Children-free flights: Yes, No, Maybe?
It comes up every now and then, mostly on the forums concerning business flights. Usually people with kids get really offended and say that it leads to racism. The ones more open to discussion suggest noise canceling headphones. All nice and sweet but why should we be subjected to this? Have you ever been on the flight with a kid that was repeatedly hitting your seat for over 2 hours? With another one, sitting on his moms lap screaming his lungs out? No? Try it once.. Amazing feeling, especially early in the morning.
Let’s say that I am not exactly a kid person. Particularly not when on the plane. It is such a confining space, specifically on the small planes such as Fokker or ATR used on the regional routes. More often than not, I end up with couple of babies on board and unfortunately most of them scream, bug everyone around all the time, push the seats, stick their fingers in your hair and ask you constantly what are you doing. Also, parents usually turn mute and treat it like it’s all perfectly fine, the kids will always be kids.
However, I usually don’t act on it. The truth is there are kids that are perfectly quiet and nice on the plane, even the toddlers. Couple of years ago, I flew on a plane from Innsbruck to Amsterdam with a couple with a baby that was not even 1-year-old. The moment they sat next to me, the mother said that they are very sorry if they will inconvenience me in any way. Also, during the whole journey the toddler was very peaceful. Maybe it was an exception but I think it all depends a lot on the parents. Of course, not everything and there are kids that cry because that’s how it is. But just because of that it would be great if there were couple of children-free flights. Maybe just one or two per day, the ones departing around 6 – 8 am, typically full of people flying for work.
What do you think?
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