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.
The last time I went to RENO, on the way home a couple got on the plane with five kids. Of course they didn't have seats for two. The little animals raised hell all the way. I haven't been on a plane since, I just take an extra day or two and drive.
Why did they put their daughter in the separate seat.
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If you wouldn't want to spend the flight next to the screaming brat why do you think the parents would?
This version of the story leaves out a pertinent fact. While it's perfectly reasonable for an airline to require a family with an out-of-control tantrumming preschooler to get off the plane so it can be in compliance with federal safety regulations for take-off, the airline also refused to let the family fly again for 24 hours, incurring a hotel bill, lost work time for the father, and other inconveniences. They invoked the same policy that is used on belligerent adults who get kicked off a flight without getting arrested and charged.
Kids this age sometimes get out of control. Sometimes it's due to bad parenting, but by no means always. A 3 year old is capable of wriggling out of a seat belt or opening the buckle if really determined, so it may really have been impossible for the parents to get the girl seated without inflicting real injury on her and/or letting her inflict serious injury on them, and simultaneously stay buckled in their own seats. Notwithstanding the folks here who suggest they should have given the girl a good whupping, the fact is that in this day and age, the parents are likely to find themselves arrested and charged with child abuse if they use that form of discipline. The airline should have offered the family the opportunity to fly on the next flight available (preferably soon after the flight in question, since tantrums of this magnitude are generally followed by complete exhaustion and sound sleep).
Maybe the kid's behavior was the reason the flight had been delayed.
"Why wasn't the daughter with one parent..."
That is a good question, and one that I wondered about as well. Recently, I took a trip to Hawaii. Upon my return flight, there was a couple with a young boy, whom was obviously scared. While passengers were finding their seats, the family stood and held the boy, calmly talking to him. Every once and a while he'd try to sit the boy in his seat, which was located between both parents. The boy would cry, and the father would patiently pick the boy up and carry him again until the child felt secure. Finally, when the seatbelt sign flickered on, the father placed the boy in his seat. The boy whimpered for just a moment, then settled down. He was fine the entire flight.
That child should have been seated with one of the parents. Perhaps this child would have misbehaved anyway. Regardless, a 3 yr. old child should always be with a parent.
Liar, Liar pants on fire!
Parents with small children get to board first on every airline I have ever flown.
Man, I am with you on that...this drives me crazy too! You see this on the show COPS all the time. They catch someone and they say "We're arresting you for having 3 pounds of cocaine - Ok ?" What would the cop do if the drughead said loudly "NO IT'S NOT OK..NOW GO AWAY"
I just shake my head....
That's the reason I never fly without my noise cancelling headphones.
If you fly with chidlren have as many things as possible to keep them busy and/or distrct them. I never travel with my child (Who is 5) w/o portable DVD player, coloring books, crayons, books, IPod, or whatever. Also my child knows how he is expected to behave in such situations.
I agree with your position if your information is correct.
Do we know that there was another flight available that day and that the airline did not pick up the hotel bill??
Nah, my kids were the absolute worst toddlers, but the best teenagers that you could ask for. I used to have to hold my son upside down by his ankles to put him in his car seat to prevent him from kicking me. One time my daughter who is four years older than he, decided to push in the cig. lighter and hand it to him, while I was getting my purse and things from inside the car. I could tell you stories about all three of my kids, but not one of them gave me one day of trouble as teenagers. One of them was even an American record holder in swimming.
I have witnessed children as described in the report by the airline. It's not a good sign if the 3 year old was crawling under the seats and hitting the parents. Those parents have already lost control of that child- and I suspect will expect the public schools to "fix" the problem, all without using any discipline - (corporal punishment just isn't humane, and any other penalty for acting inappropriately might harm her little ego...errr..I mean her self esteem).
And before anyone gripes at me for passing judgment, you are probably right - I don't know these parents. But I know and see their kind on a daily basis. The airline's story rings way too true.
And for the airline to both give them a full refund AND offer them three free tickets to anywhere they fly was FAR more than generous.
Next time, maybe they should think about teaching their child something a bit more constructive than hitting her parents. But that won't happen because they got rewarded for bad behavior.
Hey...My kids are sleep with me until they get to be a certain age, however, they do NOT rule me.
I wonder if the kid was supposed to be seated next to a person who was frightening to her for some reason.
Say, for instance, a large bearded male with tattoos or Moslem headgear.
"reeks"?
"If you wouldn't want to spend the flight next to the screaming brat why do you think the parents would?"
Here is a true story. On a trip to visit with family, a relative of mine was on a plane when she was approached by a man, his son, and his young daughter. He walked up to the row my relative was seated in, sat the girl next to her(the flight was not booked), and told that girl that my relative would take care of her. This is not a joke. Thankfully, my relative LOVES children, and in fact, took care of the child, but only because she was not about to ignore the girl. The father did not want to have to look after his girl. He graciously thanked my relative(how considerate).
My relative said that the family were on their way to some sporting event that the boy was participating in(which explains why he and dad sat next to each other talking shop).
"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."
Nothing wrong with that.
It's not the job of the airline to settle a child down. Nor is it right for a family to hold up the flight. The truth is, some kids have horrible behavior! I suspect this is one of those kids.
The airline should have offered the family the opportunity to fly on the next flight available (preferably soon after the flight in question, since tantrums of this magnitude are generally followed by complete exhaustion and sound sleep).
I agree. I had not noticed the 24 hour wait required.
I also did not advocate whupping the child but simply getting her calmed down somewhere besides the airplane.
I appreciate that an airplane can be a very scary place for a child, that is why I did not call for whupping her.
She needed to be calmed down and obviously she was not calming down on the plane.
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