I hate sitting next to crying babies as well. Especially when they are 40 years old, and hefty.
As for infants, yeah, they cry and fuss sometimes. I get it. Flying’s not always fun. Offer to help the parent out, or just put in my headphones. Big deal...
I just jingle my keys in front of them, let he/she reach for them and let them grab and play with them. Almost always works. Simple. Of course you can also make funny faces ...
;-)