[Travelandtourism] Should an airline's first-class section be adults-only?

[Peachtree Travel]

Ask passengers like James Armstrong, and you'll hear a compelling reason for 
keeping babies in the back -- if not off the plane entirely.

"I was on a flight from Bangkok to Beijing," he remembers. "Royal Thai 
Airways."

Just to set the stage, this is what Thai's first-class section looks like. 
Nice, huh?

Anyway, there was this German couple with two young children seated a few 
rows away. "One of the children was running about, loud and disruptive."

And sick.

With junior making the rounds, touching the seats, sneezing and sniffling 
all over the place, Armstrong became infected.

"Nothing like spending two days in Beijing in bed with the flu," he says.

Babies on planes is a hot topic again, thanks to Malaysia Airlines 
(www.malaysiaairlines.com) banning young passengers on some of its larger 
jets. Originally, the airline said it was in response to complains from 
other premium passengers. It later changed its tune, saying it didn't have 
the proper facilities to accommodate infants.

Either way, Malaysia Airlines' actions got passengers talking.

"I'm quite serious when I say that I'd rather be on a flight with smokers 
than with babies," says reader Dick Carlson. "I'd love to see an airline 
that offered adult-only flights -- maybe late evening or red-eye. While I 
understand that the little squirts have to travel somehow, having one squawk 
and scream five inches from my ear isn't anything I want to endure for six 
hours."

By way of full disclosure, I used to think babies on planes were a nuisance, 
no matter where they sat. And I had to laugh when Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) 
announced it would begin offering child-free flights earlier this year.

Look at the date on the press release, in case you're wondering if they're 
serious.

But there's a kernel of truth to its joke.

"When it comes to children we all love our own but would clearly prefer to 
avoid other people's little monsters when traveling," Ryanair's Stephen 
McNamara is quoted as saying. And those words certainly ring true for a lot 
of passengers, even if Ryanair didn't really mean it.

I hear the same sentiments from among younger airline passengers and 
articulated by childless thirtysomething airline commentators. They don't 
want to sit next to anyone else's little monsters, let alone their screaming 
little monsters.

The "ban babies" from first class -- and indeed, sometimes from the plane 
altogether -- proponents' argument goes something like this.

(I'm quoting without attribution, because I've received several emails that 
are virtually identical.)

.I pay a premium to sit in first or business class and I don't want my to be 
disturbed by a crying, screaming or misbehaving child.
.While I understand the parent pays as much as I do, I don't disturb them by 
screaming or crying or misbehaving and I should not have to deal with their 
child if they are screaming or crying or carrying on.
.Some children are absolute angels and some act like they are the spawn of 
Satan. While I understand a child's or baby's reaction to the change in 
environment is unpredictable, that doesn't mean anyone should be subjected 
to it either. A person's choice to have children and fly with said children 
does not take precedence over or trump my choice to not have children.
Then there are also a great many parents today that think the world should 
have to deal with it because "s/he is a child", when the reality is if you 
choose to have children you should not inflict them on others, especially 
strangers.


As clichéd as it sounds, your perspective changes when you have monsters of 
your own. Notice, I didn't put "monsters" in quotes. I've endured too many 
flights, and one or two in first class, where my kids didn't behave well.

So I actually find myself sympathizing with those who would want to keep 
children, and particularly babies, out of the very best seats.

Infants probably don't belong up front any more than they do in a five-star 
restaurant. But keeping kids off the plane, period? Not practical.

If young passengers were barred from flying, then how, pray tell, would they 
travel? By boat? Or spending four days strapped into a baby seat of a car?

"I find crying babies on a plane just as annoying as the next person, 
whether they're in first class or not," says Linda Snow. "But ever since air 
travel was invented, the rule has been, 'You get what you pay for.' If 
people can pay for first class and want to travel with their babies, they 
get to."

Malaysia Airlines' decision to keep babies out of its first-class section on 
certain flights is as courageous as it is controversial. It acknowledges the 
fact that its premium cabin is an experience meant primarily for adult 
passengers.

There will no doubt still be angry parents who think their little brats 
deserve to sit in first class. Fortunately for them, they have a choice of 
airlines.

And in the end, the market will decide whether baby-free premium cabins will 
fly or not.




Peachtree Travel
Independent Travel Consultant

(phone) 888-389-2723

(website: http://www.peachtreetravel.net.

Email: reservations at peachtreetravel.net