Posted on 01/23/2007 7:35:25 PM PST by don'tspeak4me
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Flight attendants often deal with obnoxious passengers who won't listen to instructions by kicking them off the plane. But a Massachusetts couple think AirTran Airways went overboard by treating their crying 3-year-old daughter in much the same way.
Julie and Gerry Kulesza and daughter Elly were removed from the flight when the girl refused to take her seat before takeoff, airline officials said Tuesday. But her parents said they just needed a little more time to calm her down.
The Kuleszas planned to fly home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers after a four-day visit with the girl's paternal grandparents. She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said.
AirTran officials say they were only following Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seatbelt upon takeoff.
"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," Graham-Weaver said.
But Julie Kulesza said: "We weren't giving an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything."
"Elly was sitting in front of our seat crying," she said in a phone interview. "The attendant motioned to a seat and asked if we purchased it for her."
They had paid for the seat. Gerry Kulesza said another attendant then approached the family and told him: "You need to get her in control and in her seat."
The couple told the attendants they were trying. Julie Kulesza said she asked the attendants if Elly could sit on her lap, but they said no.
The family flew home the next day.
The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and offered them three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.
But that's too little, too late for the Kuleszas. The father said they would never fly AirTran again.
Someone on Free Republic once said the following...
"I used to tell my kids that children have three ways of learning, through the eyes, through the ears, or through the a$$, ......and how they learned was up to them.
LOL
I think this is tough, and here's why:
a friend of mine had the same thing happen (also on AirTran) only her child *was* buckled in. Pitching a fit, but buckled in. He wasn't a safety hazard, he was just annoying. Do airlines throw other annoying people off? Generally, no (although I sometimes wish they would).
So, where do you draw the line? If the child/parents refused to comply with the seatbelt rule, then I completely agree. But what about what happened to my friend?
I don't think this is always as black and white as it appears...
See the links I posted at #91. They may have chosen not to fly out via another airline that day, due to lack of non-stop flights (remember, they said the girl's ears hurt during landing on the first flight to their vacation destination, so they probably wanted to minimize that), but they did not have the option of flying out on an AirTran flight later the same day.
Maybe she should have left him longer, he ended up in real trouble later on.
When I was a kid staying overnight at a friend's house, I saw his young step-brother mistreating his mom. She would beg him to behave, he would throw toys at her and swear in her face. She would promise him toys and favors; meanwhile the brat would spit in her face. Me and my friend were disgusted, but couldn't do anything because the brat had the dad spoiling him crazy. (It was my friend's stepdad - he favored his 'real' son.)
It got worse over the years. My friend and his 2 other real brothers turned out fine, joined the Navy and became fine adults. The little brat ended up in juvenile detention for robbery, fighting, etc., eventually landed in prison for armed robbery.
Doh! Thanks for the great idea! Hmmm, wonder if smart baby-sitters are onto this method...
"Sounds just like us but we survived it. Hang in there, it pays. He is 16, almost 17, now and such a pleasure."
Oh thank GOODNESS...
My husband reminded me that once he said, "Do you want all of my blood to come out and I'm dead?"...
What a wacko! (he was THREE when he said THAT ONE)
They had the right materials on board... one demonstrator belt around the kid's arms, one around her mouth, belted into the seat, zipzap, ready for takeoff.
What do you want to bet the parents blew half an hour trying to wheedle and reason with the little brat.
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