[jimworcs]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...st_read_module

The child is filmed calm and presenting no problem.

AA offered to rebook them on another flight and did so, but not in First Class

This is utterly disgraceful.

[mars6423]

i read a article where a witness was interviewed and said that the child was running around and being "loud"

you have to look at both sides, not just a 2min vid

[cortney]

witnessess saw the boy running around being loud, the parents didnt (of course) film that part, only when he was behaving. there are 3 sides to every story. theirs, yours and the truth. I think there could be more than what a news article says and what the parents say.

[jimworcs]

I am not sure that is the point. All five year old children are capable of going from 0 to 60 within a few minutes. I have been in many airports... and have seen loads of young kids excited, particularly before a trip, jumping around and being excitable. It is normal behaviour for a five year old.

The point is that the airline was prepared to allow the child to fly, but not first class. Why did AA rebook the child into economy? The suggestion that the Captain might be disturbed by him if he is in first class is frankly very lame.

I am sure the child had been behaving in an excitable way before hand. The point is that the child had calmed down and was sitting quietly before the flight. On that basis, AA no longer had any reasonable objection to the child flying. Just not in frist class...I wonder why?

[mars6423]

he is 16yrs old, not 5, he has down syndrome

the pilot/captain called prior to not letting them board to see if they could calm the 16yr old down, that wasnt successful, and the pilot has the right to deny a passenger(s) if he/she feels that they could endanger themselves or others

they were booked onto a later flight so that the 16yr old could calm down, maybe all first class seats were booked?

[jimworcs]

Yeah, I don't know why I thought he was younger.... it doesn't really change the principle. He was agitated, calmed down and the family were ready to fly. They were denied flying and advised they could fly later. You could argue that this was entirely about his behaviour except for a couple of inconvenient facts. The Captain offered up some lame excuse that a 16 year old disabled child posed a threat to him in his sealed cockpit... and when the family were subsequently booked they were not booked in First Class. Highly dodgy.

[mars6423]

it wasnt for the threat to him in the cockpit, it was threat that he could endanger himself or other passengers, which the pilot has a right to decline a passenger to fly on those grounds, and he already showed principle that he may not be able to control his actions as he was running around prior, where the video shown by the family shows a short 2min video where he was calm, after the decision was made

i also saw that they were offered first class tickets on a even later flight but refused to wait for that flight (probably due to the flight they were rebooked on had a full first class) they did get the money for the upgrade back