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Another airline adds “kid-free” seating

Parents who don't control unruly kids are high on the list of bad behaviors (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Parents who don’t control unruly kids are high on the list of bad behaviors (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Passenger surveys usually find that screaming, kicking, out-of-control kids – a.k.a. adorable children – are one of the biggest annoyances for air travelers. But what if you could book a seat that guaranteed you wouldn’t have any of them around you?

Indian budget airline Indigo is the latest carrier to introduce what it calls “Quiet Zones” – seating areas where it does not allow any children under age 12 (rows 1-4 and 11-14, including the exit rows).

A similar concept was introduced a couple of years ago by a few other Asian airlines, including Thai, Malaysian, Air Asia, Malaysian and Scoot.

Also, most big airport lounges now have separate, usually glassed in, romper rooms for the kiddie-boos to keep the noise at bay.

Thoughtful kiddie playroom inside SAS business class lounge (Chris McGinnis)

Thoughtful kiddie playroom inside SAS business class lounge at CPH (Chris McGinnis)

While the idea may seem like a terrific one for many business travelers, especially those on long-haul flights, some people might take offense at what could be considered a discriminatory policy – like the parents of those kids, who are increasingly having trouble on some airlines just getting a guaranteed seat next to their offspring. Opponents of the concept might reasonably ask what other kinds of passengers might be targeted by such a policy in the future.

The no-kids seating area can also cause enforcement problems for the airline when it has to rebook passengers onto almost-full flights, for instance.

Still, a survey of 1,100 U.K. travelers a couple of years ago found that 70 percent said they’d like to see kid-free zones—and more than one-third said they would pay extra to fly on a flight with no kids at all.

OK, readers, what’s your take on this controversial topic? Would you pay extra to be guaranteed a seat away from kids? What should the age limit be for kid-free seating zones?

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Comments

  1. My spouse and I were fortunate in having a child who was quiet and easily occupied by books and small toys when she was very young. (She was what other parents referred to as an ‘easy kid,” meaning easy to manage.) Flying with her was easy; she never became fussy or rambunctious on a flight. (She did, unfortunately, suffer from air sickness, even when appropriately medicated.) Other children have different personalities (just like adults!) and are not so readily occupied with these sorts of distractions (just like adults!).

    Because young children don’t experience the passage of time in the same way adults do, it is unrealistic to expect them to respond to a given situation as an adult might. Five hours of sitting in a confined space is not a normal situation for a young child, though it is for an adult who works at a desk; this is magnified by the reality that an adult experiences five hours as a shorter period of time than does a young child. This was undoubtedly true for you as a kid; you simply may not remember.

    When I was a child it was not uncommon for parents to drug kids for long trips, so they would sleep or be too groggy to do much. This is generally frowned upon today, but I think many of us remember “behaving” on trips without knowing/recalling that our parents used a bit of calming ‘insurance.’

    What I find most interesting about this thread is that nobody seems concerned with the boorishness so many adult travelers exhibit. If we held them to the same standards to which some are asking parents to hold their children, I suspect flying would be so much less stressful that everyone would have a bit more patience for the occasional rambunctious child and harried parent.

  2. I should hope that your parents would not have tolerated you behaving as parents do when you were under their care. Children and adults are different. A
    For example, an adult crying because s/he is unable to fall asleep would be concerning, but it is what infants do – what they are biologically programmed to do.

  3. My parents would never have tolerated me behaving the way many parents do today. People like you why attempt to excuse badly behaved children or their disengaged parents.

  4. The problem is that many parents today DO NOT even attempt to keep their kids under control. The worst flights i’very ever had to endure were because of undisciplined children and their idiot parents.

  5. I’d love to see more kiddie lounge’s in actual airports, not just in a business class lounge’s in Copenhagen…

    I routinely am at Logan (Boston), Bradley (Hartford), Sacramento, Oakland, Midway (Chicago), Denver, Las Vegas and Palm Beach. Trust me, the closest to a place my pair of toddlers can run around is at Denver in elevated waiting areas above the concourse.

    Trust me, the best way to make sure my kids make it through the flight without a tantrum is for them to get all their energy out before they’ve boarded the plan.

  9. I’m not blaming anyone for my decision to raise a (single) child. My point is that not everyone is an adult (chronological or otherwise), and the reality of life is that creating a less pleasant environment for others is not age-specific. I’m not sure what is unharmonious about having compassion for parents flying with unhappy children. It must be very difficult for you, living in a world in which people have children (as your parents did), and having to suffer from environments that are not exactly as you would like them to be. What a sad way to live.

