Southwest kicks mom, cranky kid off flight
 

Oh, how I've wished this has happened on so many of my flights.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33555007/?gt1=43001


SAN JOSE, Calif. - Kids will be kids, but one cranky 2-year-old was acting too much his age for a Southwest Airlines flight crew who kicked him off a plane getting ready to leave for San Jose.

Pamela Root says she was confident her son Adam's screams of “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!” would subside once the plane took off Monday in Amarillo, Texas.

But she says the plane taxied back to the gate and the pair was escorted off.

The 38-year-old stay-at-home mom wants an apology and compensation for the portable crib and diapers she had to buy for the extra night away from home.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis says removing a crying child from a flight is unusual, but crews have leeway to resolve situations.
McInnis says the airline is looking into the incident.

Southwest is not the most family-friendly airline in the first place; I don't know that they even let families with young children preboard anymore. I know traveling with kids can be really difficult.... but I've been thrown up on without receipt of apology or even acknowledgement.So haha.

Ok I can kind of understand the diapers, but she also wants them to pay for a crib? WTF?

This is one of those situations where I absolutely doubt that she is telling us the full truth. If she is indeed an innocent victim then that is one thing, and I am sorry for her. But after sitting on plenty of Southwest flights myself with screaming toddlers, I am guessing it was her reluctance to even deal with her child or possibly rudeness/aggression towards the stewardesses/passengers that caused them to kick her off. But now she has a platform of the "innocent mom" and is running with it.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...e/6695359.html

She got an apology and $300 travel voucher. Which is really nothing to SWA; don't you get more than that if you're bumped from an overbooked flight?

Also it's not really a question of sympathy for the mom anymore—the kid was screaming loudly enough that other passengers couldn't hear the safety announcements.

I was on a 4 hour flight a couple of months ago. A couple got on with their 3 children (one toddler, a pre-schooler and a kid about 7), with 5 middle seats assigned to them. Obviously, they didn't plan for this flight because there are ways to avoid middle seats. The family also did not pre-board like they could have.

After the father held up the flight until they could get a group of seats together, the kids screamed the entire way. The crew kept shoving free drinks to the passengers around them.

Contrast this to the dad who got on with his 5 kids and 5 DVD players. This family took up the entire back row of the plane and nobody hear a peep from those kids. Someone was prepared!

OMG I seriously detest people who can't control their own kids

This, too.

Frankly, good for southwest. I've been on plenty of flights with kids and it's become apparent to me that the children who are a bother to other passengers are a direct product of unprepared or just plain stupid parents.

I'm sick of being uncomfortable because of other people's kids, either on L trains, planes, or anywhere else!

The kid was probably jacked on some sugary cookies or drinks too. I like a treat as much as the next gal, but I definitely notice a behavior change in my nephews, about 45 minutes to an hour after they've had candy or chocolates. They turn into little hellions. Thankfully, they play soccer and get regular exercise.

It's too bad that Southwest caved and gave the lady what she wanted, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to preserve a good image.

This.

Ohh I agree!!! Once I was in a mall and a child was running around haphazard, ran *into* me and fell down. The mother had the audacity to get up in my face and yell at me 'why did I knock down her kid'? Seriously!?!?!

What really bugs me is when parent(s) will bring a small fussy child into a LATE evening non G or PG movie & refuse to leave when the child cries, etc.

Arrrggh! Get a babysitter!! Or better yet, wait till it comes out On Demand. Geez.

And I HATE IT when kids are running around in public places and almost ram into people who are minding their own business and their parents can't be found.

Put a leash on 'em or leave em home!!! hahaha (That is only partly serious. I know there are well-behaved kids out there that don't need the child leash or to be left at home)

http://blissfullydomestic.com/wp-con...ld-harness.jpg

amen. makes me wanna punch the parent in the face. idc whether they're spank or anti-spank, but if they're not into spanking their kids they need to find away to ensure that they're well behaved in public.

LOL! Now that's funny!

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Seriously, the airlines need to have planes with play areas during special times of the day and charge a gajillion dollars for these flights than putting them on biz class flights with travel pros.

When I went on flight, the 5 y/o pee'd in the seat behind me. Kids don't fear adults anymore. When I was little I was more fearful of the ass whoopin' I'd have gotten from my mom, than what any other adult would've given me, if she found out I acted ugly...

Anyhow, I'm amused by kids & I can get them to say things that have their parents laughing hysterically... Like, 33girl's post...

^^ wtf? oh we would've been exchanging words.

Ugh. I have been on flights where the kids, including toddlers, were well behaved, and ones where they were the devil's spawn. The difference was, no surprise, their parents. Good kids usually have parents who come prepared for the trip- books, favorite blanket, toys, stuffed animal, crackers, whatever... the idiot parents with the demon children usually come with nothing to keep the kids entertained or distracted, and do nothing to keep them from driving the passengers around them insane.

