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There are a lot of reasons why travel is a lot more stressful/annoying/tortuous that it once was and airlines need to take the brunt of the blame for this.
Cramming us into aircraft like veal calves, charging extra for everything in sight, and keeping to schedules about as well as Courtney Love keeps to sobriety are all examples of things that have made travel a lot more of a chore than it used to be.
Governments need to take their share of the blame too. We have nonsensical liquid and electronic bans, ever-increasing taxes and a lack of spending on infrastructure that stopped being amusing a few decades ago.
Sadly there’s not a lot we can do about most of these things…..but there are two things that airlines can do to remove an ever-increasing annoyance on board.
Policy 1 – Minimum Age Limits For Premium Cabin Travel
I’d like to see a minimum age requirement brought in for long-haul premium cabin travel.
Off the top of my head I’d suggest 8 years old and up for Business Class and 13 years old and up for First Class.
Cathay Pacific First Class – 13 years old and over please!
I fly quite a bit (although not nearly as much as some) and the number of times I’m encountering screaming infants or incredibly noisy and/or badly behaved children in Business Class is ridiculous.
Most people who fly in premium cabins aren’t doing so on miles & points or on vastly discounted fares (not that it should matter if they are) so they’ve probably paid out a significant amount of money to have a comfortable seat and a relaxing trip to where they’re going. So why should that relaxing trip be put in jeopardy because of someone else’s child?
A large number of corporations pay for their employees to fly in Business Class because they expect them to rest up on the journey and hit the ground running as soon as they’re out of the airport. Is it right that a single family can ruin the chances of that happening for an entire cabin?
I don’t think it is.
In the past twelve months I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had crying infants and screaming children in various Business Class cabins I’ve flown in…..and that’s on top of the flights where I’ve had feral children running up and down the aisles and children playing games/movies on tablets at full volume. I’ve even had a child try to climb into my seat from the seat in front.
We need to get away from the idea that just because someone can afford something they’re entitled to purchase it regardless of the effect that this may have on others – just because you can afford to buy your child a seat in Business or First Class shouldn’t mean that you get to do just that.
Iberia A330-300 Business Class – comfortable seats but not so relaxing when there’s an infant dreaming in the seat behind you
Policy 2 – Dedicated Rows For Parents With Children 6 Years Old And Under
Before smoking was banned on aircraft there were clearly marked sections where smokers could sit. Not only did this keep all the smokers together but it also let all the non-smokers know where the smokers would be so they could choose their seats appropriately.
I’d like to see a similar sector of the cabin reserved for parents with children under the age of 6 (7 seems to be about the age at which modern-day parents gain a modicum of control over their offspring).
These seats would only be bookable by parents or guardians with children so extended families traveling with the parents (Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts etc…) would not be able to book up all the seats….we could even have these seats subsidised by the rest of the aircraft to help keep costs down for families.
Image courtesy of SeatGuru.com
Airlines could also turn this into a new revenue stream by charging more for seats away from the “noise zone” – if flyers are prepared to pay for more leg room they’ll also be prepared to pay to sit as far away from the toddler section as possible.
I can hear people asking what happens when these seats sell out?
Well, we could have one of two things happen – I’m not sure which would work best.
- Once the seats are gone that’s it. Parents would have to find a different flight if they want to travel with children 6 years of age or younger.
- Allow parents to book other seats in the aircraft but introduce a hefty premium and remove the option to have a “lap child”.
Personally I’d prefer to see option 1 brought in as, going back to my earlier point, I don’t believe that just because someone can afford something they should be automatically entitled to purchase it.
Finnair A350 Business Class
Bottom Line
The truth is that we wouldn’t need a minimum age requirement if it wasn’t for a combination of selfish parents, parents who are incapable of controlling their offspring and parents who show no interest in even attempting to control their offspring once they’re on board.
There are undoubtably a large number of children who are remarkably well-behaved when on an aircraft and the parents of those children deserve a huge amount of credit for that – it’s called good parenting. Unfortunately there is an ever-growing subset of parents who appear to think that, as long as they’re ok and comfortable, it doesn’t really much matter how their actions (or the actions of their children) are affecting others.
They simply couldn’t care less and they’re the one ruining flights for everyone.
Clearly I don’t expect any airline to have the courage to introduce either of these policies as they’d be accused of all sorts of things by the politically correct. It would probably also only be a matter of time before someone challenged the policy in court on the basis that it was violating some kind of inalienable right…..and that would be the end of that.
Still, I need something to cling to when I’m next woken at 3am by a screaming infant in the seat behind me so I’m going to allow myself to dream 🙂
I totally agree. There is nothing worse than paying for a premium product that you have saved hard to enjoy, yet your cabin has small children in it who seem he’ll bend on ruining your experience.
The same goes for lounges, full of parents letting their children run loose and ruining it for everyone else.
Another good idea is where BA has several flights a day leaving to say New York should have a least one flight for adults only at least in the premium cabins
Amazingly well said!! I second this completely… Most parents think their precious prince and princess can’t do any wrong and it drives me crazy!!! If you say something to them you are damned too.
Start a petition as I will sign it for sure!
While I agree with you on the second point, I somewhat disagree with you on the first point. As we have 4 kids (10-15) that regularly travel with us, all Exec Plat, it is a topic I have spoken with FA’s a lot about and they are all pretty universal that kids (8+) are generally far better behaved than adults. It is with the younger children they generally have issues. Hence, I agree with your suggested age limits. With regards the no children policy that many call for, I have had 10x more issues with adults in Business and First than with children (including the younger ones). I would suggest the same applies to many obnoxious travellers, just because you can travel premium, doesn’t mean you should.
No arguments from me regarding the presence of obnoxious adults across all cabins in an aircraft but my experiences in Business Class do not mirror yours – I’ve had significantly more flights affected by children than I have by obnoxious/drunk adults.
On our 4 hour flight to AZ I’m pretty sure my 3 year old who slept almost the entire flight and snacked the remaining part of the flight was less annoying than the drunk adult a few rows back. Can we add adults who act like children to this ban?????
Airlines already have very clear guidance on how staff should handle adults who are intoxicated onboard – the issue we often have is that those guidelines are not adhered to in the name of “an easy life” or “not wishing to escalate an issue”. I’d be more than happy to see drunk/obnoxious passengers dealt with as severely as possible.
Having said that, while there is guidance on how to deal with adults behaving poorly onboard I have no knowledge of any guidance/rules on how staff should deal with obnoxious children onboard. If there are such rules or guidance I have yet to see them applied in the real world….and therein lies the problem. We have parents who do nothing when their children interfere with other people’s enjoyment of their flights and we have cabin crew who do nothing at all either – this is an issue that is only getting bigger and I think something needs to be done.