  10. Duct tape. Thousands upon thousands of uses for it and silencing children on airline flights would be one of them. Hell, tape ’em to the galley wall, too, so they don’t go running down the aisles after the flight attendant gives them a can of coke

  11. There should be special drop chutes so screaming kids can be jettisoned from the aircraft appropriately

  12. Who is going to give the yappy lap dog emotional support when it’s ears are pierced by the noise of the plane and compression and it starts squealing like tortured swine? Yeah, pets do not belong on planes and I hope they sh1t in the luggage of people who think it’s appropriate to travel with them via airlines.

  13. It’s not the rest of the world’s fault you made the foolish decision to have kids. Why make it everyone else’s problem? Didn’t you notice the f*ked state of our world before bringing other lives into it? You’re an idiot and I’m sad to hear you passed on your unharmonious genes.

  14. I have long stated that adults with children (and children in general) should ALWAYS be seated in the back of the plane. They always take the longest to get situated getting on or off the plane and therefore they always hold up all the other passengers either getting seated or leaving the plane. Putting them toward the front of the plane is absurd as everyone has to wait for the parents and their annoying brood when it would be better for everyone if they were out of the way. (and for those of you parents who don’t understand the logic behind this, why the frack are you creating new generations of your idiot kind, anyway?)

  15. The one and only time I flew Delta (in 2000), it was a direct flight from Seattle to Miami, nearly 5 hours. When I booked the flight by phone, I asked to be seated away from children. The rep who booked my flight seemed to be unnerved by my request – and I was seated inside a chorus of 4 screaming infants. I never flew Delta again and they can suck my nutsack.

  16. So rows 1-4 and 11-14 are kid-free, and the other rows are douchebag-free? I’d pay extra not to sit next to some entitled whining adult.

  17. Kid-free zones on planes, but “emotional support” animals freely allowed?

    Thank goodness my baby is ugly…tape some ears on him, and a little tail, and I am all set!

  19. This is a terrible idea. We live in a multi-generational society, folks; deal with it. Parents already work hard enough to keep their kids quiet on flights. My child is an adult now, but I have nothing but compassion for parents who are flying with an unhappy kid. Once, years ago, I sent a couple of beers to a pair of exhausted parents when they finally succeeded in getting their babe to sleep. Not only were they happy for the refreshment, but they were reassured to know that there was at least one passenger who felt empathy for them, not fury towards them. (The flight attendants also appreciated the gesture and were extra-kind to me.)

    On a practical level, how is this going to work? What are you going to do if a parent trying to lull a baby to sleep passes your seat in the kid-free zone? Complain to the flight attendant? Or is walking a child up and forth to keep her/him entertained?

    Frankly, the most disruptive, unpleasant passengers I’ve had to contend with have always been adults. From man-spreaders to drunks to drooling sleepers falling on me to the passenger who refused to vacate my seat because he liked it better than mine, then wouldn’t move so I could actually get into his refused seat…give me a fussy baby any day. At least the baby isn’t responsible for her/his actions.

  20. Yes please! Kid free zone in Econ, as well as all Kid Free in Biz & First. I’m seeing more an more kids and babies in Biz which is unacceptable…esp when I’m paying for a ticket for a restful and premium experience.

  22. Many years ago I flew once a month between Atlanta and LA on a Delta L-1011. On more than one of those flights I threatened to send an unruly unaccompanied child to the galley to peel potatoes. In another case I moved a child next to me so he’d stop being disruptive. Probably can’t get away with that now but I’d bill the parents of unruly or badly behaved kids instead of putting that burden on other passengers. It’s actually not that hard to keep kids quiet on a plane

  23. “Put your money where your mouth is!”

    Random jokers may SAY “oh yeah I’d pay extra for that!”, however I’d like to see the loudmouths follow through with that promise. There were airlines that promised the whole plane had more legroom, but prices were higher and they couldn’t sell all their seats so they were losing money.

    If it’s free, or not perfectly utilized, then this ends up being yet another complication in trying to fill the plane 100%, which is all the bean counters and executives want anyhow.

    If we’re going to ghetto-ize our planes, let’s create sections for people with BO. And how about having women seated in the back too? There’s just so much we can do!

    😉

  24. Great.

    Establish a “kid-friendly” zone where seats are only issued in pairs and triplets. So I can be guaranteed to find a seat next to my 4-year old. Or a reservation system that will automatically “make a hole” if there isn’t one, by moving singletons as needed. So I don’t have to bargain with the FA and other pax on the plane.

    Thanks!

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