Three cheers for AirTran Airways!

hippiemom

How happy are the other 112 passengers that they didn't have to spend a couple of hours cooped up with that little monster?! Go AirTran!

AirTran defends decision to remove family from plane after toddler's tantrum

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - AirTran Airways on Tuesday defended its decision to remove a Massachusetts couple from a flight after their crying 3-year-old daughter refused to take her seat before takeoff.

AirTran officials said they followed Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seat belt upon takeoff.

"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said.

Julie and Gerry Kulesza, who were headed home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers, said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly.

"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

The Kuleszas said they told a flight attendant they had paid for their daughter's seat, but asked whether she could sit in her mother's lap. The request was denied.

She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, Graham-Weaver said.

The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and the Kuleszas flew home the next day.

They also were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.

The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.

sonicreducer

the parents set themselves up for that. i guess the dude had to say he wouldn't fly with that company anymore to save face.

american

make it four cheers.

norm

"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Give me a small fucking break! You are the parent. If you have been doing your job your child should have listened to you. If your child has "emotional" issues then prepare your child for the flight beforehand. BE A PARENT!

hippiemom

cutback wrote:

"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Give me a small fucking break! You are the parent. If you have been doing your job your child should have listened to you. If your child has "emotional" issues then prepare your child for the flight beforehand. BE A PARENT!

No, no, no ... everyone else on the flight, and everyone on every connecting flight, should be inconvenienced so they can snuggle with their daughter until she's happy and content to hop into her seat without screaming and hitting her parents.

I feel sorry for this little girl. Two adults that between them can't get a three year-old into a seat belt within fifteen minutes have no business raising a child. What a pair of idiots.

Abuskedti

Horse hockey.. flying is stressful.. there are a million things that may have happened to set the child off like that -

It is likely she would have been quieted in just a couple of minutes.

Next they will throw ugly fuckers off planes - and stupid people.

That was ridiculous....

Obviously the flight attendant couldn't control her fucking adult self.

Abuskedti

hippiemom wrote:

No, no, no ... everyone else on the flight, and everyone on every connecting flight, should be inconvenienced so they can snuggle with their daughter until she's happy and content to hop into her seat without screaming and hitting her parents.

I feel sorry for this little girl. Two adults that between them can't get a three year-old into a seat belt within fifteen minutes have no business raising a child. What a pair of idiots.

She screamed for 15 minutes? I watched the video and it appeared they threw them of almost immediately as they boarded..

If it was 15 minutes - I would have to agree - If you can't control your own childs temper after 15 minutes - thats child abuse!

Ahnimus

Abuskedti wrote:

She screamed for 15 minutes? I watched the video and it appeared they threw them of almost immediately as they boarded..

If it was 15 minutes - I would have to agree - If you can't control your own childs temper after 15 minutes - thats child abuse!

Got a link to the video?

I am stuck in the middle of this. The flight crew had every right to toss them off the plane and seem to have compensated them fairly, where no compensation was required. On the other hand, that kind of behavior from children is common and to be expected. It's a good habit to always allocate 15 - 30 mins in your schedule for likely occurances like that. So the other passangers shouldn't have been all uptight about waiting an extra 15 mins, IMO. But like I say, I'm torn between the intolerance of the flight crew and the inability of the child to settle down. Either way, I don't see this as a big issue.

Abuskedti

Ahnimus wrote:

Got a link to the video?

I am stuck in the middle of this. The flight crew had every right to toss them off the plane and seem to have compensated them fairly, where no compensation was required. On the other hand, that kind of behavior from children is common and to be expected. It's a good habit to always allocate 15 - 30 mins in your schedule for likely occurances like that. So the other passangers shouldn't have been all uptight about waiting an extra 15 mins, IMO. But like I say, I'm torn between the intolerance of the flight crew and the inability of the child to settle down. Either way, I don't see this as a big issue.

javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2007/01/24/barnett.ma.family.kicked.off.plane.whdh','2007/02/07');

I'll watch it again.. I am not sure about the duration

Abuskedti

Ahnimus wrote:

Got a link to the video?

