Few of us who have experienced air travel have avoided the annoyance of being stuck in a small space with a screaming or obnoxious child. This blog has offered up advice to the parents of young children in an effort to help any would listen make air travel smoother for all.
But several Asian airlines are now in the process of either banning children from certain flights or creating "child-free zones."
And even on American carriers, new fees to select seats (on many airlines you must pay extra to choose aisle or window seats) make it very difficult, not to mention prohibitively expensive, for a family to travel seated together.
Before the advent of allowing travelers to select their own seats, airline representatives would seat families near the rear of the plane automatically. But with the advent of seat selection, it became a little trickier. Initially, families might select to sit up in the front of the plane, very close to first class and business class sections. Increasingly, airlines have started to reserve those seats for frequent travelers and those willing to cough up extra money to sit near the front in an effort to keep families to the back. The logic is that paying $59 for a seat fee is one thing; paying $59 for five different people gives most people more pause. And most children are not frequent fliers.
But a ban? A ban disturbs my freedom-loving, "created equal" American consciousness. If we can ban children from a flight, or even a section of a flight, who else will we ban?
Sources: "Airline to roll out child-free 'Quiet Zone' in coach class," USA Today
"Flying solo: New airline policy keeps family and friends from sitting together on flights," AP.
