Thursday, July 12, 2007

Bad Business: Airlines Are Anti-Family

So, there is another story in the news today about a toddler and his mother getting kicked off an airplane. In this story, the toddler wasn't even having a tantrum or (gasp) breastfeeding - he was only chattering. And apparently a flight attendant told the child's mother to drug him to shut him up when he kept saying "bye-bye plane". Wow. This airlines-persecuting-families-thing does seem to be getting a little out of hand.

Almost all major airlines have had significant financial problems in recent years. Flying isn't much fun anymore and people don't do it as much as they used to do it. One would think that airlines would be trying to improve their images, but no...working moms can't take much of their expressed milk on board when travelling away from their babies and pumping for them, nursing mothers and their children get kicked off planes, toddlers having normal toddler fits get kicked off planes and now toddlers making happy toddler noises can get kicked off if their parents don't drug them...nice.

I know I have no intention of paying good money to take my family on a plane anytime soon...I don't think I would dare.

4 comments:

Saints and Spinners said...

I wish that there would be a section in the back that was closed off from the rest of the plane where families could sit together (as an option), the kids could chatter away, and there'd be no glaring, grimacing, mean things, or other things that we'd have to put up with from the rest of the passengers. We've mostly had good luck, but there have been times when I've wanted to yell, "I'm doing the best I can, so just get over it."

gojirama said...

Oh, I hear you. There needs to be a parents' movement- it's hard enough for the airlines now, what if parents of small children stopped flying?

Lone Star Ma said...

Well, we may have to the way things are going! I know I have not flown with a child since the LSG was a pre-schooler.

gojirama said...

With prices what they are, it's an easy boycott.