If you’re a parent and have ever traveled on a plane with your child, you’ve seen the faces of other passengers as you walked down the aisle holding your baby or walking with your toddler. Their faces drop, they try to look out the window–they’re hoping that you are not going to sit next to them with a screaming child who will ruin their four-hour flight. It’s not too surprising then that when consumers were polled, most would prefer a families-only section on flights.
Nearly 60% of more than 2,000 travelers polled by Skyscanner, a fare-comparison website, say they want airlines to create such a section. In addition, nearly 20% said they’d prefer child-free flights. These respondents were child-free themselves and “want to sit as far away as possible” from them.
We say, do it. Make a section for families-only where they can chat, watch Nickelodeon and laugh out loud, and yes, the kids can cry if they want to. Do childless passengers really think it’s all gravy when parents can’t calm down their screaming child? It’s just as stressful for the parent as it is for the child and the other passengers, but it’s a fact: kids cry. How many times have you wanted to cry or scream on a jam-packed airplane, seriously? We can think of about five instances…
And while we’re discriminating against families, how about a section for passengers who stink? Yep, we said it. How many times have you been on a flight and sat down next to an adult who smells like a pig-sty? We’d also like a section on airplanes for folks who fall asleep and lean on you, for the passenger who wants to talk the entire flight and doesn’t let you close your eyes or read your book, and a special section for the passengers who snore.
Family-only airplanes may raise the cost of ticket prices though, you’d need to have a babysitter back there, and maybe someone from child welfare just in case someone decides to slap a child.
