A father is calling for federal legislation to curb cabin heating after a traumatic incident on a United Airlines flight involving his toddler. While I do not dismiss his point, it seems to me that his outrage is at least partially misplaced by his refusal to simply walk off the hot plane with his child.
Dad Calls For Federal Regulation After Warm Cabin Incident On United Airlines
One Mile At A Time notes an interesting incident that occurred on June 29, 2025. A family was flying from Chicago (ORD) to Portland (PWM) on a United Express regional jet. It was a hot day in Chicago, and the auxiliary power unit (APU) on the aircraft was either turned off or not working. The father shares his version of events here:
We settled in, and the plane began to fill with other passengers. As it did, so did the cabin temperature. Outside in Chicago it was approximately 90°F, with a heat index of 95. Factor in the blacktop tarmac and a low-riding regional plane, and we turned into an oven.
My Garmin watch began to alert me to a rising heart rate. I suddenly became acutely aware of how incredibly hot it had become inside the cabin. I looked at the time—it had been 30 minutes since we boarded, with no sign of takeoff. I opened all three of our air vents and took off my son’s outer layers. If I’m roasting, he definitely is.
His main way of communicating with us is through a series of gestures that scientists are still working to decipher—early human grunts and whistle cries that can and will wake the ancestors. My son started grunting. I felt his little legs—they were hot to the touch. A moment later, a flight attendant spoke over the loudspeaker:
“Please, if everyone could open the air vents to try and circulate the air, it might make all of us a little less miserable. I apologize—I don’t have more information. I’m just a flight attendant and they don’t tell us anything.”
Not a great sign of things to come.
Opening all the vents seemed to have a negative effect. The A/C wasn’t on, and all it did was circulate increasingly hot air. I started using water from our dwindling supply, placing drops around my son and fanning him. He got more fussy, more squirmy. I pushed the call button. A few moments later, a flight attendant came over.
I said:
“I’m beginning to seriously worry about my son’s health. He’s only 15 months and can’t regulate his body temperature. We need off the plane, or the A/C needs to start cooling his body down.”
She replied:
“I’ve had other passengers tell me they’re starting to get lightheaded. I’ll go talk to the captain.”
I looked at the clock—over 45 minutes since boarding.
Another five minutes passed. A different flight attendant came by and dropped off a bag of ice for my child and immediately walked away. We were left speechless. I placed the bag of ice on my son’s back—not directly on skin; that’s dangerous. Reminder: he’s a toddler and has no clue why he’s melting or why I’m now trying to freeze his back.
At this point, I got my phone out while my wife attended to our son. I began composing a social media post saying I was boiling alive inside a United plane in Chicago.
As I was finishing it, the captain suddenly said:
“Prepare for takeoff.”
Cold air finally started pouring in as the engines fired up and we left the ground. By the Gods, my son began to cool down—no thanks to anyone at United.
Throughout this entire experience, we were never offered water or anything cool to drink. We were never given an explanation as to why we sat for so long, or why it was okay for United to treat us like a garbage barge.
Let me be clear: my wife is a physician. If it weren’t for her expertise, my son might not be as healthy as he is today. She and I worked together to cool him down. It took both of us.
United ignored the words of a physician and a parent. They endangered his life—and the lives of everyone else on that flight.
The father rejected compensation from United and instead is calling for federal regulation to regulate temperatures onboard commercial airplanes:
This is bigger than just my family. I will never fly United again. Many folks don’t have that luxury—and maybe I won’t either someday.
But what I am asking for is federal oversight.
I’m asking that United—a mega-corporation that has received massive public assistance through bailouts and subsidies—be held accountable.
I’m calling for:
- Federal regulations on cabin temperature
- Time limits on tarmac idling based on plane type and ventilation capability
My son and my family were held hostage inside a plane—not by terrorists, but by corporate oligarchs whose only concern is the almighty dollar.
We need to restore the balance of power.
These companies need to remember they are nothing without us.
The family also appeared on CBS Chicago to tell their story:
My Thoughts
I’m sympathetic to the call for federal regulations on cabin temperature, as we see in Canada. There is a danger of overheating in a hot cabin and passengers should not be kept miserable because the airline defers maintenance on its APU. It’s no surprise that an airplane full of people would become a sauna on a stifling hot day in Chicago.
Saying that, “United tried to cook my toddler” (as if there was an intent to do so) is overdramatic…it undermines the reasonable point that cabin temperatures can become dangerously warm. Here, this incident occurred while the aircraft was still parked at the gate. If the aircraft was really too hot, the father could have taken his toddler off instead of composing an angry social media post onboard.
But what would this federal regulation look like? As One Mile At A Time correctly asks, “How would this work logistically? There would be someone with a temperature gun to determine how hot the cabin is?”
And if flights had to be cancelled immediately if the APU was broken, would that do more harm than good? Must a plane be pulled out of service for maintenance issues like this?
