight after hearing this I also mentioned it to an Etihad steward and he said it was a difficult problem as it may leave crew open to charges of assault. He said that he had heard of a mother who ignored a crying baby being encouraged to do so by a bottle of water being “accidently” pored over her.

[dutchyankee]

Brilliant! And so subtle.

[Deleted User]

The story shows why there is a need for each flight to have a CSD (or equivalent) who is able to act with authority. If it were an adult acting in a similar fashion, the airline would have taken a very different approach. I am not suggesting for one minute that any force should have been used on the children to behave, after all kids are kids, but more force should have been made to wake the parents up. After all, it is the parents who are liable for their childrens actions.

[Charles-P]

Increasingly I find that the “I don’t care what you think and you can’t do anything about it” attitude is becoming more and more common.

I have been following the ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ philosophy for about five years and the looks of astonishment followed by happiness I see always improve my day.

[FlyingChinaman]

Great story being told. Next time I should have a water pistol on board ready to be filled with very hot water designed to aim at irresponsible parents and possible uncontrolable kids.

There is a child in everyone and we play the kid games!!!

[VintageKrug]

Well said Charles-P.

I think that’s an excellent policy.

[Airtravel104]

Etihad had it all, but we found that the Purser lied and the air hostess was East European pretty but inefficient and off-putting. We would not fly with them anymore.
Noisy kids: Cabin crew and parents abdicate. On our recent flight on Delta from JFK to Barcelona we were seated 2 rows forward of a mother and child. Mother could not deal with a loud and hysterical child. Cabin crew simply disappeared. I have long stopped expecting action from cabin crew. So I turned and shouted “How dare you disturb people like this? Where the hell do you think you are? This is not your living room! This is a public place where people have paid 6000 for some peace and quiet. How dare you drag a child who cannot behave into First Class? Who the hell do you think you are!”
Result? The child stopped. That’s good
What’s bad? No one said a word. Couldn’t you cowards on that flight say “hear, hear” or even more effectively, everyone stand up and face the offending nightmare family! It’s not only the nightmare families. It’s also the other passengers who have no backbones!

[Binman62]

Dinosaur……I think your name says it all. I have read your post several times in the hope that you were trying to be funny, but alas I think you may actually be telling the truth.
If you had spoken to me in that way on public transport I would have had you arrested for air rage. Shocking behaviour, utterly unacceptable and your should be ashamed.

[Charles-P]

Proving once again that it is “obnoxious parents” rather than children that are often the problem. That being said I continue to believe that there is no place for children in either Business or First.

For every well behaved, quiet child there are far more loud, ignorant, annoying others. On a recent trip to Zurich my wife suggested to the mother of a noisy child (who also swore a lot) that,

“he might be happier sitting out on the wing”.

[Author]

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