I know! It's SO annoying. Especially when it happens in the movie theater. I went to see "This is it" this weekend, but I couldn't even enjoy it because some lady decided she wanted to bring her 2 year old with her. Why would anyone bring a 2 year old to a movie to disturb others? I mean she wouldn't even take him out of the theater, she just sat there while he screamed. I'm not trying to be a crab or anything, it's just that there's this thing called "common courtesy?"

I would have told her to put the kid in a straight jacket and give him a dose of Bendryl.

I've been on this flight, and it's typically full of screaming kids and parents that behave badly. I do whatever it takes to avoid traveling on weekends.

I once had a kid on a jet plop himself down in the aisle at the time everyone was de-planing. I was in the seat next to him. When I reached up to grab my bag, he said, "don't hit me with your bag". I looked directly at his monther and said, "he has more of a chance of being stepped on by the rest of the cabin than me hitting him on the head with my bag". I think she was shocked that I said anything. She had no response and I booked for baggage claim.

What I really wanted to say was, "get your Effing kid off the floor".

yeah, what she said!

Thank you! My mom woulda whupped me right on the plane!

Oh hell to the naw! I woulda been cussing that bitch out up and down that plane.
I was just talking to DH about this (he once had a kid who kicked his seat from Halifax, NS to Montreal). Had that been me on the flight, she woulda been laid out
DH applauded Southwest but would NOT have apologized to her NOR given her a voucher

I think this resonates with real life too. Parents who actualy *parent* typically have well behaved kids.

Parents who are too absorbed in their own lives to play, read, stimulate, hug, love, discipline, and instruct their children typically have poorly behaved kids. It is unfortunate that we often refer to the children as "bad kids" when the more accurate moniker would be the "children who were unfortunately born to terrible parents."

I've experienced both. I had a guy and his two year next to me last month on a flight. I expected the worst but the toddler behaved the whole flight. Anytime he got antsy, his father would start reading to him or would give him apple juice. In a completely opposite situation, I was unlucky enough one time to get stuck on the tarmac for three hours with a toddler behind me who threw a temper tantrum. The parents did nothing to try to calm down their daughter (didn't even try) and the kid started kicking my seat violently. I turned around and gave the mom a look that basically pleaded with her to help me but she instead started yelling at me. Unbelievable. Words were exchanged and eventually the dad put a blanket over his daughter's head and basically smothered her into silence. Whatever works I guess...

I can imagine that it's very difficult to fly with a toddler. They get antsy and it's hard for them to sit quietly for long periods of time. I've found that the best parents are the most prepared parents. They anticipate that their child might act up and make appropriate accommodations. My sister and I had our first overseas flight to Tokyo from Chicago when I was 4 and she was 1.5 years. We sat in business class so I can only imagine the looks on everyone's faces when my parents brought their young children onto the section of a plane where people pay a lot of money for comfort. Did I mention this was a 13 hour flight?? My parents were prepared, though. Lots of books, snacks, juice, toys, etc. When my sister did act up, my mother brought her into the bathroom until she calmed down. People use to compliment my parents on how well we behaved. Nowadays, my parents would have access to iPods, portable DVD players, electronic games that we didn't have available in the mid-1980's. There is so much more today that parents can do to keep their kids occupied during a long flight. Unfortunately, many choose not to.

Here is a toast to Portable DVD players. Maybe we can get the airlines to pass them out to kids and collect them upon landing.

I'm certainly not minimizing inconsiderate parents because I see plenty of that myself, but if you consider how little people seem to consider the presence of other people when they have loud conversations on their cell phones, etc, it's really no surprise that they regard other people as unimportant when it comes to how their kids act.

The last time I flew a few months ago, I was treated to the guy next to me's entire cellphone conversation about his broken toilet. I mean at a louder volume that my own conversation with my husband next to me. I'm sure he isn't going to magically transform into a considerate passenger when he has kids.

On a flight from Europe this summer, a couple who had just adopted two new children (about 18 months and 4 years old) from Russia had the seats behind and next to me.

I was super annoyed. Who wants kicking, screaming children next to you for 9 hours?

The parents were super prepared. Even though they had just gotten the kids, they came with blankets,toys, cartoons on a DVD player, and snacks for them. The kids were really well-behaved and only cried once or twice.

The dad was also really firm with them. All he had to do was say "No" in a strict voice and whatever whining or kicking they were doing stopped.

This reaffirms my belief that it's the parents, not the children. If you're prepared and you are willing to be firm with your kids, they'll behave 99% of the time.


The last flight I was on had two children behind me who meowed the entire 1.5 hour flight. Thank goodness for iPods because the mom did nothing...

I've seen fights on planes resulting from someone asking their fellow passenger to shut their kid up (nicely, of course). Fun times!

For me, at least, it's not all screaming kids. I'm way more sympathetic to someone who did come prepared, but whose kid is screaming because their ears are popping or it's their first time flying and they're a little nervous.

Just a though for someone who wants to start a business. DVD rentals at the airport. Drop them off when you arrive at your destination or buy it.

I've seen them - forget the name - but yes, it's brilliant.

