Southwest Kicks Cranky Toddler off Plane
A little kid screaming “Go, plane, go” and “I want Daddy,” was too much for a Southwest crew. They kicked the kid - and his mom - off their plane.
According to the AP, Pamela Root says her two-year-old was calming down, but the plane taxied back to the gate, and she and Adam were told they had to get off.
Root is now asking the company to reimburse her for the cost of a portable crib and diapers which she bought to get her through the extra night in Amarillo, Texas with her toddler.
For a company that’s reached out to the mommy blogging community in an attempt to portray Southwest as a family-friendly flight experience, this is a major blow.
People like to complain about kids on airplanes. They’re loud. They kick the seat. And the childless can’t escape them when they’re locked into a long pressurized tube for the long haul. Last year a woman even faced arrest for posting her video of a bratty kid on a flight online, then refusing to delete it (the airplane officials said she’d violated the rules against use of electronic devices during a flight).
But complain all you want - parents still pay tickets to get on a plane, and often pay for their child’s ticket. And while the kid-free flyers are dealing with the annoying kid, parents are dealing with the angry glares and stares, a frustrated kid . . . and all the obnoxious things adults do (too many drinks, farting, reclining the seat back too far. . . .). In some extreme cases, they’ve even got the airplane staff working against them (remember the flight attendant who spiked a kid’s juice with Xanax?).
It’s worth pointing out that “go, plane, go” sounds like some cute little kid thing - not a cranky, horrible annoyance. Even “I want my daddy” should earn the kid some sympathy.
Southwest has apologized and said they’re looking into the situation. Does this mom deserve some restitution or should she chose another way to travel?
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Tags: airplane travel, behavior, discipline, flying with kids, Jeanne Sager, Southwest Airlines, toddler on a plane, traveling with kids
13 Comments
Bean's Mom commented on Nov 01 09 at 2:48 pmOf course she deserves some sort of restitution. Southwest was out of line and should feel ashamed of themselves!
mumus commented on Nov 01 09 at 3:55 pmI guess we were lucky when my toddler asked over and over in a loud clear voice ‘Mommy, are we falling down?’ and the attendant only gave us a dirty look.
soxmom commented on Nov 01 09 at 10:11 pmI think there’s more to this story. According to the New York Times they were kicked off b/c the child was screaming so loudly that the other passengers couldn’t hear the safety demonstration. According to their regs any passenger who creates a safety hazard can be removed from the plane. It’s in all the fine print you agree to when you purchase a ticket.
I also read that the stewardesses were trying to give the kid juice & crayons. The mother said something like “don’t worry I’ll feed him after take-off and he’ll calm down”. Ummm, why not feed him right then??
Knitty commented on Nov 01 09 at 11:32 pmWhy should she have to “chose another way to travel”? Her child is a toddler, just as we all were at one time. Anyone who boards a flight does so knowing full well that they might have to share that flight with an unhappy baby, a loud toddler, a mentally ill person, or some cranky jackass bitching because his precious “comfort” has been temporarily disrupted.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Nov 02 09 at 12:01 amI heard they apologized and issued her and her son a travel voucher. Big deal though. That costs them next to nothing. I hope the bad PR costs them much more.
Laure68 commented on Nov 02 09 at 12:38 pmI think this must be an isolated incident. We travel on Southwest very frequently with my son. (About 6 times a year.) They have been nothing but nice. I have tried other airlines, but nothing came close to Southwest as far as being family friendly. (Their boarding policy works well. If someone does not want to sit near a child, they just won’t choose a seat near a child.)
Rosana commented on Nov 02 09 at 12:41 pmThe article is accurate. Some of us have kids that usually behave great on a plane but have to deal with the kid-less passenger that likes to recline too far or the others that like to fart. That is far more annoying to me than a kid that does not understand the airline rules.
Lucky commented on Nov 02 09 at 1:04 pmIt sounds to me as if in this situation it wasn’t feasible to keep the kid on the plane. I think that we should all try to deal better with tired cranky kids on planes because we are adults and can control our emotions and behaviors much better than kids, but if the kid is putting other passengers and risk then he’s got to go. Incidentally I feel for all the TSA and airline employees who get blasted in the media for making split second decisions that turn out badly in retrospect. (I’m not talking about feeding kids xanax) They have a huge amount of responsibility on their shoulders and don’t get paid nearly enough for it. They don’t have the luxury of time to debate and they are forced to walk a thin line between passenger safety and company bottom line every day. How would you like it if every wrong decision you made at work was plastered across the evening news?
Bec commented on Nov 02 09 at 3:12 pmWait, are we pretending that farting is an adults-only activity?
Mel commented on Nov 02 09 at 6:08 pmI was very unhappy with my last Southwest flight with a toddler - families are only allowed to board AFTER the “A group” has boarded, and the ticked agent was extremely rude when I couldn’t find my child’s birth certificate fast enough. I will think twice before traveling with them again.
GiantPanda commented on Nov 03 09 at 7:54 amI don’t care if you are the best parent ever, there are some times when a two year old just cannot be controlled. I can think of some pretty annoying things my toddler has done on a plane, but thank goodness he never got us kicked off one. Surely there must have been some way to avoid this.
Samsmomma commented on Nov 04 09 at 11:55 pmMel– I flew Southwest with my young son about a month ago. I had an A boarding pass and a low number. As I understood the policy, a family with an A can get in line with everyone else. But a family without an A can board in between As and Bs, which actually gets the family a better seat.
Holly commented on Nov 05 09 at 5:59 pmAlaska Airlines… they’re also terrible when it comes to dealing with these things. I recently had the displeasure of having to fly with them several times sans husband, with my 2 yr old son and 7 mo pregnant. My son was as well behaved as a 2 yr old can be, that wasn’t the issue… it was the constant apathy/rudeness/lack of assistance from both airline staff and other passengers that really got to me. What’s the deal anyway– no one helps a heavily pregnant woman travelling alone with a young child nowadays! I can’t tell you how many times I was either ignored or treated like a 2nd class citizen in my travels! Interestingly it was younger people (eg in their 20s) who offered to help most, and older grandparent-aged who were the worst (pushing past, complaining about normal and happy kid behaviour on a train, saying “I’m so glad I don’t have to travel with young kids anymore” but not making any effort to HELP me with bags or whatever, etc etc). F-ing baby boomers! Can’t tell you how sick I was of getting random criticisms from strangers (you should really keep a closer eye on your child– he could get ’snatched up’ in a second you know), but never any help. Yes, I admit I expected more from people, including the negligent unsympathetic staff at Alaska Airlines.
