Travel Mole report some interesting and very understandable findings:
So I was surprised to read from the same article this:
Every time I write about this sort of subject I get comments along the line of 'you were a baby once', 'I'd rather sit near a baby than a child-hater like you', 'parents pay for their seats and have as much right to them as you do' and 'drunk noisy passengers are more of a problem than babies on planes'. To answer these points: 'Indeed I was but I my parents did not inflict me on innocent passengers until I knew how to behave (the same argument stands for children in restaurants)', 'that's your choice I'd like the choice as well (I don't hate children, just badly behaved ones and their parents)', 'parents pay for their seats but their children travel at a heavily discounted rate (why should I subsidise them both?)' and 'quite possibly but I barely drink on planes, never raise my voice and am no trouble at all - how about your baby or three year old?'
'Airport hotel and parking website HolidayExtras.com polled just less than 5000 of its customers to find out what air passengers really want and a flight sans enfants came out tops.These figures do not surprise me. The next time you are sitting on a plane as it fills up with passengers, watch the faces of people with empty seats near them as a baby or small child is heading towards them, I think fear describes the look accurately.
What’s more, just under a third went further and said they would like to ban children on flights completely. A slightly more tolerant 51% said there should be cabins set aside for adults only.
...
a massive 83% of passengers would like to see adult-only areas on flights.'
So I was surprised to read from the same article this:
'Head of product innovation and merchandising at HolidayExtras.com Anthony Clarke-Cowell said: “I’m surprised so many travellers have expressed such a strong desire for adult-only flights.Only an idiot could fail to expect this sort of result. Most people on planes do not want to be cooped up for two, three, five, eight, twelve hours in the near vicinity to a screaming baby or obstreperous small child and many are now getting brave enough to proclaim this fact.
“Flights abroad always present a challenge for families and this is reflected in the results. There is clearly a need for more facilities to keep children happily engaged in quieter pastimes both during and before a flight.”'
Every time I write about this sort of subject I get comments along the line of 'you were a baby once', 'I'd rather sit near a baby than a child-hater like you', 'parents pay for their seats and have as much right to them as you do' and 'drunk noisy passengers are more of a problem than babies on planes'. To answer these points: 'Indeed I was but I my parents did not inflict me on innocent passengers until I knew how to behave (the same argument stands for children in restaurants)', 'that's your choice I'd like the choice as well (I don't hate children, just badly behaved ones and their parents)', 'parents pay for their seats but their children travel at a heavily discounted rate (why should I subsidise them both?)' and 'quite possibly but I barely drink on planes, never raise my voice and am no trouble at all - how about your baby or three year old?'
The problem with is usually the parents not the children. I came back on a flight from Dubai last year, and a mother with three children was in the row in front which I viewed with horror. But they were perfect, very polite, one just couldn't have asked for better. Many of the adults that I've sat next to at various times have been far, far worse, up and down all the time, managing to dig you with their elbows and frequently being too fat for the seat space, overflowing into your space (which even the arm rest doesn't prevent).
ReplyDeleteBut as my travel insurance now invariably costs more than my flight, it is no longer an issue because my travels will be confined to Europe, either by train or car!
Its the parents, not the children who are the problem! I travelled back from Dubai last year and I viewed with dread a mother and three children sitting in the row in front, obviously returning from a half-term holiday with dad. I needn't have worried, they were impeccably behaved, far better than many adults that I've sat next to from time to time.
ReplyDeleteSome adults just can't sit still for more than a few minutes at a time, jumping up and down out of their seats and forever digging you with their elbows and were clearly never taught to keep their elbows by their sides when eating! And then there are those who who are too fat for the seat, and overflow into your space, in spite of the arm rest, and worse of all was the grossly fat woman who, a couple of years ago, insisted that she should have the arm rest raised in order to provide her sufficient room. (I won!)
To avoid troublesome children on charter flights, don't to to Majorca, Benidorm or the like, there are plenty of less child popular places for holidays.