I am stuck in the middle of this. The flight crew had every right to toss them off the plane and seem to have compensated them fairly, where no compensation was required. On the other hand, that kind of behavior from children is common and to be expected. It's a good habit to always allocate 15 - 30 mins in your schedule for likely occurances like that. So the other passangers shouldn't have been all uptight about waiting an extra 15 mins, IMO. But like I say, I'm torn between the intolerance of the flight crew and the inability of the child to settle down. Either way, I don't see this as a big issue.

or go to this page... and click the link

http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/

chrisg72

If it was a true temper tantrum then she would have calmed down in a few minutes, I am sure having everyone staring and making a fuss didn't help. She should have been in a car seat not just the normal seat. Sometimes temper tantrums happen when you don't want them to, there is nothing you can do about it. I am not going to say they are bad parents because their kid had a tantrum on an airplane, they were probably mortified. I would have been. But coming from Orlando there is bound to be children and the airline should allow some extra time if there are young travelers on the plane, they know the ages of all passengers in advance.

Abuskedti

no mention of duration on the video...

Its hard to say - not enough info.

I always hated temper tantrums.. If a kid is screaming - it has to be addressed - they are obviously suffering. Because I was always very sensitive to this, I learned how to deal with them early and never had a problem with them.

But all kids throw a tantrum now and then... there has to be more to the story - either it was extraordinarily long - or an over reaction by the airline.

norm

chrisg72 wrote:

If it was a true temper tantrum then she would have calmed down in a few minutes, I am sure having everyone staring and making a fuss didn't help. She should have been in a car seat not just the normal seat. Sometimes temper tantrums happen when you don't want them to, there is nothing you can do about it. I am not going to say they are bad parents because their kid had a tantrum on an airplane, they were probably mortified. I would have been. But coming from Orlando there is bound to be children and the airline should allow some extra time if there are young travelers on the plane, they know the ages of all passengers in advance.

Well don't children usually get to pre-board so the parent has time to get their child situated?

Skitch Patterson

Its bullshit.
Id respect them if they hadnt given the the free round trip tickets. The refund is obviously okay- they didnt recieve the flight they paid for.
People too often think everyone should have to deal with their children- and if they dont want to "Well, its just a kid". Fuck that.

western pearl

This is definetely on the parents. There are lots of people that think everyone should cater to their needs and their needs alone. Note to parents, the world (or the airline/passengers) doesn't revolve around you. Airlines have to be strick w/ passengers. Not only are FAA rules very strict but if the airlines let some people get away w/ stuff then they'd have to be flexible w/ everyone else and that just doesn't work in the airline business.

prism

hippiemom wrote:

No, no, no ... everyone else on the flight, and everyone on every connecting flight, should be inconvenienced so they can snuggle with their daughter until she's happy and content to hop into her seat without screaming and hitting her parents.

I feel sorry for this little girl. Two adults that between them can't get a three year-old into a seat belt within fifteen minutes have no business raising a child. What a pair of idiots.

I have to agree with this. I was a single Mom that flew with two small children from Seattle to Florida and back again numerous times and I never had a problem with my kids refusing to take their seats. now sometimes i would have to sit in between them to keep them from beating the shit out of each other but they KNEW from the time that they were old enough for their own seat that they were not to ever get out of their seat, or kick the seat in front of them, or raise their voice above a whisper or do anything that would disturb the other passengers. cause if they did they KNEW that there would be hell to pay from me. it's called socializing your child and these parents need to catch on

western pearl

prism wrote:

I have to agree with this. I was a single Mom that flew with two small children from Seattle to Florida and back again numerous times and I never had a problem with my kids refusing to take their seats. now sometimes i would have to sit in between them to keep them from beating the shit out of each other but they KNEW from the time that they were old enough for their own seat that they were not to ever get out of their seat, or kick the seat in front of them, or raise their voice above a whisper or do anything that would disturb the other passengers. cause if they did they KNEW that there would be hell to pay from me. it's called socializing your child and these parents need to catch on

EXACTLY. Parents that let their kids control them have no place being parents.

DinghyDog

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DinghyDog

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chrisg72

cutback wrote:

Well don't children usually get to pre-board so the parent has time to get their child situated?

You would think but every situation isn't perfect. I don't know but I'll tell you I don't think I want to travel anymore. I have a five year old and 20 month old twins...after this I am staying home or driving. God Forbid one of them decides to have a tantrum.....

DinghyDog

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