Author |
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 1:39 pm
This story struck me as having certain similiarities as regards parenting issues interfering with public comfort (for lack of a better phrase) Family Booted From Plane after Tot's Tantrum Having flown dozens of times with three children I have a definate opinion but does anyone else want to chime in?
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 1:43 pm
i applaud what AirTran did based on what was reported and not having been there myself.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 1:48 pm
If AirTran is ok with their decision to remove the family, why did they refund the price of the three round trip tickets and offer them three more to anywhere they want to go?
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Mictay
Member
09-29-2006
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 1:53 pm
I agree with the airline,why should over 100 people have to wait until the had calmed the child down?Which by the way could have taken A while,I know i've been there myself.At least they got their money back and some free tickets.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:04 pm
I agree with what they did up to refunding the money...that should have been the extent of it, I do not think they needed to offer the family additional tickets.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:08 pm
Three years old is a little old to be throwing a temper tantrum. If it was my kid, I would have strapped him into the seat, told him to cut the crap and behave. If the airline told me I had to get off, I would apologizse, pick my kid up, thanked them for the refund and then told my kid he screwed himself out of a trip to disneyworld.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:09 pm
Maris...LMAO...atta girl!
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:12 pm
Wow, all in agreement and you can add me to the list. It's not only a comfort issue for the other passengers who paid an equal amount of money for their tickets but a safety issue if there is an out of control passenger of any age. I think the airline went way past their due diligence when they refunded the tickets and offered free vouchers in addition. Shows the character of the father that he takes no responsibility and says they won't fly that airline again. To give him the benefit of the doubt (it's what I do ) perhaps he was still at the airport, stressed and in reaction mode when he made that comment. Perhaps he will get home and have time to reflect.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:18 pm
I agree with what the airline did. It sounds like they waited fifteen minutes which is quite a while and they were very generous about giving them additional tickets plus another flight. I disagree with the idea that three year olds are completely controllable and are too old to be having temper tantrums. I know a number of "adults" who have temper tantrums or the equivalent. 
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:22 pm
Ahem....I do not have temper tantrums....I do not...Never ever ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:25 pm
Kids go through terible twos for a reason and come out of them after they learn that temper tantrums dont work. when a kid is having a screaming fit and the parents are looking for ways to give him what he wants, ie sitting on their lap which is against the rules, then you can pretty much figure out that those temper tantrums will continue for quite some time.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:27 pm
I'm totally baffled about the free tickets, lol. I know sometimes kids just don't act the way you expect them to, but they're kids. I'm pretty sure most of us parents have had those times with our kids where we wished we could just melt into the floor or turn invisible, lol. Like Jimmer says though, if they were already delayed 15 minutes, they had time to calm her down and get her butt in the seat. You can't hold up a plane full of people.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:29 pm
True WG...but some people think that the world revolves around them. Kinda like that <el> on the way to work this morning, that was behind me and whipped around me hit his brakes and made a right hand turn. Apparently it was his world and I was just living in it.
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:31 pm
Hey I was behind that same <el> on the way to pay bills earlier! 
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:51 pm
I don't blame the airline for removing the family from the plane but I will refrain from commenting on the behavior of the child. You see, I learned about 12 years ago that children who misbehave are not always spoiled bratty kids. Sometimes they are children with serious problems. I know there have been many times when people thought I should jerk Travis up and let him know how it is and there were even times when strangers would tell me so. What they didn't know was there was a proper way to handle this situation so as not to cause a total meltdown or lead to police involvement. What they also didn't know was that Travis was very afraid of the repercussions once we got home.
