You’re the jury: Case, Air Trans vs screaming child on plane

[Ticklerguy4u]

Ive never had children but I would have to say that if a child acts up for twenty minutes it better be for a good reason otherwise I would have to say that the child never listens to the parents--only now her scene caused others to put up with it. I feel the parent's didnt put the "fear of God" into the child as he/she was growing up and has no respect for the parents as authority figures. Again, I'm just speculating. I have no experience with children just that I was one once and I knew how far to push my own parents and how far not to.

 

[ViperGTS]

After three years of having a child, the parents should know what their temperment is.

As soon as the child begins to act up, they need to be calmed down. Fifteen minutes is plenty of time. If the child cannot be calmed, they should be removed all together, period.

There are schedules to keep.

Or, just take the kid in the bathroom and smack the shit out of her. Then tell her if she starts crying again out there, she'll get it worse. It kept me quiet.

granted, three is a little young for corporal punishment. maybe like, 5.

 

[asutickler]

If you're going to have children, then you are responsible for them. This includes controlling their behavior. I side with the airline 100%, and, were it up to me, I damn well wouldn't have waited 20 minutes to throw those people off of the plane.

People these days seem to have an odd sense of entitlement when it comes to their kids: They often seem to think that others should accommodate them or accord them special treatment simply because they have children. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you are a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your child behaves properly, and doesn't interfere with others. This means taking your fussing or misbehaving kid out of the movie theater, mall, grocery store or other public area (airplanes included) if they are disturbing others. A plane full of people shouldn't be made late just because two inept parents can't keep their kid in line.

 

[goddess_nemesis]

No matter how old the person is, an unruly passenger is an unruly passenger. If in 15 minutes you were unable to calm down your child, then you should be removed from the plane. Heck, the parents should have realized that they weren't going to be able to successfully calm the child down and they should have removed themselves from the plane instead of forcing the airlines to step in and remove them.

The parents were refunded all their money and were offered 3 free roundtrip tickets to anywhere they wanted to go, which they refused.

Honestly, every parent in the world wouldn't be angry with the airlines for being kicked off because of their child. No, they would have been mortified by their child's behavior!

 

[jkb]

According to the Air Line and some on the passengers on the plane, the child would not sit in her seat. They been chasing this child around for 20 mins. which cause the plane to be 20 mins late taking off. The mother requested that the child be placed on her lap during take off which is against Air lines and FAA rules.

OK if the kid was simply screaming and whatnot, or had just started to run around, I would have simply told the parents to quiet down the child. But if the child had been running around for 20 minutes and hitting other passengers, I would have kicked the family off the plane. Actually, I'm kind of a dick. I would have kicked the child off the plane and told the parents that they are free to go after the child or stay on the flight.

Alternatively, at 30,000 feet, I would have opened the doors and ordered all passengers under the age of 8 to be kicked off the plane unless they could give me a good reason for why they should be able to reach adulthood. Fucking parasites.

 

[aun_existe_amor]

You're talking like you were perfect children. You never did anything wrong or had a tantrum infront of other people to try to get your own way?

As for the "fucking parasites" remark, fucking tosser springs to my mind!

 

[tickledgirl]

You're talking like you were perfect children. You never did anything wrong or had a tantrum infront of other people to try to get your own way?

I'm sure I did. And I'm equally sure that it didn't work, which is why I didn't repeat the behavior very often. I can tell you for darn sure that when I tried it, my mother's response was not to try to "console" me. Public behavior like that earned me a quick spanking. (NB: Not saying I endorse that. I can count on one hand the number of times I've spanked my children.) Just to be 100% clear, I don't think any 3-year-old should be publicly held responsible for their actions. I blame the parents, not the child.

As for the "fucking parasites" remark, fucking tosser springs to my mind!

Yeah, that was a little beyond the pale.

 

[TickledToDeath]

This is a vehicle that is going to be 40,000+ feet in the air.
An unruly passenger that could cause.....bad things to happen, is an unruly passenger. Period. There can be no gray areas in this case provided they were given an opportunity to calm the child down before the plane left the gate for take off.
It's not like you can strap a parachute on the kid and toss him out the door once the plane is in the air .
As unfortunate as it is, rules that pertain to federal aviation must be strict.

TTD

 

[goddess_nemesis]

You're talking like you were perfect children. You never did anything wrong or had a tantrum infront of other people to try to get your own way?

As for the "fucking parasites" remark, fucking tosser springs to my mind!

Aun, even my mother agreed with the airlines and she had three kids (me and my 2 brothers!). And I'll tell you, we were far from perfect little angels. If we were in a store and I started acting up, either my mom or my dad (usually my dad) would remove me from the store and take me back to the car. He would sit in the car with me until I calmed down and started behaving myself.

Honestly it shouldn't have taken the airlines to remove the family. The parents should have realized that they weren't going to calm their daughter down and have told a stewardess, 'Sorry, we'll need to deplane so we can calm our daughter down.'

