It’s funny, before I had kids I used to travel for work all the time and kids on planes never bothered me. (I was much more annoyed with the tall men sitting next to me who felt they had the right to put their leg in front of me, but even then I figured what are you gonna do?) I am always amazed when I hear negative comments about kids on planes. After all, flying is not exactly the luxury experience it used to be. We are crammed in together in a tin can for several hours, getting served crappy food if we are lucky.

On the other hand, when I do see kids act up, usually the parents are trying to do everything do calm the child down. If the parents are really doing nothing, someone should talk to them.

I think a compromise would work nicely. Bann babies from bussiness class, voila! (Even though I´ve flown bussiness with my, then 15 month old, triplets, thank you frequent flyer miles, I would understand a policy like that)

I’ve flown quite a bit and actually have been way more irritated by adult passengers than children. Sure I’ve had a flight or 2 with screaming tots, but I’ve also sat by a couple who made out and dry-humped the entire flight, a man who snored in my ear and drooled on my sweater, and a woman who bitched about parents not slapping their toddler to quiet her down. The little girl in question only screamed for about 5 minutes, but the woman next to me went on about it for the whole flight.

I’m having my first baby in a month.

The problem isn’t babies being on the plane. It’s them being on the plane in the same cabin as me! Why the hell isn’t there a “no-baby” cabin, or better yet, just a single cabin where babies are allowed ?

Why do they spread the screamers throughout the plane so that everyone cops and earful ? Surely it’s better to coral them into the same area, and so that only parents with their own little noise-maker are subjected to the irritating screams of other children ?

When smoking was allowed on planes, there used to be a section for it. Why not a section for annoyances ?

Gib, the whole plane is the section for annoyances. There is a whole list of offenders from: I will take more than my fair share of overhead bins, I will take the arm rest and some of your personnel space too, farters, smelly people (too much cologne or perfume!), I will talk to you even if you have your noise suck in a book or you obviously trying to go to sleep, sick people (they shouldn’t allow these people on planes), people who feel it is necessary to try to nab a whole row to themselves, or I like the window seat but have a very weak bladder and yes I would love a drink even though I been to the restroom five times already, and the list continues…and I am sure you have been an offender at least one category of annoyances.

@CitizenMom – oh yeah! I did once sit through a flight with a kid kicking my chair, and mom was trying really hard to get her to stop, but this was clearly nearing meltdown territory, so eventually, I turned around post-kick, to which mom said “I’m really sorry”. And I said, “no worries, sounds like a “pick your battles” time – as far as I’m concerned, you can let her kick today if you want to.” and everyone was happy. Airline seating sucks, but maybe airlines could assist with passenger switching? I’m almost always happy to sit next to kid-obnoxiousness on planes, and sympathetic to those who don’t want to.

I, for one, cannot wait until Gib has to fly with her baby (or, even better, her juststartedwalkingandreallyexcitedtokeepwalkingeverywhereallthetime toddler).

Ummm. I meant my comment as tongue-in-cheek, Leahsmom. When I think of why flying is awful, I think off lumpy seats, dirty planes, bumped flights, harried airline employees, the fear of being stranded on a runway for hours, and how gross it is to walk through security in my socks.

Comments I fly with my 3 year old cross country about 4 times a year and have since he was born. We’ve only ever had 1 bad flight. The secret is getting him his own seat. Airlines should drop the “infant in arms” requirement down to those 1 year and under. A 2 year old is TOO BIG to be sitting quietly on someone’s lap for any flight over an hour. After that rough flight at 15 months on my lap – we sucked it up and paid the extra money for the seat. Worth every penny.

Flying seems to be taking a few steps backwards, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if in some time it will once again be a luxury, not just in first or business class, but a luxury period. If a warm meal, free soft drinks and tea/coffee were a sign of courtesy to somewhat ease the experience of overly crowded, tightly seated flights, now people have to pay for those poorly prepared “perks” in addition to having to pay extra for checked as well as carry-on baggage with some airlines, and in case you’ve been taking even the most basic of needs for granted, now you won’t because the airline will not have forgotten to charge for it (e.g. charging for the WC).

