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.
And what did they say? "We will TRY to make her behave." That doesn't bode well for making it happen. Day-care parents, perhaps.
Why don't airlines designate certain flights as "no kids under 12 allowed" and see how fast those flights fill up? Airlines that fly the same route several times a day should designate about half of those flights that way. I'd pay $10 extra not to hear a screaming baby for 3 hours.
I think you are right. The kid was in front of them. What 3 year old will stand for that? What idiots!!
I always suggest duct tape to my teacher colleagues. It is of course THE best way to contain children. Had not thot of bubble wrap. I'll add it to my list of must-haves.
If you're anything like my mom, you would have jerked a knot in your kids before you let us throw a public fit over anything but a ruptured appendix.
Thanks for backing up your air crew AirTrans!
This is part of the cultural war. Liberal parents who have an out of control spoiled brat , who is not used to discipline, and uses the threat of tantrum to get her way, and control large numbers of adults, to wit, a whole plane load?
Hell, if it were my kid, it would have been over the knee time and a few whacks to the posterior, and then forced into the seat and strapped in.
Instead of doing that, the parents let the kid run, and act out her tantrum? Air crew should carry straight jackets for this kind of situation, wrap the kid up and strap her into the seat.
Actually, in metmom's world EVERY flight is delayed, but she still doesn't throw a temper tantrum.
The way the article read, the flight was delayed BECAUSE of the kid's temper tantrum, not that the kid had the temper tantrum because of a brief delay.
For that matter, if the kid couldn't handle 15 mins on the runway, how would she manage a hours long flight? Like a three year old can tell the difference between sitting on the runway and being in the air?
I've only flown Air Tran once, but I'm liking them better all the time!
Well, I'm exactly the same way - except for the "caving" part, that is.
My 9-year-old, who frequently gets us compliments for how well-behaved he is, has only tried defying me once, and that was a number of years ago.
Other articles on this incident have provided the detail of the 24 hour flight ban imposed on the family. Read through the one at the first link -- the flight crew comes across a lot worse in this more detailed version, and it's clear the airline's management is not backing them up.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070121/COLUMN01/701210459/1008/NEWS02
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=2815486&page=1
Well don't stop the story there. What did you do? Is his nickname Stumpy now? ;^)
I can't believe this made national headlines. The parents must know an AP reporter personally.
Perhaps the most un-newsworthy story I have ever read.
Years ago, my neighbor (a liberal) had 2 boys. One was a real handful. She would get upset if her husband even contemplated giving him a swat.
My neighbor called me one day and told me she couldn't believe what she had done. She put the kid out in the car in the garage and duct taped his mouth. He was probably 8 or 9 years old at the time and she said he was only out there a couple minutes, but she couldn't believe she had done it.
Maybe she should have left him longer, he ended up in real trouble later on.
This is one of the bad parts about living in Orlando. There are spoiled Disney brats on every flight in or out.
I've got a better idea. AirTran should send the family a bill for the cost of the 15 minute delay. Fuel, salaries for the crew and the ground folks at the other end (at union overtime rates). If the family complains, then the other passengers ought to consider sending the lovely family a bill as well.
Remember, 15 minutes is worth $150 to a $600/hour lawyer, even more for an MD.
They had her on GMA this morning, to show how well behaved she is, lol. She lasted a little while on mommy's lap before she started pulling her dress up over her head to show us her panties and tummy.
I had been wondering if maybe she had tubes in her ears or an earache or something, but they said she had been fine on the flight down there.
*Then* they said they had given her some Benadryl before this happened (and that usually knocks a little kid out like a light!) *and* that she was fighting having to fly at all because it "hurt her ears."
The mom said she had had an ear infection, but didn't say if it was before the flight down there or during their vacation. If she still had it, she probably shouldn't have been flying.
What I didn't get is how a 3-yo kid would know in advance that she would have screaming ear pain before the plane took off, if she didn't have any on the flight down there. The mom said "well, she did report a little discomfort."
Still can't believe they were actually rewarded for this - we'll see how many bratty kid scams Air Trans will put up with after showing the world *that.*
Attempted scam? Wait to see if they sue, having now turned down the freebies.
Can't help but wonder if the 'tantrum' was coached Welsh acting.
Juvenile delinquents are kids who act like their parents - old adage.
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