Family kicked off of plane due to crying toddler

[Andy1369]

Antsy tot, 3, gets family kicked off AirTran plane

Parents say Fort Myers flight crew acted too fast

By Jacob Ogles

[email protected]

Originally posted on January 24, 2007

The way Gerry Kulesza describes it, his 3-year-old granddaughter Elly could win over anybody after talking for a few minutes.

"She is the apple of every grandfather's eye," the 57-year-old said.

But the crew of an AirTran Airways flight from Fort Myers to Boston disagreed and forced the child and her parents off a flight leaving from Southwest International Airport.

Elly and her parents, Julie and Gerry Kulesza, both 30, were removed from a flight Jan. 14 when the 3-year-old refused to buckle-up in her seat before takeoff. The family was going home to Worchester, Mass., after visiting the elder Gerry Kulesza and his wife Pat in their Bonita Springs winter home.

"(Elly) was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat," said AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver.

AirTran officials say they were following Federal Aviation Administration regulations that said the child must be in her own seat wearing a belt during takeoff.

"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes, and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the plane the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," Graham-Weaver said.

But Julie Kulesza said: "We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything.

"Elly was sitting in front of our seat crying," she said in a phone interview. "The attendant motioned to a seat and asked if we purchased it for her."

They had paid for the seat.

Gerry Kulesza said another attendant then approached the family and told him: "You need to get her in control and in her seat."

Julie Kulesza said she asked whether the girl could sit in a parent's lap, but was told no.

The Orlando-based airline has since reimbursed the family the $595.80 cost of the flight. It has also offered free round-trip tickets to anywhere the airline flies, but the family has declined the offer.

"They were totally humiliated," the elder Kulesza said of his son and daughter-in-law. "My son doesn't ever want to fly on AirTran again, and I don't blame him."

When the family was kicked off, all luggage was left on the flight. The parents were not offered any shelter accommodations in the Fort Myers area while they waited 24 hours for a new flight.

"Thank goodness we have a permanent residence down here," the elder Kulesza said. "I just told them to stay calm and that we would take care of them."

The delay caused the younger Gerry to miss a 16-hour shift at his job as an EMT in Massachusetts, and Julie also had to miss a day of work.

The grandfather said flight attendants on the plane were unprofessional and the treatment of the 3-year-old was a great overreaction.

"Nobody wants to sit on a plane with a crying child, but your first attempt should be to remedy the situation before you take a drastic action, and that wasn't done.

"My granddaughter is 3. Kids are kids."

? The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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SOURCE

[Slimy]

They didn't even get a hotel offered to them? What a low-quality airline.

[Dysphoria]

Spoiled kid. If they can not discipline their kids than they should not take them on a plane.... I totally agree with the flight crew, and their decision to take the family off the plane. If you can not put your kid in the seat in 15 mints then you are not going to do it in 30 mints either.

[snyper]

Adios, snot nose little brat.

[Fred Pocius 406]

It's about time people stop putting up with that crap....I wouldn't want to be on that airline with a brat!

[raskren]

Obviously, none of you ^^ have children.

[teriba]

I wouldn't have refunded their money or offered them a trip. I would have kicked them off and said see you later.

[gadean]

it's the parents fault. they couldn't get their child to sit down and buckled up so the already delayed flight could take off. It was done out of fairness to the other passengers on the plane. I could see why this was done however, the airline should have acted in a more professional manner before it got blown out of proportion.

[v0ltage789]

They didn't even get a hotel offered to them? What a low-quality airline.

Why should they offer a hotel to some moronic family that delayed their flight nearly a half hour because they don't feel like controlling their kid. I am pretty sure you can force a 3 yr old to fit in an airline seat, and if you are too soft to make ur kid do something, get the hell off the plane and quit punishing everyone around you. Complete and total ignorance. I have flew on airtran many times they are a good company, and right in what they did.