And jkb's response went way too far. But the general response is that they had 15-20 minutes to calm their daughter down and they weren't able to do so. If it had been me doing that at 3 years old and on a plane, my mother would have been embarrassed by my behavior and would have gotten off the plane.

Plus, the parents were refunded all their money and were offered 3 free roundtrip tickets to anywhere (which the parents declined). The airlines were being more than generous than any others probably would have been.

 

[steph]

Right. It is EXTREMELY inconsiderate to assault peoples senses who've paid hundreds of dollars to fly because you can't control your brat. Wanna buy my flight ticket? Fine, then, you can do what you want.
And I was far from a perfect child but we were NEVER allowed to throw a temper tantrum in public. We knew what we'd get when we got home if we did.
XOXO

 

[Strider]

I'm generally of the opinion that a private business has the right to refuse service to anyone for basically any reason they want.

 

[phfttklr]

To the father, hey, sorry you were late on the meeting but maybe people were late as to their destinations because of you. People pay good money for these seats and should not be put out of the way for ANY unruly person.

I'm on the side of the airlines and hopefully the courts won't be held up by some frivolous lawsuit.

 

[jkb]

OK I think people took the "fucking parasites" comment way too personally. Seriously. Especially after I had just recommended that all children be pushed off the plane at 30,000 feet, and everyone's all hung up over "fucking parasites"? And of course I've thrown temper tantrums in front of other people when I was a child. I was a little fucking parasite when I was a kid. And if I had a time machine, I'd go back at least twice a year starting from the age of 3 and slap myself silly (my younger self, that is), as well as really kick my younger self's ass for specific stupid actions and occurences. Man I hate my younger self. Fucking parasite.

I, however, apologize for nothing. I have greatly offended other people on other topics in other mediums (non-tickling related). I revel in the backlash.

 

[kis123]

OK I think people took the "fucking parasites" comment way too personally. Seriously. Especially after I had just recommended that all children be pushed off the plane at 30,000 feet, and everyone's all hung up over "fucking parasites"? And of course I've thrown temper tantrums in front of other people when I was a child. I was a little fucking parasite when I was a kid. And if I had a time machine, I'd go back at least twice a year starting from the age of 3 and slap myself silly (my younger self, that is), as well as really kick my younger self's ass for specific stupid actions and occurences. Man I hate my younger self. Fucking parasite.

I, however, apologize for nothing. I have greatly offended other people on other topics in other mediums (non-tickling related). I revel in the backlash.

Sounds like you got what you expected: lots of attentiion!

If you think children are parasites, make sure you don't have any. I guess you should be glad your parents didn't feel the same way about you. Then again.......

As far as an intelligent response to the thread is concerned:

If this was any airline other than Air Tran, I'd be in complete agreement. But Air Tran is the absolute worst airline I've ever dealt with; they're the friggin' gestappo (sp) as far as I'm concerned and they use TSA and every federal statue to stand behind when they bully customers. The staff is rude and incompentent (at least in Canton, OH) and when they piss off a customer, they call security because they can. They do nothing to diffuse a situation after they initiate it, they just f*ck with customers until they explode, then call security who I can best describe as having the competency of the Keystone Cops!

I won't give specific details, but I'll never fly my family with them again! If they had the only flight, I'd rent a car and drive before I'd ever give them a cent of my hard-earned money!

Beyond that, anyone who knows me longer than five minutes knows how much I cannot stand unruly children. It is up to the parent to keep the child under control. Personally, I wouldn't fly a child-I'd either drive or I wouldn't go. At that age, they can be way too volitile-it's a huge jet, a lot of people, and a potentially traumatic experience before the plane ever leaves the ground for a three year old. Hell, it's a traumatic experience for me-I hate to fly!

 

[scorpionldr]

You’re the jury

A couple with a 3yo child was asked to leave the plane, surprised they did what they was told. After leaving the plane they asked to speak with a supervisor, the supervisor told them that they were removed because their 3yo hit another passenger. The mother reply the other passenger was me her mother.

The supervisor stated Air Tran do not make distinction between a 3 yo or a 33 yo a unruly passenger is an unruly passenger. Than the supervisor (a woman btw) started to preach about the important of child discipline. When she got to the point of saying she would never allow her children to act the way they allow their child to act. The father informed her that she needs to shut up.

They was told because they was put off the plane they could not travel Air Trans for 24 hours, the couple was force to get a hotel room for the night, the father missed 16 hour worth of work. The next day, the couple got on the plane with no problem, they give the child some medication that made her sleep the whole flight.

PS. They paid for the sit their child was in, and they were not allowed to retrieve their child car sit from the plane.

My question:

Does the airline have the right to kick the couple off the plane because they could not control their child or should they allow them time to calm the child down?

I'll give you a hint about kids: I DESPISE getting onto a plane where someone's one, two, or three y/o child is going to be allowed to spazz out IN LENGTH in front of a bunch of people that (theoretically) do not have kids in their midst and are probably a bit tense already by the fact that they're going to be flying (face it we all have fear of flying). Hearing some kid mourn the minute-long disappearance of a three-dollar toy with no regard for anyone else is the last thing that I need on my mind. OK, it sounds lame the kid was ejected because it hit it's mom (even the mom was surprized) but at the same time, what if that was some stranger? Would it be a valid behavior than? Of course not. I think generally as much conflict as there was, that this was one small step to getting the message out to a lot of people: control your kids. Acting up is still acting up regardless of who suffers and kids need to be taught to handle their agression a lot more.

