A video has been posted on Reddit which shows a toddler running wild on a widebody airplane and even jumping on a tray table. What were the parents thinking?!
Parents Let Toddler Run Wild On Flight, Even Jumping On Tray Table
I’m at a point in which my rambunctious two-year-old daughter is having trouble sitting still. While she was thankfully a doll on our Lufthansa First Class flight last year to Germany for Christmas, this year I am leaning toward flying in economy so that she will be wedged between my wife and me and less likely to worm her way out and cause a disruption. I will also be choosing a late departure, if possible, to encourage and maximize sleep onboard.
But while I can personally attest that traveling with a young child can be challenging, there are certain lines of decency and decorum that just should not be crossed. A video shared on Reddit titled, “Letting children run wild during an 8 hour flight,” shows a young girl running wild…
The airline or aircraft is not identified, though it looks like a Boeing 777 to me and if I had to guess, I’d say Air France. Considering the “eight-hour” flight length and the English book, we can further deduce this flight probably touched the United States.
But the origin of the flight or the nationality of the family really does not matter. What matters is that this child was allowed to run wild and jump on a tray table…
A question to her parents: do you love your daughter? Because you show hate for your daughter when you fail to correct her.
I can picture it. If she was held, she would scream. If she was strapped in, she would scream. And when that occurs, you feel like every eye is on you.
It can be tough to travel with a child.
But this is worse. This is far worse.
CONCLUSION
I think in all but the most egregious cases, parents do try to control their children onboard an airplane. Here, I wonder whether apathetic parenting is on display or whether desperation to keep thier daughter from screaming is at play. In either case, it is not a good look.
Finally, I tend to think this is the sort of case where a flight attendant must get involved (and maybe that happened beyond the nine-second video clip). You cannot allow anyone to potentially destroy airline equipment like that…
Are we sure the man in front is not her father? If not, wow, he is showing a great deal of restraint. I would have lost it the first two seconds.
It isn’t clear, but I agree.
I do think that we lose the moral high ground when we start yelling…best to immediately call for a flight attendant in a situation like this.
What in the world is the flight attendant supposed to do!!?? Give the brat a spanking? A sedative? I’m truly at a loss to figure out what you think he or she is going to do. I am a FA and I know what I would do with my own child, but what can I do with someone else’s child?
You are a FA and don’t know how to handle an unruly passenger? Would the crew tolerate an adult jumping on seats?
You are a representative of the captain- go tell the parents to ensure that their child behaves and is not a nuisance to other passengers. The parents are adults and required to comply with crew member instructions, correct?
Very simple
Flight attendant can get the parent’s or parents’ attention
The attendant.can speak the parent and let he or she know it’s very disruptiñg
You may need to find another profession if you don’t know that answer, how about at least tell the parent to try to control that baby for one.
It’s clear he isn’t her father. Please take a look at him and what he has on his head and how he is dressed. Those people don’t dress little girls that way. Others do. Most likely the little girl isn’t even Jewish
What a reckless irresponsible set of parents or parent. Unbelievable. Intolerable. I love children BUT….parents need to discipline and teach no and behavior which is appropriate. How rude this was for everyone. That child is a spoiled brat who knows no limits due to her parents lacking the ability to teach het properly. Yikes.
I don’t think you have child or traveled long distance with a child.
Then stay home! OR leave the brat at home
You are so rigbt
Ageeded
I d smack the mom and the dad until they controlled their spawn.
Bravo!
He can’t be her father. The man is an Orthodox Jew. Maybe even ultra orthodox. They don’t dress little girls like that. Most likely she would wear a skirt and would have sleeves
I’d absolutely f*ck up that kids parents.
I’d ask the gentleman to watch his language.
Me too
Ask the patemtz if they could kindly control.tje cbilv
The flight should divert to Keflavik and the kid off-loaded. The parents can voluntarily leave. The kid is a threat to the safety of the flight. She could cause an adult riot.
I am not joking. Divert. That is better than zip ties because the airline would be faulted for that, The kid has a psychiatric disorder. Not normal.
Don’t laugh. My parents knows a father who was permanently blinded by his wild child. He was poked in the eye with such force that he got a retinal detachment at the time of the corneal abrasion.