CONCLUSION
I don’t dismiss that it’s poor customer service and a potential safety hazard to board a plane with a broken APU on a hot summer day. I’m also not opposed to federal regulations or standards to address this if airlines are unwilling to handle the matter themselves. But I do sincerely question whether why the father simply did not take his son off the plane if there was true concern over the safety of the child.
What an idiot.
Amen, attention seeking drama queen.
The kid probably should be taken and put into foster care.
The guy is a lunatic with his Garmin watch and his rising heart rate.
If you wanted to regulate this, the obvious thing to do would be to say that planes with broken APUs can’t be used if the ground temperature is greater than x degrees.
I dont have an opinion on whether it should be regulated, but I dont get why people are acting like this would be some logistical nightmare.
” I placed the bag of ice on my son’s back” Dude, it is a baby not a bottle of beer. Remove child to a cooler place, use damp towels on pulse points and forget about social media. Try to be a responsible human.
It didn’t say but I assume it was an E-175? I flew on a CRJ 200 out of ORD yesterday. It was awful. That completely full plane is cramped to begin with. The time it takes to board. Takes forever for pushback, typical long ORD taxi time and then the flight. It was uncomfortably warm even with the air vents running. I don’t like like a hot cramped space like that. Same thing a few months ago, same plane, at ORD that had mechanical problems. No AC. I was being to think I would need to tell them to open the door and let me out. We were stuck for about 90 minutes.
I kind of get where he’s coming from. I find the 170/175’s and even that 550 much better.
…as they sit there in the video with those dopey grins on their faces (how worried and serious could they really be)?…….. and best wishes for “never flying United again” — You live in Chicago, and yeah, United is going to miss you like a speck of dust on a piece of furniture if you never fly them again. Parents today are the most helpless, worrisome beings on the face of the earth. Just get up and leave, wait in the jet bridge or in the gate area where it is airconditioned, talk to a gate agent about taking another flight, figure it out. How do these people function in a world where common sense has to be used if only from time top time ????
I’ve had the same thing happen in Tucson many times in summer and it’s horrible. If you deplane, you’re going to delay the flight. I don’t know how you would regulate this plus I think we have enough regulations. I like the social media approach myself. In his defense, I might feel the same way in the same situation. When I’ve asked FAs why the APU isn’t on I get the same run around he did and it pisses me off that they’re playing dumb and opening the vents does not help.
Thank goodness he doesn’t live somewhere like Sri Lanka, or Borneo, or Sonora. It gets really hot there, there’s not a lot of AC, and everyone’s toddler dies.
I can’t understand people. Just bring a jacket if you’re too cold.
And flight attendants, could you keep the cabin cool please. Most probably, a cool environment reduces anxiety and anger and irritability in people. Thank you.
If the captain notices the air is not cooling and is too hot or cold – and crew are on board first – simply delay boarding or pause boarding if started when noticed – it takes maybe 15 minutes to board an E175. They were probably waiting for paperwork or approval given what may have been a faulty APU. This should be(come) company guidance for severe heat or cold – not sure how you regulate it except by outdoor temperature and conditions which are documented.
A few factors at play here, the primary one being First Baby Syndrome. By the time number three arrives, you’ve learned to worry about the big things, not about trivialities like an infant being overheated for 45 minutes. First time parents are frequently over-attentive and over-protective to insane degree. The parents’ annoyance & anxiety at being hot and delayed would have exacerbated their hysterically exaggerated reaction to a routine, temporary situation, uncomfortable as it was at the time.
Perhaps the dad also has some kind of anxiety disorder which parenthood is exacerbating? I dunno, I’m not a psychiatrist, although he might do well to find one who can help him learn some emotional self-regulation and impulse-control skills.
Lesson 1: carry water with you, especially if you have a child
Lesson 2: get off the plane (more important then the social media post…
Lesson 3: your anxiety and anger made the kid more fussy
Lesson 4: it is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, plan accordingly
Lesson 5: stay home
This is terrible that they choose not to cancel this flight desp>te the large number who would be inconvenienced by a cancellation (with carry on effects). [Sarcasm] It’s terrible they forced this family to stay on the airplane and blocked their exit. [Not true].
“United ignored the words of a physician and a parent. They endangered his life—and the lives of everyone else on that flight.” Let’s see, the only physician in this equation was your wife. Of all the physicians in the world, this is the one who cares more for your child than any other. That physician felt the conditions did not impose a high risk on your child. How do I know that? She kept the kid on the plane (actions speak louder . . .).
This is one case where I wish the FA had gone on a power trip and kicked all three of them off the plane. “Oh sir, we can’t do anything about the temperature on the plane, but if your child is having a health crisis and being boiled alive, we must insist you deplane immediately and rescue will meet you at the gate immediately.”
Leaving aside questions around how the parents handled this it is a serious issue.
We’ve seen events in the past when inoperative or poorly performing aircraft equipment resulted in cabin temps that went well beyond what should be acceptable.
My own airline has a rule in place that states cabin temps above 85 degrees are not acceptable. If we can’t cool the cabin below that we don’t board. If we can’t keep it below that then it means going back to the gate and taking people off. I see no reason that a federal rule around this could not be put in place.