One big reason why I drove cross-country rather than fly when the boys were little is that it is simply too much stress to fly with two (or one, come to that) toddlers. In my car, I can pull over when I need to, control the temp., get food when I need to, and if they have a meltdown or two all I have to do is turn up the radio. The dvd player in my car meant that if I left at night, the boys would sleep through the night and be entertained by movies during the day.
My girls (who are 9 and 11 yrs. older than the boys) were big fans of headphones. Ah, the good old days . . .

I've never been on a flight where someone was talking on their cell phone. Isn't that still not allowed in the US?

Gawd I would go absolute BONKERS if I had to listen to someone's conversation the ENTIRE way on a flight. I hope the airlines never change that no cell phone rule!

Oh, sorry, I guess I said that in a misleading way. It was before the actual flight. I guess I was free associating with air travel.

I suppose I should be thankful that it didn't go on the whole flight. It was just really strange because it seems to go on a long-ish time, and it was really loud and about stuff that none of us having to listen to it really wanted to be listening to. I could probably still give a play by play.

I was on a flight over the summer where a woman left her baby (I'm talking less than 1 year old) with random strangers while she took her toddler to the rest room. This happened at least three times during the flight and the baby cried hysterically with each new stranger he was entrusted to.

First of all, why would you trust the random man in 24B with you child? WHY!? I get that he's not going anywhere at 30,000 feet but how do you know he isn't a psycho child punter?!

Second of all, why would you accept a stranger's child, I wouldn't want that responsibility!

We had one rough flight when my son was 3. We went to Disney World and he was fine on the way down. We had toys, books, etc. at the ready for him and he didn't really need them on the way to Florida. However, while at Disney World, he got really scared on one ride and was too terrified to ride anything else the rest of the trip. We didn't realize this fear was going to generalize to the flight since he had done fine on the way down there. We had to sit apart so I was with my daughter and my ex-husband (we were married then) was sitting a few rows behind with my son. As we were preparing for take off, I hear my lil guy saying (loudly, but not yelling, but definitely with fear in his voice) "Hold me Daddy, hold me!" "Hold me Daddy, Hold me!" My ex did his best with calming him down and once we were up in the air, he was fine, but for a few minutes, he was clearly terrified. We felt awful for the people around us and for him. So, I do have some sympathy for some of those situations.

Flying is a little different too than the movies or a restaurant where you can remove the kid from the situation. There isn't a whole lot you can do in a plane, beyond firm reprimands and threats. It really depends on the age of the kid. There are things you can bring along to try to keep them occupied/distracted, but those things don't work every single time, especially if they are afraid or not feeling well. It's a case by case type of thing to me...

I think there's a big difference between kids who are scared or cry during take-off and landing because their ears are popping and kids that are just plain misbehaving. I have a lot of ear/inner ear problems, get a lot of ear infections, and whatnot, so when the plane is taking off/landing I feel like screaming, too.

It's when the plane is in flight or somehow stationary that misbehaving kids bug me. There was a huge group of kids from toddlers to teenagers on the flight back from Paris when my dad and I went last and it was AWFUL. Every single one of those kids was a loud, annoying jerk of a kid. They also left trash all over the seats and floor. I might have been able to excuse the younger kids but the teenagers were just as bad, maybe even worse! It was disappointing because our flight to Paris was actually pretty relaxing (gotta love those overnight flights!). The fact that we were trapped with them for almost 8 hours just made things worse.

There's a big difference between that and the toddler that cried twice on a flight, once during take off, and once during landing.

I'll agree with this (and Munchkin's point). Although it's incredibly annoying to spend the whole flight listening to kids screaming, I can understand if the kid's scared or something like that. I would just hope that the parents would try to quiet the child down during the flight. It doesn't need to be a "Hey kid, shut up!" but more of a "It's ok, the plane is safe and everything is going to be ok."

When my parents were taking my sister and I on a plane for the first time (we were visiting family in California), they took us to the airport to watch the planes take off. I was a pretty laid back kid, but I think it helped to see the planes taking off and landing and hearing all the sounds. Flying can be a stressful experience for a kid, from the long waits in line to the plane ride itself.

I often wonder why more parents don't do what my parents did, if it's feasible, at least to increase the comfort level a little. If there's one thing I learned from teaching preschool and toddler-age kids throughout college, it's that you can calm a kid's nerves a lot by giving him or her familiarity with a new place.

This reminds me of when the nephew took his first flight (to my college graduation). My sister said that L was sooo excited about flying, and then he walked out to the tarmac. My family lives in a small town with a small airport where you have to walk out from the airport to the plane, so it was really loud. He was screaming BLOODY MURDER. "No! I'm not getting in that thing! You can't make me! I'll die in that airpwane!" HE WAS 3. My sister had to pick him up, throw him over her shoulder, and haul him into the plane.

As soon as L got into the plane, he sat down and went to sleep. Now he loves to fly. So, if a kid is chatty/screamy when he's about to board, there's a good chance that he will be quiet in the plane.

Ditto. Scared kids don't scream for 5 hours.