Obviously people become irritable – a strong perfume, someone dozing off on you etc… But grownups, unlike children, are subject to rules and reason – you can voice your concern to the person bothering you directly, if they don’t care or listen you can ask for assistance from the flight-attendant, if they’re seriously bothering other passenger’s they can be threatened to be confined for the duration of the flight, to be arrested upon landing, to be banned from air travel etc… Children couldn’t care less about who they’re bothering and what they are being threatened with (not that anyone would actually dare threaten them just like any adult would be), until they do and until equal punishment for disrupting the flight can be applicable, I believe they should not be allowed on the flight.

The person flying today is reduced to feeling like nothing, having to not only pay a relatively large amount of money for a ticket and being charged for every little thing one could encounter during the voyage, short of being charged for the amount of air they consume while on-board, while being literally stuffed into a plane (out goes any attempt to try and give passengers the 60x70x40 cm of a comfort zone/personal space) along with a colourful variety of just about all sorts of characters, just as annoyed and irritated as you. Now add a crying, inconsolable, uncontrollable baby or toddler and I dare you to act surprised when we see a modern C.J. Whitman loose it and shut them up because no one else could or would. I honestly see that happening – people feel more and more desperate in their personal lives, at work and during travel as everything that used to make it more pleasant and tolerable is being taken away by airline companies, and any extra irritation could potentially push one over the edge.

Although capitalism allows limitless pricing of even the most insignificant of products and services, perhaps air-travel should see some involvement from the government and health associations, for example setting a humane minimal amount of space per seat/person, the maximum amount of passengers per type of plane, the noise-limit etc… This all sounds like a description of first and business class, right? Well why should it? Why have we allowed capitalism to elevate basic human comfort to the level of luxury? Or yet a better question – why have we allowed airline companies to provide so little in economy and coach? If demanding more would result in air travel once more becoming a luxury, perhaps it should be just that? After all, it’s not a birth right, it’s a privilege. Obviously no one is going to do anything about this, but people who expose their fellow travellers to extra stress and mental discomfort by bringing along their little hell-raisers should consider the fact that for a lot of people, despite flying a cheep airline or being in a cheep section of the plane, air-travel is a luxury even now, and while for you it’s just a monthly trip to see the grandparents, for someone else it’s a once in three years trip to somewhere they can barely afford and will have to save up for another three years or more to afford the next one, and you’ve potentially stained or ruined the experience with your selfishness of dragging along your offspring, oh and by moving so far away from relatives in need of such frequent visiting in the first place. But that’s just my opinion…

How about considering the health and welfare of the screaming infant? The changes in air pressure cause PAIN in the infant’s ears. An adult deals with this by swallowing, chewing gum or drinking. An infant cannot do this. An infant is dependent on his parent for his welfare. If parents were aware of the easy fix of using a bottle or pacifier during take off and landing, many of them would do this and babies screaming from pain would not happen. Granted, this is not a cure-all, but it would cut down on both pain for the infant and annoyance to nearby passengers. Could it be that most parents are not aware of this? If so, the responsibility for speading the news could be put on the airline. They require birth dates for all passengers. Perhaps if their computer notices an infant of 18 months or less, a special instruction sheet should accompany their e-ticket. The parent should have to acknowledge that they have been adivsed and agree to comply.

I am always amazed by the negligent mother who tries to read (and hide?) a newspaper while her infant wails in pain. I seriously think this is child abuse and the airline should have a responsibility to the child to report it.

Kid free flights would be great, but good luck. Airlines count how many olives went into your salad, back when they actually served you salad. Now the airlines couldn’t care less about the passengers, and will abandon a plane full of them for 4 hours on the tarmac if they feel like it. Flying sucks, and there just ain’t two ways about that. Crying babies make flights much worse, yes, and so do many other annoying things, so just plan ahead. I use ear-canal blocking ear phones and an ipod, and can tune out most noises. But a baby kicking a seat all flight is unforgivable, so mom, sorry, but DO something about it besides apologize. Plan ahead for your annoying child by bringing whatever toys, books, movies etc. necessary. It IS YOUR PROBLEM to fix, not mine.

Theres my two cents. Which is more than any of our rants are worth, since the airlines won’t change a stinkin’ thing no matter HOW much we complain. Except costs, which will always go up.