Totally agree . The crew shouldn’t have to put up with this so land and let the local law deal with them.
wow Derek … I believe YOU must be the one with a “Psychiatric Disorder” !! It would be Mission : Next-to-Impossible to diagnose a PRE-verbal child with a “psychiatric” anything. There are tried and true methods that help in trans-continental flights . I would know : Not Only am I a Parent ; I was the youngest child in a family of Cross-Country Road-Trips and. “Trans-Continental Airline Flights” . My Mother understood the Circadian Rhythms of a Child . As good mothers have throughout history. Allowing any child to do this , whether on a plane , or in a Shopping Cart in WalMart , is plain & simple “Child Endangerment” .
Psychiatric disorder? Wow doctor you really do stink at diagnosis don’t you. The kid us a brat and the parents are poor at parenting. You can tell you’ve never had a kid or been on a trip with one. Try keeping a 2 year olds attention for very long and see where that gets you. I have a 3 year old and last year my wife and I flew on a 6 hour cross the ocean flight and she behaved. Why, because good parenting and if she didnt I would’ve made sure she did but that would not have meant she had a Psychiatric disorder. Keep the diagnosis to real doctors.
I remember many years ago I was awakened on board an Emirates A380 in Business Class by a child smearing my face with cake. I let out some choice expletives and grabbed the hand in my face hard not so gently before I realised it was a child. The poor thing looked so shocked at my reaction that he just ran away and sat silently for the rest of the flight in the bar with his nanny. Sometimes shock therapy works!
That was my thought. To startle the kid. O would first ask the parent(s) to control the kid. If that didn’t work and the child continued to disturb me, I’d raise my voice at the child to startle them. My thoughts are, that would shock them into behaving. Your story confirms my theory.
I0i
The parents were probably in a different row, right where you think their cheap butts should be.
That’s not what I think. I do think parents should not expect to be seated next to each other when they buy basic economy tickets and refuse to pay for seats in advance and that constitutes a form of child abuse.
Or maybe airlines shouldnt be greedy and charge parents extra for the privilege of sitting next to their children.
My sister this past winter took her 4 little children to see her elderly in laws in South Africa who are not capable of traveling. She booked and paid extra for seats all together. The airline still changed the seats and they were told they’d get a refund. So they were embarrassed and had to ask people to switch so they can handle their kids together. Point being: give a little Benefit of the doubt. It’s not always the parents fault. We’re so quick to judge.
Maybe a coincidence, but almost all of the things that happened to make me stop flying economy were on AF, and all of those were the behavior of fellow travelers.
I thought I might be the only one who experienced several *terrible* Air France flights – in business class – thanks to boorish passengers & apathetic FAs. Please, flight gods, allow me to avoid Air France in the future!
The parenting starts well before the flight is a part of this. It’s possible that the child has mental challenges but I would ask if that is the responsibility of fellow passengers. I would be inclined to give the child much more slack on this if the parents are at least trying to keep the child in check.
The child has a case of ABP– aint been parented!
We’re quick to attribute bad behavior to mental issues when much more often than not, it’s simply bad parenting. That is how undisciplined children act.
Four years ago on a flight to Nepal, a young girl of this age was at the empty economy plus section of the plane jumping between seats (across the aisle). The (what I assumed) grandfather (British accent), followed her around laughing.
I sat still for awhile hoping he would do the responsible thing. He did not. The fa’s were MIA. So I eventually went to the find one and informed her that her primary responsibility was the safety of the passengers (something we are all too often reminded of)). To her credit she did put an end to it and they returned to their seats (girl screaming on the way).
As the man passed me in my seat he said “what am I supposed to do”? To which I replied “act like the parent”!
My 3 year old was acting up on a Lufthansa flight (not that badly) and my wife told me to handle her so I did. I picked her up, took her down to the lower level lavatories, and did a timeout with her in there. She screamed for about a minute, calmed down, and I waited for the full 5 minutes and took her back up and apologized to the other passengers waiting who seemed supportive.
Timeouts have been quiet effective at basic discipline and I don’t know why they get such a bad rap from the Boomer crowd who thinks TOs are for snowflakes. My daughter responds well to them and they give her time to reflect on the situation in a non-traumatic fashion.
