A new airfarewatchdog.com(TM) poll reveals the frustration that most passengers feel when seated next to an active child or crying baby while flying.
When asked "Should airlines have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children?" 10,170 or 58% of respondents answered, "Yes, they should have done this long ago," while 27% answered, "Yes, but they never will and it'll never work." Only 15% answered, "No, this is a bad idea."
In comments posted on airfarewatchdog.com message boards, some parents with small children said that they would be in a more understanding and supportive environment were they to sit with other families rather than next to business travelers and adults traveling without children.
Asked to comment, David Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, said that children-only sections would be "logistically difficult" to implement, such as in cases where a passenger requested and paid for a seat in an adults-only section of the plane but was forced to sit in the children's section due to an oversold flight or the substitution of a larger plane for a smaller one.
Although airfarewatchdog.com remains neutral on this issue, the site's creator, George Hobica, notes that "even a kids-only section would not prevent truly unruly kids and their parents from being booted off a flight, as happened on a recent Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix when a mother traveling with her four children was unable to keep them in their seats."
Airfarewatchdog recommends the following steps to mitigate the effects of active babies and children while traveling by air:
-- Never travel without noise canceling or blocking headphones, such as those offered by Bose, Sony and Shure.
-- Try to sit in the first exit row of planes that offer two exit rows. Little ones can't sit in exit rows, so you'll be sure that no tiny feet will be pummeling your seat back.
-- Take very early morning flights (5 a.m. or 6 a.m., if they're available). Parents can rarely manage to dress, feed, wash, and otherwise organize infants and toddlers in time to catch flights that early in the day.
-- Speak up. Talk to the guardian of the offending child, politely but firmly. Admittedly, this doesn't always work. Ask a flight attendant to speak with the parent, or to reseat you. If the situation is really horrendous and only business or first class is available, ask to be upgraded if seats are available.
If all else fails, Hobica says, "Just grin and bear it. Or start wailing, kicking and screaming yourself."
To see the poll results, go to http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/link/kidssurvey
