Kudos to Baby Naomi for her first flight and her lovely parents for being so gracious on my Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
Baby Naomi Was A Perfect Passenger In Delta One
Toward the end of the boarding for my A350-900 flight from LAX-ATL, a young family boarded: a husband, wife, and cute baby girl who appeared to be about 3-4 months year old. They took their seats in the center bulkhead section of the Delta One business class cabin in row one.
As the father of two young children who both began intercontinental air travel shortly after birth, I was not at all concerned. Plus, fairly well-rested and it was a daytime flight, so even if the baby was horrible I’d just drown out her cries with my noise-cancelling headphones.
After settling in, the mother stood up with a bag and went around to each passengers in the cabin, handing them a sealed package with candy and a note:
Hello, my name is Naomi. This is my first flight!
I am traveling to meet my family in Jamaica for the first time. My mom made this small gift for you just in case I have a hard time adjusting to the cabin pressure. I hope you like it!
Safe travels.
– Naomi
Very sweet…and having your first flight on a Delta A350 in business class is also kind of special.
Turns out the preemptory apology was totally unnecessary: she never made a peep during the flight.
I could see fear in the eyes of the mother and father…the same fear I experienced when I took my kids on their flight flights, which also was in business class (Augustine on United from LAX-LHR, Claire Marie on Lufthansa from LAX-FRA). As a parent, you want to do right and not disturb others, but you also know that flying in a premium cabin with a baby is such a better experience than flying in the back.
I really wanted to get a picture of the three of them after the flight, but unfortunately our flight was delayed upon arrival and I had a very tight connection in Atlanta…
CONCLUSION
What a very special first flight and Namoi was just an angel in the air…we never heard a peep from her. Kudos to her conscientious parents and I hope she had a very lovely time in Jamaica!
Do you think these little care packages for seatmates is necessary when traveling with babies?
What a great story and thanks for sharing it, Matthew. As airline blogs get more hysterical (we know the ones) – relying on questionable sources of information (we know the ones) – it’s so refreshing to read something positive that speaks to civility and kindness … rather than focusing on a bunch of Karens punching eachothers’ lights out. Kudos, Matthew. This made my day!