Since this has turned into a confessional, when stepson was about 4 & had travelled well, I caved to a 5 day Disney trip. On the short flight home, stepson waited patiently for service to clear and wanted the lav. I stand up the he took off like a horse out of the starting gate running down the aisle & into the galley. Startled I was able to apprehend him there by picking him up by the waistband and tossing him over my shoulder. Never before (or after) had he done anything like this. Perhaps it was Disney overload & I apologized profusely. I could now seen why some parents harness their kids at this age.
Maryland, I live in NoVa. Let me know if you want to hang out for a drink.
I think you’re a bit blue pill in that I wouldn’t take a 4 year old to Disney. They won’t remember and I think Disney is a waste of money. It’s important we discipline children in public and people are good with it because we set an example. My daughter gets the beach with us and she either likes it, or not. She always finds some kids to play with. Alternatives to the evil mouse: Dino Park (Jura park) in Poland, Dollywood, or Park Wodny (Krakow.) I regret Matt didn’t reach out to me, I’d have steered him towards some fun.
I remember myself since I was 2 years old. At 3 I remember even decor and things i did with family. By 4 I remember almost everything lol
Couldn’t agree with you more about 4 year olds being taken to Disneyland! Nobody under the age of at least 7 needs to go there, not if anyone wants to have fun! I xant believe how many parents take an infant and a 2 year old and think they’re “so cute and having a ball!” as the kids are screaming and horrified by an enormous mouse that their parents are forcing them to get close to and hug! I don’t know if thats worse than the pictures of crying kids forced to sit on Santa’s lap or not.
Why didn’t you have your child scream for two minutes in your own level/section/class seating?
Boomer? Get over yourself. I am a boomer and believe in time out. Think before you speak.
Dobra!
Is that Claire Marie??? No wonder you know it’s Air France, lol.
it’s Marie Claire, and no it’s British Airways’ old LGW-configured Boeing 777-200ERs.
I experienced something like this years ago on an AF flight too. I suggested after a few minutes to a very indulgent mummy that the child needed to be controlled. She said she couldn’t possibly stop him expressing himself. I left her in no doubt that if she didn’t do something I would and it would involve a sound spanking, she was outraged, I told her to be outraged but to control her child otherwise my hand was at the ready and I rolled up my sleeve.
Somehow said brat was quiet for the rest of the flight.
This. Love it!
Were the FA sleeping or clueless? Thats a safety risk having the child roaming free. What about the real possibility of CAT? Advise parents to control their child and notify PIC. Not good at all. Huge annoyance to other Pax as well.
I remember flying United PS original service on the 757 from San Francisco to New York JFK about 15 years ago. I was seated in business class… This was when they had the three classes of service. I was seated in the exit row which had like 20 feet of space in the front… In the middle of the flight without even asking the flight attendant brings a mother with two kids, directly in front of our seats… Lays out a blanket and let the kids play on the blanket… My spouse was trying to sleep and I was out raged ! Especially when I found out the mother and kids were brought up from economy. First of all this was not acceptable and second of all they were playing on the floor in front of the emergency exit in a class they weren’t even ticketed for. I mentioned this to the flight attendant, if you allow them to sit there… And she looked at me like I was in the wrong… Saying well they wanted to play and that’s the only place on the flight that’s open. Really? So I went to the Purser and explain to her what was going on and she immediately put an end to it… I’m not making this up . !!!
You receive 5/5 buttholes.
Well done!
Looks like El Al 777 seats
Is it EL-AL? Could well be.
Although the poor guy in front of the child in the photo looks like an Orthodox Jew Inwould argue it’s not ELAL As they don’t have any 8 hour flights that I am aware of. However, it could easily be AF as they have 8 hour flights to NY from Paris.
No it’s not elal 777. They have an even older looking seat and IFE. Plus they also have the handheld monitor attachment.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT CULTURES THAT TOLERATE KIDS in different ways, but this is UNACCEPTABLE. I would hope the flight attendant did something about this. On the other hand, you have to realize that traveling on an airplane, you don’t have the right to any PRIVATE SPACE. It is actually a PUBLIC SPACE
But this is just not acceptable and should not be tolerated.
Ugh. Flying with a young child that you know will likely annoy others, unless it is an emergency, is a selfish, entitled jerk move. I’ll never understand the mindset that other people should be punished for your decision to have a child.