I am sure the only reason they reimbursed them and offered them free tickets is the publicity, since airlines are struggling so bad they are left with no choice, which is pretty damn sad.

[SomeAzn]

I was just on a flight on United and there was a crying baby. Terrible flight. I wish the kid on my flight was removed.

[snyper]

Obviously, none of you ^^ have children.

No, none that im aware of.

But there are certain responsibilities thaat parents have.

And letting a little snot nose crap factory squeel like that is unfair to other ppl.

[+Mystic MVC]

it's the parents fault. they couldn't get their child to sit down and buckled up so the already delayed flight could take off. It was done out of fairness to the other passengers on the plane. I could see why this was done however, the airline should have acted in a more professional manner before it got blown out of proportion.

Exactly, can't say it much better than that. Too bad they couldn't have handled it slightly better (both parties involved :p)

[v0ltage789]

Obviously, none of you ^^ have children.

Obviously you are a softy like these people and refuse to discipline your children?

You make an assumption so I will make one.

[Neo003]

I totally agree with the crew's decision, If something happens to the child I know the parents would've sued the airline for negligence.

[LunarFalcon]

Why weren't the parents trying to calm the kid down and get her in her seat before it was time for takeoff? Was the kid not upset until the very second it was time to buckle seatbelts and take off?

[spacer]

If the flight attendants said, "You need to you get child under control and in her seat." then that is all the warning the family is required to get. The family keeps saying they weren't given a chance to get her under control and I say thats bs. For one, the flight was delayed 15 minutes before the family was kicked off. 15 minutes is more than enough time to get a kid under control if you're a good parent.

You look your kid straight in the eye and say, "sit down, put your seat belt on and be quiet or else." If you've disciplined your child correctly (and a majority of parents don't these days) then that child knows that the "or else" is going to be severe and unpleasant.

And two, public situations such as this have rules, both social and legal, that are in place to make the experience as painless as possible for EVERYONE. If the parents don't understand that, then tough luck and GTFOTP.

In addition, if your kid has trouble controling themselves in said public situations then you do the same thing to them as you do with pets. You drug them. Make them sleep through the whole flight and everyone is happier for it.

To the parents: Grow up and take responsibility. It's not the airline's fault you suck at parenting.

/endrant

[Morphie]

The title of this thread is misleading. The family was kicked off the plane because the child wouldn't buckle her seatbelt. They would have kicked anyone off for not buckling their seatbelt after 15 minutes. If you can't control your child at 3 years old to understand that buckling up is important (the obviously were able to do it on the way out there) then you deserve to be removed from the flight.

[webeagle12]

Obviously, none of you ^^ have children.

read a FAA rules before even posting. Can't make your child seat in a seat, then get kicked in a @$$.

I totally agree with AirTran here

[5Horizons]

Good. I'm sick of getting on an airplane and having someone's little kid kicking me in the face because they have to climb all over the seats and everything else. If the parents can't control their kid or the kid can't sit still for a few damn minutes, then kick them off!

[+mram Subscriber²]

This is amusing yet sad at the same time.

You can no more control children than you can predict the weather. For those of you who have kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about. For those who don't, take my word for it. Sometimes it's sunny and warm. But when it gets stormy, watch out. Especially in the "terrible twos". That's why they call it that (and it's usually around 3 years old, actually).

What are you going to do, knock the kid out? That's abuse. Discipline? What do you expect, to smack/spank your kid on a flight? What does that teach? Do you want to give your kid a "time out"? Where, exactly, do you expect to do that - in the seat that he won't sit in?

I can say that the airline probably did the right thing, if you take the situation at face value. I've had my kid (3 yrs old) go to the store with me and want to ride one of those kiddy rides, and threw a tantrum when I didn't have quarters. Well, we left, because he wasn't going to walk around the store with me, and then it was nearly impossible to get/keep him in the car's toddler seat. There are no straps tight enough to keep a toddler in a seat if he doesn't want to be there, and forcing him down is not the solution to calming him down.