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Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 2:52 pm
note to self: book all flights on AirTran from now on. i fly all the time and applaud the parents who bring activities to keep their kids busy and those that keep them from kicking the back of my seat.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 3:04 pm
police involvement for a 3 year old? I am assuming that this child was not autistic or developmentally challenged or we would have read about it in the story
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 3:04 pm
Heh, we always had a special bag we kept in the car. It had toys, books, crayons, and coloring books that the kids didn't usually see. Loved that bag when we were out doing errands and decided to stop for dinner or when appointments took longer than expected. Heck, we kept Caleb happy, at 18 months old, signing escrow papers (a stack about the size of a small phone book) for two hours with that bag.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 3:21 pm
Maris, yes, police involvement for a 3-year-old. My son is not overweight but he has always been big for his age, solid as a rock and very strong. Add that to a blackout rage (he would not remember once it over) and you have Hercules. So, if I had done what most people thought I should (I live in a town that believes in spare the rod, spoil the child) instead of remaining calm and doing whatever it took to get him out, I have no doubt those same people would have been calling the police. As he got older and it was safe enough so as not to put him in any danger, if I could see him about to go into one of his spells, I would just walk away because he decompresses much better if left alone. While he can still act like a 12-year-old sometimes about getting his way, he no longer makes me absolutely dread taking him anywhere. So, apparently, I must have been doing something right. While I have always been a bit envious of parents who have well-behaved children, I wouldn't take anything for mine. You see, in my life, a child who sit calmly and does as he is told is not normal.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 7:39 pm
I would assume that parents wouldn't be flying with kids who are not ready for it (if possible, of course). I know my parents took us on test runs for activities.. like before we started taking two week driving trips in the summers, we took trips from Detroit to Indiana to visit relatives and (this was pre-mandatory seatbelt era) mom would create two "beds" for us to go to sleep in as it got late. Then we did a trip for a couple of nights to Niagara Falls to see about handling the travel in the car and staying at a hotel. We didn't fly before we were older but of course that wasn't as much of an every day event then. LOL.. I remember my grandmother flew out to California to visit after we moved here and after that she would suggest flying to my dad for really short trips. She though flying was such a good idea. (this grandmother was born in the 1870's) Anyway, good for Air Tran. Considering that they board families with young children ahead of most passengers AND the plane was 15 minutes late that sounds like they had 30-45 minutes to calm the child down. I'm guessing it was one of the sugared up kids GAL writes about.
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Zachsmom
Member
07-13-2000
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 8:39 pm
Well, I think giving the refund to the parents was cheaper then to the many who would have missed their connecting flights. I think the airline did the correct thing. We see where the child gets the temper tantrums from.
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Spygirl
Board Administrator
04-23-2001
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 10:23 pm
Interesting story. The airline did the only thing it could - remove the family from the plane. You can't bend FAA rules for a pleading mom, and the notion that the father is pissed at AirTran for making them follow federal law is outright hilarious. They get rewarded with a refund, still get to fly home, and they get 3 free roundtrip airline tickets and then he publicly criticizes the airline??? Amazing! AirTran went out of their way in this case. They could have escorted them off the plane and not even refunded their ticket price! if you can't follow FAA rules, you can't fly. Period.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 10:36 pm
I agree, Spy. I mean when I flew out of Seattle, they "needed our plane" and cancelled our flight and we sat another 5 hours and got a meal voucher and a tiny voucher that I've probably lost. And then they (Alaska) had the balls to send me an email today and ask me to vote for them for some award. pfft. I plan to go see if Jet Blue is nominated and if so, vote for them. Last time I flew Jet Blue, I got to the airport early and they got me on an earlier flight home. No charge either. (In Seattle, I also was even earlier at the airport and no such offer from Alaska).
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 11:46 pm
I applaud AirTran for taking them off the plane. That couple is lucky they got their tickets refunded and the airline went completely out of its way to award them with 3 free round trip tickets for no reason.
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Kaili
Member
08-31-2000
| Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 6:47 am
Has anyone watched that show, Airline? I rented the first season DVD at the library- it's a reality show based around Southwest, mainly using Chicago Midway and LAX. It's hilarious. This one woman was pissed at the airline and fuming to the cameras because she missed her flight. She actually said it's not like it's her fault...so how dare them be booked up and unable to get her on the next available flight home to San Diego. She showed up 30 min. before departure, then says to the camera, "well, how should I know to arrive that early...it's not like this is San Diego". Ummm....yeah, but even Chicago's Midway is kind of a busy airport. Love the show- some people are so ridiculous. In another episode they gave vouchers to almost a whole airline because of a rowdy group on the plane. Anyway, good show. I'm taking Midwest Express next week...usually I take Northwest for lack of choice out of my regional airport (they're usually cheapest to Phoenix). Then I get stuck with very long walk through Minneapolis/St Paul and either 45 minutes to do it in, or 3 hours. The other option is O'Hare and that's less appealing to me. I'm happy with a qick 1 hour stop in a nice mellow airport like Milwaukee's...and Midwest is still awesome in service and comfort. AirTran is currently trying to takeover Midwest. Boo.
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