Doubt it was El AL, they have cradles and play pens that attach to the walls of their jets. Very spiffy, play pens have cool toy strands on them.
They also board families with small children along with handicapped passengers. By the time everyone else boards babies strapped into cradles, toddlers in stand up belts happy. I did El AL with umpteen little kids, NONE WERE A PROBLEM. El AL is prepared for them.
El Al sucks and it’s a British 777-200
This is what happens when parents try and be friends with their children instead of parents. One of a parents’ duties is to discipline their children
In the old days, this would have never been tolerated.
Sorry to burst your “back in the old days” bubble, but that’s not what’s going on here. Bratty kids and poor parenting has been going on for ages, we just didn’t see it as publicly as we do now. I remember disruptive children on flights in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and through to today. None of them rise to this level, but I do remember a kid sending matchbox cars down the upper deck stairs on a Lufthansa flight to the BRD in the late seventies, and kids using water guns on a flight back from Hong Kong in the mid-80s (in the smoking section, no less). It happens, but you just wish these people would be appropriately disciplined by the airline.
Discipline begins at home- gently and often.
Parents need to understand a child’s development and limitations.
And a parent needs to act like an adult.
Muuuuch better than screaming. There are no safety issues. But sure, the parents haven’t done a good job up til now.
That’s what I would do let my child scream, better than getting physical with other passengers. What else is there to do. Babies cry, kids cry. Happens everyday anywhere.
A baby crying is one thing, babies cry. This toddler is beyond being a baby. If she were being raised by responsible parents who care, this type of behavior would NEVER be acceptable on or off the plane. She should have already been taught how to keep herself occupied without rough housing indoors. If her parents weren’t so stupid, they’d have brought a carryon full of stuffed animals. In this case, they should have used that tv as a babysitter and turned on cartoons or given her melatonin, Valium and/or whiskey or vodka!
My wife and I fly fairly regularly with our toddler (just turned 4) and we never fly without his car seat. It works awesome; it’s something that he’s used to so it no different than his normal travel routine. It also lets us tuck him in and have all of his stuff within his reach. It helps that he loves planes and flying but he’s never pitched a fit or misbehaved. He just sits there until we get in the air and then he’s reading, playing with his iPad or sleeping. Maybe it’s just because I’ve traveled a lot (military brat) but it always astounds me how ill prepared some people are for traveling with kids. I would also be mortified if my child acted like this and I would immediately correct it.
I’ve flown for 45 years and have seen a lot. An empty 727 being refueled and bursting into flames in front of me on the tarmac. Very entertaining while eating my lunch on the terminal window. An irate drunk woman hog tied and placed on the floor next to me on a long haul flight to London. Becoming sober, she would look up at me and whimper “please untie me…please”. And finally my entire drunk sales force doing handstands in the isle during our landing in Mazatlan. This you could still get away with in the 80’s. The funniest thing I remember was this little kid about 5 years old flying from Montana with his parents to Los Angeles. They were going to Disneyland for the first time and this little guy was very talkative and innocent. During our approach into L.A. he was blown away by all the swimming pools, saying “wow! have you ever seen so many swimming pools? And then seconds before we touched down he loudly screamed out, “everyone get ready for impact!!”. The entire cabin burst out laughing.
It seems to be a U.S. bound flight. ANY flight!
The child MUST be seated and buckled up at ALL times. If the child falls, gets injured or injures someone else, then there would be a big problem. The same for parents walking their child down the aisle, it’s dangerous and unnecessary. 6-8 hours flight is for sleeping at least 50%+ of the time. Preparation a few days ahead always help
Yes. I’ve traveled first, business, economy with one child since 9 weeks old for the past 11years and many other parents have done it.
Poor child, the parents and FA failed her
Sugar rush!!!
That is definitely not an Air France cabin. It looks like the old British Airways
correct exactly what I said
My kids were trained early about places to play and places to be respectful and quiet. This is not acceptable and regardless of any circumstance is poor parenting at its finest
One word: “condoms”.
100%
Last week after landing at my small airport (PNS), the Delta Captain announced more than once we were on an active taxiway and everyone must be in their seat with a seat belt on…apparently the parents didn’t feel that rule applied to their child who was running up and down the aisles so the pilot stopped on the tarmac and announced we would wait until everyone was back in their seat and safely belted in. I’d never experienced that before but appreciated someone stepping up and parenting-even if done by those in the cockpit and with a healthy dose of peer pressure.
