Annoying kids and their dumb parents
ORLANDO, Fla. — AirTran Airways on Tuesday defended its decision to remove a Massachusetts couple from a flight after their crying 3-year-old daughter refused to take her seat before takeoff.
AirTran officials said they followed Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seat belt upon takeoff.
"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said.
Julie and Gerry Kulesza, who were headed home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers, said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly.
"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The Kuleszas said they told a flight attendant they had paid for their daughter's seat, but asked whether she could sit in her mother's lap. The request was denied.
She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, Graham-Weaver said.
The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and the Kuleszas flew home the next day.
They also were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.
The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.
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I just get a general feeling of murderous contempt when I read these stories and the parents are in such a huff. Do they seriously not realize that delaying the flight 15 minutes not only wastes a combined total of 1680 minutes (28 hours) for the 112 other people on board, but can be the difference between others missing or making connections?
Boo-fucking-hoo. You weren't allowed to coddle your spoiled ill-mannered kid, who obviously isn't ready to be flying yet. I suppose they would have been happier if they had delayed the flight 45 minutes, causing several other people to spend nights at airport hotels when they missed their connections, but allowing them to get home that day versus the next.
If the father is vowing to never fly Air Tran again, then that's who I'm using for my next flight.
