AIBU to think cancelling the flight over a child was excessive

[MrsShawnHatosy]

An airline cancelled a flight because a child refused to sit down and put their seatbelt on. AIBU to think they should have asked the parents to get off, rather than cancelling the flight and stranding the rest of the passengers?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/flight-cancelled-passengers-stranded-due-37532204

I would absolutely step in to assist in parenting a child whose mum/dad was struggling if the alternative was being delayed.

Where in that article does it say they were scared? (Well I'll tell you it doesn't, just in case you can't be bothered to read it - again.)

Again, awww diddums. Nobody's problem but the parent, or parents. But their utter lack of parenting made it everyone's problem.

The kid wouldn’t have behaved like that on my watch.

Presumably the parents thought their child was going to be fine but in this new situation it wasn't.

I had a dreadful flight with dd once who had flown several times before and been fine and was generally well behaved. Mid flight she refused to put her seatbelt on during turbulence, I was getting really stressed trying to pin her down and do the belt up as she was kicking me and wriggling about and screaming and the flight attendand was getting arsey with me. Once we landed it transpired that dd was coming down with hand foot and mouth but there was no sign of that the morning we had excitedly left the house with a backpack full of sticker books and snacks, just very bad timing. Sometimes adults freak out on flights too!

I imagine the airline wouldn’t be happy with this. The seatbelt is a safety feature and in turbulence might be needed for most of even all of the flight. You can’t have a child restrained for an entire flight, or even if you could the airline crew can’t rely on that from a safety point of view, what if there were an emergency requiring the oxygen masks and the parents needed their hands to put on the mask for example? From a safety point of view the child needed to be sat properly with seatbelt on for the crew to allow take-off, it wasn’t just a matter of discipline.

The article literally says, ‘passenger Aryeh Kozuch noted that the child was scared, rather than being bratty or uncontrollable.’

I think it’s you who should bother to read the article again!

Absolutely but you did manage to control her.

It's getting the luggage off as well. They don't leave unaccompanied bags on do they? Or was that just something after planes being blown up? Must take time to find the cases.

It was getting their luggage off that caused the cancellation

Problem with it doesn't really matter because at some point those in charge have to make a decision in the interests of the greater good...as a p p rightly stated ".

"There are also numerous passengers who depend on that flight leaving on time."

e.g. those due to be working in Toronto in the AM or maybe getting an early connecting flight out of Pearson (Toronto airport).

We don't know the full story here but there might even have been an argument for offloading earlier (to beat the night curfew), before leaving the gate.

Adults who "feeak out" aka misbehave on aircraft are often restrained in their seats

😂I do apologise, @MrsShawnHatosy ! I got as far as an interminable load of adverts (after the airline's apology) and thought that was the end of the article. Lesson learnt - stay away from any thread based around a mirror article. It takes too long to find the content.

Child needed a good spanking, so did the parent probably. They should have removed them and removed their luggage, and that parent should not be allowed to book further flights with that child.

I would also argue that the parent should be sued to contribute towards the cost of accommodation for the passengers their child inconvenienced.

Personally I’d be happy to pay a premium for child free flights! I’d also ban alcohol in the airports and on the plane, any sort of noise making game/device that isn't being used with headphones, offensive smelling foods, in fact I’d probably be happier with my own private jet, but as we only fly rarely it’d be a bit of a waste. Hell truly is other people!

Young child and wriggled out/under of seat belt - maybe they need a leg seatbelt divider

so not a 6ft 17s ‘adult’

a Young child

The young child was standing in their seat and refused to buckle their seatbelt. The child's parents and cabin crew attempted to do so on their behalf, but the young flyer would have none of it.

Maybe their luggage should stay on and return on the returning flight once plane has turned around

Nope....

It most definitely does state that the child was scared, so you owe this poster an apology.

It’s you that needs to read the article again.

Umm.. do you want to think about that for a minute? Would you want to be on a flight where the owner of a bag had got off? They weren't looking for the luggage as a favour to the family!

They headed back to disembark the family and missed their take off spot.

Also anyone who thinks they could get any child secured in a seatbelt never tried to put my son in a buggy or car seat. He's 8 now, at various times various family members all of whom have children and are very experienced couldn't get this boy in a seatbelt aged 2. I once called work almost in tears to explain I'd be late as I could not get him in his car seat to take him to nursery and it would have been harder to walk or secure him in a buggy. I cried the whole way to work when I eventually managed.

He's massive and ridiculously strong and always has been, also ADHD and ASD but we didn't know that then we only knew he was quite a lot of work and never slept. I can't definitely imagine a world where I would have been that parent. Mins you understand no circumstances would I have taken him on a plane, even then we referred to him as 'non standard' because we knew he wouldn't cope even for the 20 mins flight from Glasgow to Belfast. I used to get the rail and sail and have him in a carrier or running about on rekna, a 6 hour journey was easier than trying to take him on a plane.

An entire plane full of people inconvenienced because of a small child and their inept parents. Bonkers. I’d pay through the nose for child free (and alcohol free!!) flights.

@Blondeshavemorefun You haven't watched the Lockerbie series on Netflix, have you?

Luggage NEVER travels without the passenger who checked it in. Unless there has been a serious security breach.

I have already done this.