As a Three Year Old is Thrown Off a Plane in the US, Skyscanner

As a Three Year Old is Thrown Off a Plane in the US, Skyscanner Survey Reveals One in Ten Parents Find Cabin Crew Unsympathetic To Children

SINGAPORE, June 15, 2012-

  Following last week’s shocking news that cabin crew demanded a father remove his three
year old son from an Alaska Airlines plane after the toddler was deemed too disruptive to
fly, a survey conducted by international flight comparison site Skyscanner
[http://www.skyscanner.com ] of more than 1,000 parents has revealed that, far from being
an isolated incident, 12% of parents said they have found it difficult to get any sympathy
from cabin crew in response to their children’s needs.

  The toddler at the centre of the incident first became upset when he was forced to
switch off the reading device his father had given him to keep him busy. Many parents in
the survey sympathise with this situation, with over a third having endured their child
having a “meltdown” on an aircraft and 13% of respondents stating their children too have
become upset after abruptly being told to switch off electronic devices by the cabin crew
with no explanation or understanding of why. The unhappy child then refused to sit upright
with his seatbelt fastened; something one in four of the parents surveyed have also
experienced, and his parents were finally told they had to disembark the aircraft despite
having his seatbelt fastened, because he wouldn’t sit upright.

  Skyscanner’s Mary Porter commented, “There can be some challenges when flying with
young children as they are too young to understand why they are being told to do certain
things, but this can be made less stressful for parents if cabin crew staff can be more
patient and understanding during these times. Of course there are some safety requirements
that must be met by every passenger whatever their age, however if cabin crew were
specifically trained to understand the needs of families better and able to assist with
the youngest of airline passengers, the experience could be stress-free for everyone and
many of these negative experiences could be completely avoided.”

  She continues, “Families contribute a huge amount to the profit of airlines and
everything should be done to make this a more positive experience.”

  About Skyscanner

  Skyscanner is a leading travel search site providing instant online comparisons for
millions of flights on over a thousand airlines.

Source: Skyscanner

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