Twice, because she missed a spot the first time. A security surveillance video showed the now-distraught woman - the Transportation Security Administration says she was disruptive and uncooperative the woman denies it - being forced by a screener to crouch on the floor and use paper towels to wipe up the spill. The woman either poured or accidentally spilled the water on the floor. Ogintz mentioned the Sippy Cup Incident involving a mother pushing her 19-month-old son in a bag-laden stroller toward a security checkpoint at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington last month.Ī security agent told the woman that the child’s sippy cup contained more than the allowable three ounces of liquid. “There are all these crazy incidents,” she said. She said misbehaving children were not nearly as big a problem as the hurdles faced by parents traveling with children under any circumstances, as customer service deteriorates. “It’s a circus on the fly, and I’m the happy clown!” she said cheerfully.īut for parents, it can be far from a happy experience.Įileen Ogintz, author of the syndicated newspaper column “Taking the Kids” (said, “Flying with kids is just awful now, worse than it’s ever been because the hassle factor is so high.” “So you have two flight attendants, 12 unaccompanied minors, a handful of crying babies, four wheelchairs, a couple of air marshals, and some drunks.” “Most airlines are working with minimum staff,” she said. Foss, a flight attendant since 1985, says the way to maintain perspective in the air - even if a screaming infant is assailing your eardrums - is to grin and bear it. AirTran reimbursed the parents for the flight, but when the parents went public with their protest, AirTran received more than 8,000 e-mail messages and phone calls - nearly all supporting the airline. And when an uncontrollable child happens to be on a flight, passengers may not have much sympathy for the parents, or the kid.Įarlier this year, a 3-year-old girl who threw a tantrum and refused to be belted into her seat was removed, along with her parents, from an AirTran Airways flight.
Foss said misbehaving children were only a minority, the fear that one or more of them might be on board can loom large in the minds of travelers. Nearly three-quarters suggested that airlines segregate families in their own section, away from other passengers. Maritz Research recently surveyed 1,000 people online who had flown in the last six months for feedback on how airlines could improve customer service.
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