Flying with young kids is already stressful for many parents, but the nightmarish airline experience one dad recently had while flying home from Disney World with his toddler has other parents shocked and angry.
Dad and photographer Chrisean Rose writes on Instagram that he and his 2-year-old daughter, Rayana, were flying home to Atlanta from Orlando, and the toddler was feeling nervous. The trip was her first time flying, so Rose sat his daughter on his lap to calm her down during take off. Unfortunately, this common parenting move ended up getting him thrown off the Frontier Airlines flight.
Flight attendants say 2-year-olds need their own seat
“My daughter sat on my lap crying while the flight attendant insisted that she sit in her own seat or they would turn around and remove us,” Rose writes. “I refused to [move her], and they had the pilot turn around, took everyone off the plane, and then removed my daughter and I and refused to give me our stroller.”
Rose says a flight attendant refused to listen to him, got increasingly aggressive with him and even threatened him with arrest. In a video of the incident posted on Rose’s Instagram account, he and the attendant can be heard arguing. Then, the attendant makes an announcement on the plane’s intercom system saying that other passengers need to leave the aircraft. Police were called, and Rose claims even the cops disagreed with what was happening to him.
“The police officers who they called to ‘arrest’ me ended up defending me and demanded that they stopped and take my stroller off,” he says.
Parents say kids on planes deserve “reasonable accommodation”
The dad’s post rankled many parents who know all too well how difficult it is to fly with an upset child.
“This is enraging to read, Chrisean,” one person writes. “I’m heartbroken that you and your baby girl were so mistreated. Escalate this to the rafters. Callous and indifferent treatment of a normal, everyday situation with a frightened child. Shame on Frontier. Shame.”
“Ugh! As if traveling with a toddler isn’t stressful enough,” another person adds. “Small children need accommodations often during flights, so them not understanding you needed this is extremely disappointing.”
The story also made it to Twitter, where other commenters jumped in to take the airline to task.
“Ever heard of ‘reasonable accommodation,’ Frontier and attendant? Surely this was not the first time the employee faced an instant like this,” one person writes. “Was the customer unworthy of a creative solution that didn’t include throwing them off the flight? Stranding them?”
What are the rules for flying with kids?
In a statement to FOX, Frontier Airlines representatives defended the decision to remove Rose and his daughter from the flight. “It is an FAA requirement that all passengers over the age of 24 months must be buckled into their own seat for takeoff and landing,” they write. “The parent refused to comply and therefore was asked to exit the aircraft with the child.”
Rose, whose daughter is just one month older than the lap rider age limit, says he understands and respects the airline’s policy but thinks the way they handled the situation was totally out of line.
“My issue is not with the policy, because I fully understand the regulation, but with the way I was treated, discriminated against and threatened with arrest,” he writes. “I explained to the one flight attendant who initiated this whole ordeal that this was her first time flying and that she was scared. Any rational human would understand. In fact, three other attendants passed us, checked for my seat belt and all was fine. The whole experience was beyond disheartening and handled very poorly.”
What should I do if my child is too old to sit in my lap?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says using an approved child safety restraint is the safest way to fly with young kids. You can also use an FAA-approved safety harness that attaches to the airplane seat.
Of course, harnesses and restraint systems don’t offer much help when you’re trying to soothe a frightened child. The Department of Transportation says kids are allowed to sit in a parent’s lap until their second birthday; however, the agency offers no other solutions for parents traveling with older kids.
Rose’s experience demonstrates one of many ways air travel has become increasingly difficult for people with kids. Not only are more flights being canceled than ever, disrupting travel plans and causing long delays, but many airport and airline regulations also seem unsuited to the needs of families.
In May, Netflix star Emily Calandrelli spoke out about having her breast milk confiscated by airport security.
Last month, another mom says her daughter was lost in the Miami airport after airline employees failed to follow procedures for chaperoning unaccompanied minors.
There’s no doubt that airline and airport employees are working hard to meet the needs of many travelers, but a little more support, guidance and flexibility for parents and caregivers could go a long way towards preventing unnecessary and upsetting situations like what happened to Chrisean Rose.