Therefore, for the airline, it was simple logic, regardless of kid or not - passenger was not in their seat, refusing to sit, they leave. Giving people options is not how airplanes work, it'd be like saying "excuse me, can you hold takeoff for a few minutes, I need to finish this important phone call."

[Dysphoria]

This is amusing yet sad at the same time.

You can no more control children than you can predict the weather. For those of you who have kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about. For those who don't, take my word for it. Sometimes it's sunny and warm. But when it gets stormy, watch out. Especially in the "terrible twos". That's why they call it that (and it's usually around 3 years old, actually).

What are you going to do, knock the kid out? That's abuse. Discipline? What do you expect, to smack/spank your kid on a flight? What does that teach? Do you want to give your kid a "time out"? Where, exactly, do you expect to do that - in the seat that he won't sit in?

I can say that the airline probably did the right thing, if you take the situation at face value. I've had my kid (3 yrs old) go to the store with me and want to ride one of those kiddy rides, and threw a tantrum when I didn't have quarters. Well, we left, because he wasn't going to walk around the store with me, and then it was nearly impossible to get/keep him in the car's toddler seat. There are no straps tight enough to keep a toddler in a seat if he doesn't want to be there, and forcing him down is not the solution to calming him down.

Therefore, for the airline, it was simple logic, regardless of kid or not - passenger was not in their seat, refusing to sit, they leave. Giving people options is not how airplanes work, it'd be like saying "excuse me, can you hold takeoff for a few minutes, I need to finish this important phone call."

Ok I know that lots of people are against giving their kids a little smack on the butt but trust me, it works. Yeah he/she might cry but it will learn the lesson that when you are serious about some things the kid should listen and not act like a baby.

[Allan]

I'm of two minds on this.

First - I agree somewhat that they were treated unfairly. They should have been given a bit of time to calm her down... at least 5-10 min. HOWEVER, the plane was late already, and this would have been a longer delay.

Second - the airline did what it needed to to make sure the plane wasn't 30 or more minutes late leaving. if an adult was being loud and obnoxious, he would be the one to blame. Now, I realize it's a 3yr old child, but, they can control their behaviour at that age, and most times, it's just a tantrum.

So I'm divided on this.

[Quillz]

Good. The parents were being stupid and got what was coming to them. If the parents not missing work was so important to them, they would have shut up the kid immediately.

I expect there will be a multi-million dollar harassment lawsuit shortly.

[djesteban]

Why should they offer a hotel to some moronic family that delayed their flight nearly a half hour because they don't feel like controlling their kid. I am pretty sure you can force a 3 yr old to fit in an airline seat, and if you are too soft to make ur kid do something, get the hell off the plane and quit punishing everyone around you. Complete and total ignorance. I have flew on airtran many times they are a good company, and right in what they did.

I am sure the only reason they reimbursed them and offered them free tickets is the publicity, since airlines are struggling so bad they are left with no choice, which is pretty damn sad.

Couldn't have said it better. if you kid is a retarded moron, get of the plane. If you can't control your child, give him to adoption or something, so someone more capable can teach him how to live in society.

[t_r_nelson]

I am stunned. Did any of you catch this line from the mother:

"Elly was sitting in front of our seat crying," she said in a phone interview. "The attendant motioned to a seat and asked if we purchased it for her."

That implys that the daughter is sitting in front of the parents. BOTH OF THEM!!! Why wouldn't these brain-dead people swap a seat with the child and put the child next to one of the parents. And I am sure, after sitting there for 15 minutes, anyone on that plane would have switched seats to allow the parent to sit next to the child.

It's a simple thing called discipline. You can bet the little brat runs rough-shot over the parents all day long. And then when they really need the child to behave, there is no precedence set by these spineless parents and they have no authority.

Way to go AirTran! They should have just bumped them to a later flight and left it at that. No money and no other tickets.