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Old Dec 28, 2010, 3:25 AM
HoustonFlyer HoustonFlyer is offline
Former Airline Employee (NOT OFFICIAL REP)
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 84
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The problem is the parents. The airline has a duty to allow all passengers to have as comfortable a flight as possible, but the duty is greater to first class passengers. Unruly children do not even have to be allowed on board.

On one occasion two children at IAH who were waiting with their parents to board a flight from Houston to New York were running and jumping near their parents who were seated nearby and accidentally kicked a bag of another passenger and broke something. The passenger complained to the gate agents who had seen the behaviour of the children and the parents who did nothing to control the children. To placate the passenger the agents gave the passenger a voucher for future travel.

The agents checked their computers and found that a later flight that day had more room and told the parents that they were putting them on the later flight in seats at the back as their children's behaviour was such that they needed to be kept away from the other passengers. The parents protested but they were not allowed to board and had to wait for the later flight.

In this case the OP is entitled to complain. The flight attendants observed the problem and the parents obviously could not control their children. What should have happened is after a warning the flight attendants should have picked out the child who was worst behaved and ask the parent and child to sit in another seat preferably at the back of the aircraft in coach, saying that once the child settles down he would be allowed to return to his first class seat. You would see how quickly the other parents will apply their parenting skills to control their children. Parents of toddlers often think their child's misbehaviour is cute, not realising that only they are thinking it is cute.

Not because you have a child, entitles you to disturb others. If you can't control your child from disturbing others, e.g. screaming and kicking the back of the seat in front of them, travel by train or bus or ship or swim!