Spirit Airlines removed a breastfeeding mother, her son, and her elderly parents for refusing to follow crewmember instructions. I believe this action was justified.
Oh no, don’t worry…this isn’t going where you may think.
Not that it matters, but I happen to think public breastfeeding is a good thing and am ashamed at how much the practice is often sexualized in the United States.
So no, this wasn’t an issue of a woman being removed for public breastfeeding or else I’d be behind her 100%.
Instead, this appears to be an issue of a woman repeatedly flouting crew member instructions.
Mei Rui claims she just wanted to breastfeed her son before the flight took off to keep him quiet. After the aircraft door closed, FAs asked her to stop breastfeeding because the child had be more securely strapped in for taxi and takeoff. She asked for more time.
This is where the stories diverge.
CBS News covers the incident–
Rui claims she followed crew member instructions, but the crew simply wanted her son off the plane. She added that he was screaming loudly.
Spirit claims Rui put the safety of everyone at risk:
Our records indicate a passenger was removed from Flight 712 after refusing to comply with crew instructions several times during taxi to runway and safety briefing. To protect the safety of our guests and crew, FAA regulations and airline policies require all passengers to stay seated and buckled during takeoff and landing. We apologize for any inconvenience to our guests. As a courtesy, we’ve issued a full refund to the passenger in question
If true, Spirit was 100% justified in removing the passenger, if for no other reason than she put her own baby at risk by refusing to properly secure him for takeoff.
CONCLUSION
I feel bad for the baby, who must have been quite hungry to scream so loud. Nevertheless, takeoff is not the ideal time to breastfeed. If Rui refused to wait 10-15 minutes, Spirit was justified in removing her from the flight. I know, I know. Try telling a screaming baby to wait 10 minutes to eat. But that is not Spirit’s problem.
> Read More: Spirit Airlines Big Front Seat Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale Review
Agreed. People have a huge false sense of entitlement when flying. If everyone just put their family needs first, rules would never be followed, planes would never be able to take off. You cannot hold up an airplane to feed your baby.
No one should be breast feeding a 2yr old and certainly not in public during takeoff or landing. I feel this practice has been taken too far.
That’s not even a baby. That is a toddler and they can easily wait 15 minutes to eat. Alternatively, she could just give a 2 year old some crackers and juice box.
Something’s fishy with Spirit’s side of the story. A baby/toddler can perfectly well be buckled up *and* breastfeed at the same time. I know because my 18-month old and 4-week old daughters do so without a problem. Telling a mother to stop breastfeeding for takeoff because the baby has to be strapped in on her mother’s lap makes nonsense whatsoever. Unless it isn’t a lap-child we’re talking about (2 years old is borderline, if it’s the return leg of a trip that started before the child’s 2nd birthday, they’d still be a lap-child and wouldn’t have their own seat).
Except for the fact that the video shows a nice big boy in his own seat. There goes you theory. And assuming with a name like MIKE you are male, just how did you breast feed your kids – whether they were on your lap or not?
Two years old is not “borderline” and why are you even mentioning this possible scenario? Then you say breastfeeding is possible with a child buckled up how ?…..in a separate seat ?…..the mother would have to be a twisted contortionist to manage that. Also, how would the mother and infant be buckled up together (per your confusing description), strapping the seatbelt around both of them at the same time?.
News flash……it’s not about selfishly mothering and nursing at the wrong time in the wrong place. Plan accordingly with baby bottles or stay home. A whole plane full of people should not have to be annoyingly delayed for this reason !!
I’m guess his wife did the breastfeeding and he witnessed it.
I couldn’t find an example of emergency breastfeeding until now. I guess pumping before the flight and providing the bottle during taxiing wasn’t an option for this mom.
I think you should look further into this incident – Spirit indicates that incident happened during the safety briefing and taxi yet other reports indicate that the incident occurred at the gate . Additionally others report that the passengers were on a very delayed flight and kept on the plane for several hours . One person said that the passengers actually deplaned twice . I am not taking any sides BUT if Spirit put out a statement that the incident occurred during safety briefing and taxi , is that really true ? Not arguing the merits , just hoping that perhaps you can use your sources to find out if this was during taxi or at the gate , was boarding door open ? ,etc etc . I think there could be more to the story .
The kid is 2. Put him on regular food.
It’s actually helpful and recommended to have a baby or toddler swallow liquid during take off and landing to help them equalize pressure in their ears. Per the other comments, if the child had his own seat he had to be secured with mother and child seated. If he was a lap child (under 2), there is no way to secure him and the mom has to hold him in her lap. If in the latter situation she wanted to breast feed him, that should be her business. What’s suspicious to me in the video is that the cops won’t tell her which instructions she failed to follow. If she wouldn’t fasten her or her child’s seat belt (if in his own seat), that’s pretty clear, why didn’t the cops say so? If she broke a rule, it’s legitimate to know what it was. Let’s hear from her seat mates, as I’m not inclined to automatically accept the airline’s nebulous explanation. Not to mention that in 2017 (google this) “When it comes to customer satisfaction among airline passengers, Spirit Airlines ranks dead last. For the third year in a row, the ultra-low cost carrier had the lowest score in the travel report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Spirit scored a 61 on a 100-point scale.”