I’m single and I want child-free flights – they ruin my summer vacations and parents act like I’m the problem
THERE I was, happily settled into my seat on an early morning flight to New York.
AirPods squidged into ears, just starting to doze off, when it happened.
Two young children in the row behind started to quarrel loudly, then, inevitably, one of them started kicking the back of my seat.
That was it. I span round: “Excuse me, but could you please deal with your children?” I blurted.
The mother recoiled — as if it was my fault. I could have been drawn into an argument, but I chose not to engage, instead I plugged my AirPods back in and let out a very deliberate and very audible sigh.
Yes, the dreaded summer vacation is here. On jam-packed flights anywhere you go, screaming children are running about, yelling and generally causing havoc.
Isn’t it about time we made several rows a screaming-free zone? Or even better — a child-free flight?
A refuge of peace and calm for those of us who want to get through the journey without being pelted with Cheerios?
I am not the only one. Being on a plane with a wailing child would seem to be everyone’s nightmare.
In October 2022, one disgruntled passenger uploaded a video of his 29-hour nightmare flight from Berlin to New Zealand, of a child screaming incessantly.
And in April this year on a Southwest Airlines flight to Florida, a man stood screaming at the parents and air stewardess over a baby who wouldn’t stop crying.
When told he was shouting, he replied: “So is the baby.”
It’s certainly a controversial issue that has led to heated debate between those who agree with the families and believe others should show kindness and tolerance to their offspring, running riot or not.
And others like me, who would like to travel in peace and be able to relax without infants charging up the aisles.
I am not a child hater. I get it. I was one. Unruly is what they do. But am I to blame if I ask the flight attendant to put them in the hold? It would seem not.
A PhotoAid study out earlier this year revealed a staggering eight in 10 travelers want adult-only flights, and 64 percent are willing to pay an average premium of 10 to 30 percent or more to avoid toddler tantrums.
Not surprising really. Years ago, air travel was a sophisticated pleasant experience. Today’s flights crammed to the hilt with families and lone travelers, all seated in no particular order, is not fit for purpose.
I should know.
From the toddler who splattered me with apple puree on a flight to Palermo, the ear-splitting screams of a baby who ruined my trip to Los Angeles, whenever I see a child in the departure lounge my holiday buzz vanishes, my nerves jangle, and my stress levels soar.
Dr. Gary Wood, psychologist and coach, agrees.
Lower air pressure on flights can increase fatigue, impair decision making and makes us not so good at handling emotion.
In short, we’re all a bit more vulnerable.
Add to this the cramped conditions, lack of leg room, and other people’s noise and habits, it’s no wonder that tempers get frayed when a baby cries for the entire duration of the flight.
If you pardon the pun, all of this triggers our fight or flight response.
But on a flight there’s nowhere to run, and so the pressure can only build.
And people we perceive as showing a lack of consideration only make it worse.
It should not be a surprise that there are fights on airplanes, it’s a surprise there aren’t more.
We are asked: “Should we be tolerant of bad parenting, poorly behaved toddlers and screaming babies?”
But the problem is we are all less able to be tolerant on a flight, due to the physical, psychological and emotional toll on our systems.
Disgruntled lone travelers have been demanding child-free flights for years.
Back in 2013, “Ban Babies In Business campaign,” initiated by CNN travel writer Richard Quest, didn’t manage to take off, but he had the right idea.
The 2017, the Annual State of Travel survey from the air travel site Airfwarewatchdog revealed that 52 percent of the 4,000 American travelers polled thought that families with children age 10 and under should be required to sit in a separate section of the plane.
Airlines have long been aware of the need for the adult only sections, and some airlines are picking up the trend.
Singapore’s Scoot and Malaysia airlines provide a kid-free zone.
Yet In 2018 when Indian IndiGo announced its new Quiet Zones, banning children aged 12 and under, there was an outcry of age discrimination.
Could this be why these measures have never caught on with the larger commercial airlines?
Flying has been for everyone for years, yet from the myriad of complaints, there doesn’t seem to be any signs that this issue is being addressed.
In our child-centric society, where the family is king, these institutions would appear too scared, that the measures would discriminate against families.
By allowing children to run amok you are discriminating against those of us who want to read our Kindle in peace.
Don’t the child-free warrant a decent level of well being and comfort? We are people after all, and we are not the ones throwing soggy pizza.