Apparently, flying domestically on Royal Air Maroc is a very different experience than you might expect…even (or perhaps especially) in business class.
Large Family Leads Their Kids On Leashes Into Business Class, Forces Them To Share Seats
A trusted reader just sent me this first-hand report. He just stepped off a Royal Air Maroc domestic flight from Dakhla (VIL) to Casablanca (CMN):
I just had the singular worst flight I’ve ever had (well, not as bad as the food poisoning on United from London a few months ago but definitely comic).
At the end of boarding a large family boarded quickly. They must have been some sort of non rev as the husband took the jump seat in the cockpit (wearing t-shirt and shorts) and two women, one a nanny and the other a mother with four boys. They had them on leashes. Yes, leashes.
So six people in the cabin but there were only three seats. No problem! They strapped in two of the boys into one business class seat behind me and the mother held one (who was probably four…hardly a lap child). The nanny took the other one, a smaller boy.
The kids proceeded to run around the business cabin kicking seats and turning it into a personal play area. As well using phones at full volume watching videos. They keep climbing on my seat and at some point one of them dropped gum on my seat without me knowing. It worked its way down and nicely attached to the seat of my pants. Which I only noticed when getting up to use the loo. My shorts are now covered in gum.
The flight attendant tried to work it off but to no avail. Family never apologized and could not care less. When the plane parked they pushed their way up the aisle with the leashed kids to be in front with the husband coming out the cockpit.
All I can say is…wow. It somewhat puts my SriLankan Airlines incident into perspective.
I’ve flown Royal Air Maroc before, but never taken a domestic flight within Morocco. Is this sort of thing normal?
CONCLUSION
A reader shares of a Royal Air Maroc flight in which just about everything went wrong…I suppose he should be thankful that he arrived safely, but my goodness, what a mess. If this is the “anything goes” manner in which Royal Air Maroc runs its domestic operations, it makes me far less enthusiastic about reviewing the 787-9 (I’ve reviewed the 787-8 here and here and 737 here).
children on leashes is one of the most despicable things I have seen. But then I think dummies/pacifiers are just as bad, so what do I know.
RAM is well-known for being a complete disaster. Flights cancelled and late, lousy food, dirty airplanes, sullen staff, luggage lost – they take the bouquet for the most unpleasant travel experience. To AVOID!!!
Is that actually within regulations? Can you strap two kids in one seat with a single seatbelt? So, basically, four people sharing two business class seats? That’s a new one,
It’s amazing what you see on domestic flights within Africa. RAM is one of the better airlines.
Back when I was working in Nigeria about 30 years ago, on a domestic flight as a European, you would often be moved to a seat with a seat belt and a Nigerian made to change with you if your seat didn’t have one and theirs did!
If the cabin lost pressure, emergency oxygen masks wouldn’t be available for three of the leash pack? Sounds unsafe.
In business, there is usually still the full compliment of masks per row.
There are obviously other major safety issues here, but that’s not one.
The leash is the least of the issues here,
When you say leash – do you mean a child’s safety leash which is fastened to a chest/back piece? Or a dog leash with a collar round the child’s neck ?
Let’s hope it wasn’t an electric shock leash !
I have the same question! I’ve certainly seen kids in the US those chest/back pieces you mention and no one cared at all. Not saying it’s right but it does happen everywhere.
I didn’t grow up in the US. My parents put me in a harness with leash in certain environments as a child, and I never thought anything of it. I think of them as good parents. I was impulsive and would run off and was hard to catch, and would get lost in the grocery store. In that society and time, this was common practice.
I *did* grow up partially in the US and I had a monkey backpack that had a leash on it because I was a ‘wild child’ and was very inquisitive. So any time we were in a crowded place like a mall or outdoor event (fair, festival, etc) I absolutely had my little backpack on so A. I didn’t get lost/taken and B. I didn’t disturb others.
This is a bullshit, rage-bait article about the “leashes” unless we have more info on it. I’m sure the original poster doesn’t have children and has never had to deal with unruly kids but loves to be holier than thou about how THEY’D raise kids.
La photo n’est pas claire et on y voit rien
Le plus drôle c’est que tout le monde s’est déchaîné sur une compagnie comme toutes les autres, elle a ses + et ses –
Eh bien, je pourrais publier la version non expurgée, mais pour la vie privée des enfants, je ne le ferai pas.
Did you enjoy the flight attendant working it off the seat of your pants? That is the funniest part of this story.
I don’t know if this is normal because I took Transavia back to Amsterdam from Morocco.
It’s not for us to judge other cultures, even if they beat their women, put their kids on leashes, cram them into seats unsafely, commit honor killings, etc. It’s just how they roll.