 

[locker669]

There should be 18+ or 21+ flights, especially with the price you pay for airfare.

 

[shark]

Maybe try a time-out in the cargo hold......

 

[Limeoutsider]

If I were a passenger, I wouldn't want to listen to a kid screaming on a flight. Or have to wait for the kid to stop scremaing for the flight to take off. Read somewhere that they got reimbursed for the hotel, plus free tickets for the next flight they took, so it's not like they lost money. Well, except for where the father missed work. But 16 hours? I read they were only delayed 24 hours, I'm not the best at math, but I would think he wouldn't have missed 2 days of work over it?

 

[maniactickler]

Maybe try a time-out in the cargo hold......

Good idea. just the frigid temperature alone would keep a kid quiet.

 

[scorpionldr]

There should be 18+ or 21+ flights, especially with the price you pay for airfare.

lol yea, with a bar and some strippers dancing on poles......this could be real big!

 

[aun_existe_amor]

I hope when you all have kids you remember this thread and realise that you can never leave the country because you can't fly anywhere with children, in fact you will hardly be able to leave the house in case your children upset someone in the shop, restaurant, cinema, theatre or any public place.

Parents have a life too. Just because I decided to have a baby doesn't mean that I'll never go anywhere or do anything in case I upset someone else. I'm going to live my life and do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it. If I want to take my daughter on a plane I will. If you don't like being around children then YOU stay away from public places including planes. You do have that choice.

All these parents wanted to do was go home. Yes I agree that it's not fair on the other passengers that they were disturbed by the child causing a scene and I agree that it's not fair on the airline to be held up because of a child causing a scene but until you have your own children you will never understand. Maybe all you can relate this to is that you never did that as a child because you knew what you would get when you went home but you must have done it at least once to find out what you would get. We're talking about a three year old child here.

People do not become excellent parents as soon as their children are born, it's a learning process. Everyone has to learn how to cope with their child's ups and downs. They're not robots, they're little people with their own minds. All parents can do is try their best to teach their child proper behaviour, right from wrong, and hope for the best. Maybe these parents never saw their child behave like this before, it might have been a new experience for them. We'll never know.

 

[phfttklr]

I hope when you all have kids you remember this thread and realise that you can never leave the country because you can't fly anywhere with children, in fact you will hardly be able to leave the house in case your children upset someone in the shop, restaurant, cinema, theatre or any public place.

Parents have a life too. Just because I decided to have a baby doesn't mean that I'll never go anywhere or do anything in case I upset someone else. I'm going to live my life and do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it. If I want to take my daughter on a plane I will. If you don't like being around children then YOU stay away from public places including planes. You do have that choice.

All these parents wanted to do was go home. Yes I agree that it's not fair on the other passengers that they were disturbed by the child causing a scene and I agree that it's not fair on the airline to be held up because of a child causing a scene but until you have your own children you will never understand. Maybe all you can relate this to is that you never did that as a child because you knew what you would get when you went home but you must have done it at least once to find out what you would get. We're talking about a three year old child here.

People do not become excellent parents as soon as their children are born, it's a learning process. Everyone has to learn how to cope with their child's ups and downs. They're not robots, they're little people with their own minds. All parents can do is try their best to teach their child proper behaviour, right from wrong, and hope for the best. Maybe these parents never saw their child behave like this before, it might have been a new experience for them. We'll never know.

Big difference between dealing with a crying child and one that is acting up so much that it causes an airline to delay it's flight. I agree with you in that you have the right to travel and go into places with your child. You don't have the right to disturb or interupt people paying good money for dining, movies, flight etc...
People have a right to own a dog but not the right to let it bark all night long. "Hey, it's a dog, that's what they do"...well, guess what, people shouldn't have to be disturbed by them either ( and I'm a dog lover! )

QUOTE:"If you don't like being around children then YOU stay away from public places including planes. You do have that choice."

No, if people, whether they be adults or children, can't behave and abide by the rules, then THEY should stay away from public places.

Now, if you're talking about just being around children in general, then yes, they should stay home.

I'm out.

 

[locker669]

lol yea, with a bar and some strippers dancing on poles......this could be real big!

I wasn't thinking along those lines, but yeah ok.

 

[locker669]

If the kid was acting that way on a subway or a bus, I would tolerate it.



If I have to pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket, drive through traffic to get to the airport, arrive two hours before my flight leaves, wonder if the plane could crash or if it will be hijacked by terrorists, sit in a seat on a plane for 2+ hours, AND THEN have to deal with a flight delay because of a misbehaving kid, I wouldn't accept it.

 

[phfttklr]

I wasn't thinking along those lines, but yeah ok.

Maybeyou can try Hooters Air then