Categories

Content Type

Sources

Yikes on a plane with tykes in tow

By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA Today, Source: MCT News Service

The boarding of a flight in Orlando, Fla., after the Christmas holidays featured a not-so-merry little boy "kicking each of the passengers on the way down the aisle," says Barbara Gaillard, 52, of Issaquah, Wash.

Other fliers tell of tykes thwacking seatbacks as parents look on, of little screamers in the aisles leaving telltale trails of snack food.

Forget snakes on planes. Kids in a cramped cabin are more nightmarish for many.

Impish tots made headlines in December when Ivana Trump was ejected from a flight before takeoff in West Palm Beach, Fla.; the sheriff's department said she hurled profanity at kids who were yelling and racing down the aisles in first class.

Other adult fliers are more restrained _ but irked. "I have had enough of kids who kick the back of my seat while the parent looks elsewhere," says Mary Staley, a retired nurse in Port Charlotte, Fla.

Adds Mary Brennan, 55, of Tulsa, Okla., who has logged a million miles on United Airlines: "It drives me insane to be surrounded by families as they talk _ often loudly _ and pass food, drink, toys, clothes, diapers, etc., back and forth. The worst part is when you shoot them a 'look' and they ignore you!"

Theirs are among nearly 100 responses to a USATODAY.com query that asked readers if parents or flight crews should be stricter about keeping young fliers in line. Most e-mailed tales of kids running amok and pinned the blame on permissive parents.

"In 15 years, I've never had an unruly child on board who traveled with a hands-on parent," says New York-based flight attendant Heather Poole, who, like most, isn't allowed to identify her airline when commenting publicly. "Last flight, this little girl threw her body on the ground and wouldn't walk down the aisle to her seat during boarding. Parents just looked at me and smiled."

Parents on the fly have beefs, too.

Shellie Leete, 42, of Rocky Mount, Va., recalls her two daughters being "buckled in, waiting patiently for takeoff, and this most obnoxious, horrible woman walked past to the next row and declared loudly, 'Oh, gawd, kids, just what I need!' I nearly cried. I felt the same as if it were a racist comment, truly."

Parents are often "more upset about how their children might behave than the passengers realize," says Jennifer Cox, 34, a Fort Worth, Texas, educator with two young sons. "I take huge bags of food, games, DVDs, etc., to make my children stay quiet. Passengers need to realize that however they are feeling, the parents are probably feeling worse, and the children even more bored, angry, hungry than that."

The idea of family-only sections flew with many respondents. Families "may not enjoy crying babies any more than I" but may be "more apt to tune it out," says Michelle Segel, 42, of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mom Beth Sandig, 37, of Phoenix, Ariz., also would welcome a family area so that "the pressure was off" to keep her 4-year-old son quiet.

Respondents go further, suggesting family-only or no-kids flights. If adult resorts flourish, there's a market for child-free plane rides, they say. Failing that, some suggest seating families in the back of planes.

Joseph Sandor, 60, of Davenport, Fla. _ a multimillion-mile flier _ supports that idea. "Families with kids have every right to fly, but they need to respect my rights to a pleasant environment and flight," he says.

Stephen Hubbard, 32, of San Francisco says children who misbehave should be removed from planes, as adults are. One respondent _ in jest, we hope _ proposed duct tape and muzzles for obstreperous little nippers. Others want a parent and crying baby shut in a lavatory until calm is restored.

Meanwhile, what is the role of the crew in keeping peace on a plane?

The Federal Aviation Administration keeps its child-minding focus on safety, such as no youngsters allowed in exit rows. No universal guidelines exist for crews, says Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants.

"It's a delicate situation," she says. "If parents do not (control) kids, flight attendants have to do what they think best. Every situation is different."

Former Chautauqua Airlines flight attendant Joel Rodriguez, 25, says crews can ask parents to "control their kid, but that is just opening a can of worms." Parents may blame the attendant or airline, and it can become a "he said/she said" situation, he says. Trying to parent another person's misbehaving child can be dicey, Poole agrees.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Airlines may stock cards or coloring books to occupy children. Southwest Airlines' gate areas feature kid-friendly tables and stools to keep small passengers happy before boarding.

Adults should lighten up as well, says parent Gabriel Estrella, 40, of Pearland, Texas.

"I have flown when kids were crying or fussy and flown with my own kids. ... The bottom line is they are kids! Lest we forget, there are dozens of instances where adults have embarrassed themselves (on planes) by being too pushy, too opinionated, too condescending, and too drunk. All those adults who argue for separate sections must forget they were once children themselves."

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Says flight attendant Toni Vitanza of Clemson, S.C.: "Kids are members of the public like everyone else, and they get to _ often have to _ go places." She may tell anxious parents, so everyone around can hear: " 'Better 10 babies than one drunk!' People hear that, they think (babies) aren't the worst thing."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Gaillard, the Issaquah grandmother, gave her daughter a tip on stopping glares when she brings her infant to visit in June. Pack earplugs for fellow passengers and "have a credit card handy."

If the child cries, "other passengers might be more compassionate if my daughter springs for cocktails."

___

(c) 2010, USA Today.

Visit USA Today on the Internet at http://www.usatoday.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.