Where is severe turbulence when you need it.
Agreed!
Awww HELL NAW! If I were the man in the seat, that foolishness would come to an IMMEDIATE end. The Cabin Crew would be summoned and if that didn’t work, the entire cabin would have heard my conversation with the Parent/s.
Arrest the parents. Put the child in a US foster home. It’s already permanently damaged goods and a clear waste of sperm. Fire all the flight attendants.
Two notes: I find it curious the passenger’s seat is so far back. Secondly, that book looks good: Without Warning. 3. That child’s bottom needs a wooden spoon.
Yep
Maybe the guy in front thought he was in a massage seat. lol
Seven or eight years ago I was on a United EWR to LAX flight seated in coach. There was a boy about five years old behind me. While we were still on the ground, he was repeatedly kicking the back of my seat. I politely asked his mother to get him to stop. Her response floored me. She said that it was a five hour flight and she was not accepting responsibility for controlling him for that length of time. A few minutes later, after a sustained bout of kicking, the person seated next to me, correctly sensing that there were about to be some fireworks, got the attention of a flight attendant who quickly and efficiently reseated the mother and child in the very back row next to the restroom. The rest of my flight was much more peaceful. I was grateful for the flight, attendant’s intervention, and shocked at the display of parental abdication from the mother.
Similar story, except after getting kicked in the back of the seat on the ground before takeoff and/or notifying the FA, I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped up into my seat. I told the offending kid, sitting next to his mother, that WE were not going to do this all the way to FRA (from BWI). My colleague in an adjacent row said I looked 10 feet tall! Needless to say, not another bump for the entire flight. And not a single word from the mother.
Matt I don’t necessarily disagree but I don’t like the judgmental tone of your post. It’s a heck of a job to fly with kids and I would never allow any of mine to do anything similar. As a father I also learnt not to judge. I would have never thought of giving a tablet to my son, until I learnt that 2h in a 10h flight, is ok. For everybody . That 1h in a 4h drive, is ok. This doesn’t justify what I see. Either apathy or desperation is at play here, the right comment would be why nobody is helping parents to realize this is not ok for the plane, for the crew and for the passenger. If this is right or not for the kid, we share probably the same opinion, but is not us to say.
Here’s an idea: DONT GO!
No 2yr old belongs on a flight…of any length of time!! Can’t believe you’d write and post this story, then considering, in the same article, taking your 2yo “messiah.” CHRIST!
As a FA I had to speak to parents about their children screaming for no reason but for attention,running around or refusing to wear their seat belts and it would of made no difference. The problems were not the childs it was the patents!!!
this is not Air France, there’s no remote control on the armrest on AF….. as for the kid: parents
it’s a BA 777-200
I’m a pediatrician so my opinion on this is not based on not liking being around children or lack of empathy for parents in dealing with toddlers during meltdowns. That said, I think way too many parents these days are subjecting their children and fellow passengers to unnecessary long haul flights. Sure, there are times when one has to travel with children- relocation, family emergencies, etc. But when your children are toddlers, it is not the best time to decide to do a European vacation or a jaunt to Asia (or if you do so, leave the kids at home). Planes are uncomfortable environments for everyone and to expect a 2 or 3 year old to “behave” in a crowded tube with a few hundred other people is just asking too much of the child. Having all of the passengers have to deal with your child having a meltdown is also not fair to them. As for the alert parents who book their small children in business class on long haul flights, this quite simply shouldn’t be allowed by the airlines. The people there are paying a lot of money to have a restful experience and shouldn’t have to deal with screaming children. It’s like people who bring toddlers to fancy restaurants. It’s not about the kids, it’s the parents being selfish and putting their own needs above those of the child and other people.
This! 100%
The world is a big place and a lot of scenarios could be at play. Maybe everyone is right and there are horrible parents on flight. Or maybe the toddler’s mom or dad just died or something of that nature and the guardian on flight with the child is mentally checked out. Even if it is just terrible parenting at work it’s not the kid’s fault, which is really sad because the kid is the one who will always pay for their bad behavior and at this age they don’t know better if they haven’t been taught. Someone might be mean to the child or glare… Maybe with frequency because they behave like this everywhere and then they get the message internally that people despise them. But in the former case of death or whatever if the facts were known to the surrounding customers maybe they’d be able to help by finding an extra snack in their bag or a toy in their own diaper bag.
