To be amazed this family were allowed on the flight (Ryanair)

[sickflight87]

We were flying with Ryanair last week to go on holiday.

Before boarding the plane, we heard them calling cleaners to our boarding gate. As we got closer, there was a young boy who had been sick all over the floor. He clearly had a fever and wasn't well at all.

We boarded the plane, and you guessed it, the family were sat really near us. Before the plane even took off, he was sick 2 more times.

During the flight, he was sick every hour. The Mum said 'it is such a shame he has a bug at the start of our holiday'.

I am just amazed that he was allowed to fly when visibly unwell with a sickness bug.

I am absolutely amazed we didn't catch it but I bet other people did. I thought it was SO unfair that he was allowed to fly, potentially infecting so many people on that plane and ruining holidays people have looked forward to all year. I know kids aren't allowed to fly with chickenpox, so why can they with a sickness bug?

Not all airlines allow it. When we checked in with Virgin Atlantic a few years ago there were signs up at Check In saying that they would try organise alternative flights if anyone was vomiting . I have a dd with emetophobia and we would have had to get off the flight if a family boarded with an obviously ill child.

Disgusting behaviour on their part. Most of the time when young children are vomiting it is contagious. For all those banging on about how they’d have ruined their holiday by not boarding the flight — why is it then ok for them to ruin potentially dozens of other passenger’s holidays by boarding the plane and giving everyone else a sickness bug?!?!

That is my worst nightmare as I have emetophobia. Sitting here shuddering at the thought!

@nomas i agree that it would have been too much hassle to take luggage off for Ryanair as they would lose their slot.

Sums up a RyanAir flight, I’ve never been on such a disgustingly dirty form of public transport.

You were seated very close to the family in order to have heard the mum say this?

I once had such bad sickness on a flight to Boston they had to cordon off a toilet just for me…bad times. Didn’t realise it was a sick bug until midway through the flight, thought I was just a bit car sick. I mean what can the airline do?

Why do you bet other people caught something, when you didn’t and you were sitting close to him? Close enough to hear his mum commenting. Maybe it’s that he had nothing contagious. If you could tell he had a fever just by looking, offer yourself to the NHS for diagnostics, they can throw their thermometers away.

Two of my friends had kids who frequently threw up. They never really got to the bottom of why.

Hell would freeze over before I would take an actively vomiting child on a plane. We would be straight home (or at least one parent and child would go home while the rest of the family flew).

One solitary vomit could have multiple causes including nerves, reaction to a supplement, low blood sugar etc etc

Vomiting multiple times, that’s most likely a bug. Especially with a fever too.

I am very surprised he was allowed on.

This is astounding - I can’t believe they allowed that poor kid to board the plane. I can only speak for myself but if that happened to my son I would be freaking out - I wouldn’t have even got as far as the check in desk if he was running a fever. He’d be at home, not about to board a fucking plane. I honestly don’t understand some people. And how horrendous for everybody else, crew included.

Awful judgement call, including the lack of judgement made by the parents. I bet the rest of the passengers spent the next few days anxious as hell, worried that they’d come down with fucking norovirus. And they probably did, including the crew FFS

But you were on the flight and had taken off when you started vomiting

My (21yo) son was sick on last of his holiday - wasn’t fit to fly as vomiting. Informed insurance company who said he needed to see a doctor. The doctor gave an unfit to fly document but told him he should have gone to the airport and they would have given him an injection to stop him vomiting for long enough to fly! He was exploding at both ends… was he really meant to go on a flight like that? Turned out it was a bug as we ended up getting it too. So he could have infected the whole flight!

My mum used to get air sickness like car sickness, she always vomited on flights. I vomited every day of my pregnancy, and at completely random times too. People are going to be sick on and before flights sometimes for all different reasons so having a blanket rule about not allowing people who are vomiting on a flight isn't realistic.

I agree, most likely to be a sickness bug if it’s a child repeatedly vomiting also with a fever. Surely it’s better for that one family to have their holiday delayed then put the holidays of countless other families at risk. Also what if the child had deteriorated mid flight and needed medical assistance

@likeafishneedsabike

Hell would freeze over before I would take an actively vomiting child on a plane. We would be straight home (or at least one parent and child would go home while the rest of the family flew).

Exactly. Seriously what the actual fuck was going on here? So bad on all fronts

I was once sick before a virgin Atlantic flight because I’m a nervous flyer and they wouldn’t let me board! They paid for another night in a hotel for me (very kind), but it wasn’t a bug and they still wouldn’t let me on.

Did you have to buy new tickets?

Where did you stay if you all couldn't fly?

They can refuse to allow them to fly on the basis he is clearly ill. I’m afraid that if I’d witnessed him being sick again before we took off I’d have requested to disembark.

If my child was vomiting and clearly unwell I would want to take them somewhere to look after them until they felt better. Not force them to endure hours more travelling whilst feeling grim. Or others having to listen to my child be unwell. I wouldnt want to be travelling feeling like that so I wouldnt want a child to endure it either - if at all possible.
I dont see how vomiting is ever "nothing" - its horrible to listen to, it smells vile, looks awful etc.

I’m not sure how this would be policed/decided though?
Years ago on numerous flights back from Thailand, I had awful kidney stones and was being sick. If they wouldn’t have let me fly, how would I get back home, would they pay for the flights? I had to get home!

DS1 was sick on a Ryanair flight when he was about 3. He was just travel sick (it was a bit of a turbulent flight) so not contagious or predicted. What was a bit grim, though, was that although I tried to mop it up as best I could with tissues, the crew seemed quite unfussed even though the seat was soaked with vomit and the next flight load of people were getting on as we disembarked...

You get a medical certificate clarifying why you’re vomiting and that you’re not infectious. It’s pretty normal.

I really don’t think the airport would have administered injections to a traveller