To Thank Thomas Cook for clarifying the matter of paying to sit beside your children

[Groovee]

I flew Thomas Cook today to Florida. I paid extra for seats together and got to choose where we were sitting.

We decided to go on last because we had seats and there were near the cabin door. When I got settled a family were not happy that they had 5 single seats. The cabin crew were quite adamant that they could not ask customers who have paid to choose their seats to move.

So last weeks thread is solved

We're any of the 5 family members small children? Did Thomas cook make toddlers/preschoolers sit alone?!

Eh? OKKKKKKKKKK

"heidihole*
"Did Thomas cook make toddlers/preschoolers sit alone?!*

Surely the parents made the children sit alone?

Here we go again.

A business that provides a service to the public has a Duty of Care to its clients.
It has Risk Assessments and Method Statements that covers every aspect of the service.

If a child is molested by the random stranger/s that the airline has put next to the child, rather than its carer, the airline has failed in its duty of care.

No doubt a court case is required, but god help the molested child.

Molested? Surrounded by 200 people. Doubtful.

Love how these threads instantly fall prey to paedophile fear-mongering! Never fails.

I think what OP is clarifying is that the airline can't make you move if you have paid extra for specific seats. It is up to families to ensure they have got seats together before they go. I don't think being molested was ever raised. That is frankly ridiculous.

I must admit that a little while ago I was on a plane where no-one had booked their individual seats and a family of 4 got on at the last minute. The mother had the baby on her lap, but the dad had to sit away from them as did the little girl (probably about 3yo), she was heartbroken. I wanted to swap with them but my own DS was scarred of flying (first time, well second, as we were on the way home) and really needed me to sit next to him. I was really that none of the couples offered to swap. The flight was only an hour long. Surely it wouldn't really hurt to sit apart from your DP for an hour. Listening to this little girl crying was awful. I know, I know, that there is no obligation to move, that the people already on the plane had arrived in plenty of time and this family could have done the same, I have no idea why they were running late - possibly organised transport from hotel was delayed, possibly they were just disorganised, No idea. But really, no-one would swap, isn't that a bit sad?

it IS possible to be molested among 200 people.

a stray hand or whispered words are enough.

Also, other people nearby will assume the adult is known to the kid (this happened to me at a fairground. The ride staff assumed the man in the queue behind me was my dad. I was stuck sitting next to him and didn't have the confidence to speak up to ask to move.

kids should be next to a relative as STANDARD imo. with adults it's not so important.

as a child I would have been too scared to ask to go to the toilet, or say if if feel sick.

is the airline prepared to treat separated children as an unaccompanied child?

oh and the guy at the fairground DID abuse his opportunity. He was feeling my bum. I was 14. longest three minutes of my life.

Its the Parents' responsibility-pay extra or be first in line

The following is taken from the SF Weekly News:

In going over the news stories, court documents, and FBI reports on the molestation cases, certain patterns begin to emerge. The predators were all adult males, although they did not fit any other stereotype. One was a computer consultant from India. Two were Hasidic Jews. Another was a world-renowned hairdresser from Savannah, Georgia.

In a majority of the instances, a man switched seats to be next to a child traveling alone. Also, a significant number of the reported molestations occurred on evening flights, when the victim and any potential witnesses were asleep. Several children reported that when the touching began, it seemed accidental or even well intentioned, and only later crossed the line.

In many of the stories, a representative from the airline explained that short of placing a flight attendant beside each traveling minor, there was nothing that could be done to prevent these incidents. America's Aviation Consumer Protection Division ? a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation ? declined to comment on the issue of unaccompanied minors, although it does put out an information packet titled "When Kids Fly Alone." The first two lines read: "Many children fly alone. There are no Department of Transportation regulations concerning travel by these 'unaccompanied minors.'"

www.cbsnews.com/2100-500202_162-3366947.html

Another child molested.

IME cabin crew don't actually know their own company's policies, or at least don't always adhere to them. How old were the kids in this case?

www.sfweekly.com/2009-07-15/news/predators-are-free-to-move-about-the-cabin/2/

The full article

it's really rather sad that this fear-mongering goes on.

Paying extra to pre book seats originally was aimed at long legged people who were willing to pay extra for more legroom.

Surely families know the risk of being split up in the plane? They either pay up or take a gamble, parental choice. I doubt an innocent single passenger wants to be next to an unknown child... partly for fear of being accused of something.
Pay up or be first in the queue.

When we travel with kids we suck it up and pay to be together.... when we travel alone or as a couple we don't....

as a family who have paid extra, we would not move... as a couple who haven't paid extra I would move (and have twice)

We have no fear of predatory monsters - just a fear that if the kids needed us when you cannot safely leave a seat, we would not be there.

You pay for a flight, and that's enough.

Airlines are cashing in on people for pre booking seats.

Personally I think it's a disgrace having to pay extra. They'll be asking for passengers to pay for oxygen next gives airlines an idea

Dark: I do not 'see' child molesters every where, but how can anyone think it is ok for a child to be sat next to random strangers, away from their family, on a plane for hours.

You might be surrounded by 200 people, but none of them can actually see what may be happening under the blanket or coat, hear what is being said, or see what films are played on an ipad.

Would you accept a stranger, totally unknown to anyone, get on the school trip bus and sit next to your child?
You would not expect to pay extra for this not to happen.

I agree Longdistance - it's shocking behaviour on behalf of the airlines simply because they can get away with it.

It's a shopping list now though so you need to adjust your perceptions of flight booking

Budget price
Plus
Seated together

Is the price you pay for your holiday, as a family you can't pay the cheaper fare because it doesn't meet your needs.

It's like saying you must give me this organic free range chicken for factory farmed prices. It is not the same thing

On a bus or a train of course your DC might sit next to a stranger. Strangers don't go on school trips!
The mind boggles at the imagination that people have about being molested under blankets etc. Do people not do 'what if ...........' Scenarios with their DCs? I would think that a loud 'stop touching me now' would do the trick- if they dared risk it in the first place. At 2yrs I embarrassed my mother when the bus conductor helped her by picking me up by saying 'put me down at once'! Therefore I am sure that an older child could manage it.
I think it common sense that airlines sit families together without getting more money out of them. However if I have paid to choose my seat then I am not moving.