The only option is to not take the kid. I have been there. Had a 2yr old who tried really hard for the first 3 hours but by hour 5 she was running up and down the aisle and I was beat. You can do timeout, snacks, hold them and growl at them but you will lose that battle. Being a parent is wonderful but you have to learn to pick your battles.
With all respect, I will say this: the responses from American readers reflect the highly pathological failed society / failed family system / the pathological pursuit of fake ‘perfectness’ which has led to 70% of the population being medicated on multiple highly toxic mind altering medications, and ever growing list of psychiatric diagnoses that exist nowhere else on earth. Now and then your pathological thought processes lead to your thugpolice zapping 6 year olds with 60000 volts or chaining them ( i believe the American euphemism is ‘handcuffs’) like dogs and dragging them off in police cars. This kind of extremist pathological perfection that denies the beauty and reality of human imperfections…
Are you saying the toddler should have continued jumping on the tray table?
What?
It’s time to take this kid to the bathroom and spank this kids butt and demand that she sit
Assuming ppl around don’t care and and the FA didn’t say something It’s a beautiful sight to see the youth experience life to the fullest with excitement and exploration. Theres alot that adults can learn from kids …. u gotta just open ur eyes. additionally if kids aren’t allowed to be kids then clinically it’s shown they’ll be depressed adults. Not saying anything shud get damaged and ppl who dont want to be disturbed are getting annoyed. Others come first.
If Air France, this is of NO surprise to me. After a very long time away from it, traveled last month, mainly because a business class ticket came almos the same as coach on other airlines after the incident in one of their pilots beat crap out of another in the cockpit, 35000 ft above. Both drunk.
I travel. And do a lot in coach. The parts of aircraft on the side came off. Ketchup on the seat. Unsanitary bathrooms. Air France showed no responsibility whatsoever.
Wish them well, I guess.
This was staged. The guy in front did not move his head. Probably her stupid ass father.
I’m a teacher. Imagine 5-10 of these brats whose parents do not discipline while trying to run a lesson. Every day. Then blame me because they have terrible grades. Not sure what I can do about this.
Parents should be added to the No Fly List.
No, that’s a bit too much… if you meant the specific parents of the child-brat creature depicted in the video then I agree
With your surname I surmise you are off Indian descent and are assuming the majority of people posting comments are of American descent, which is not necessarily the case. It is offensive to make generalizations about others’ cultures and backgrounds, and this applies to American patterns of child discipline and medical and psychiatric care. While you are claiming that “70% are on toxic medications,” that is not at all accurate, nor are children handcuffed. The diagnoses in mental health are internationally -recognized conditions from the DSM-V and not “made up” as you are alluding. What IS typical is for those flying to not want to be subjected to noise, chaos, and a potentially dangerous situation for a child (would not be surprising that a tray table would not support her weight and it would break and she would fall and become injured).
In think that in these kind of cases with possible difficult child behaviour, that a parrent can choose to walk with the (hyper active?) child to get some distraction instead of allowing the child to run wild causing great stress for other passengers. Just go for a walk with the child. It cannot control itself.
It’s a BA triple 7
As a Flight Attendant for a domestic carrier I can say I have seen some remarkable things where families traveling are concerned. This situation would have been addressed by me in multiple steps with the final being to ask the CA to consider a diversion for removal of the family traveling. Safety is the primary concern of the Flight Crew for ALL passengers. That safety includes keeping things from getting out of control i.e.!annoyed passengers that confront the parent. Additionally, had the child injured themself or another PAX there may have been a diversion anyway. And as a side note, broken equipment on aircraft are considered a mechanical issue and result in delays for write ups or repairs which can create a snowball effect of inconvenience to those with connections, meetings and urgent situations. There are more reasons than vacation/holiday for travel. Considering this was an eight hour flight, when, where and how long this unacceptable behavior presented itself I definitely would have in consideration and respect to other passengers traveling suggesting a diversion and removal.