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Banning Kids From Airplanes: Malaysia Airlines Creating Kid-Free Zones

The Huffington Post Canada  |  Posted: 04/ 4/2012 2:05 pm Updated: 04/ 4/2012 2:09 pm

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It may have started as an April Fool's joke, but now it seems one airline is looking to truly keep kids away from adults on particular flights.

As reported by Australian Business Traveller today, Malaysia Airlines will be banning kids 12 and under from the upper deck of its Airbus A380 on specific flights, starting July 1.

"The move is aimed at ensuring a more restful and enjoyable trip for business travellers who have to fly in economy," the publication stated.

The airline had come under fire last year when they did not install bassinets in the first class cabins of their Boeing 747s, excluding babies from flying in that part of the plane.

As Malaysia Airlines managing director and CEO Tengku Azmil, explained on Twitter:


Tengku Azmil
Also hv many complaints from 1st class pax dat dey spend money on 1st class & can't sleep due to crying infants

Also hv many complaints from 1st class pax dat dey spend money on 1st class & can't sleep due to crying infants

The 12 and under ban was announced only two days after Canadian airline WestJet released a spoof video for April's Fools, declaring child-free cabins on certain flights.

“We’ve heard from many of our guests that they’re tired of kids screaming and running up and down the aisle and are looking for some peace and quiet,” Richard Bartrem, the airline’s VP of communications, says in the "ad" released Sunday.

This sentiment, it appears, is very real, but that won't come as a surprise to most travellers. Earlier this year, a family was actually kicked off a JetBlue flight after their 2-year-old child threw a tantrum, and a new category of nannies has been created specifically for family flights.

While this ban won't necessarily affect families with children too greatly -- after all, there are plenty more seats on the Airbus -- it could become restrictive if more airlines decide to take on the practice for business travellers.

What do you think? Should airlines be allowed to ban children from parts of the cabin, or even from entire flights?

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Should airlines be allowed to ban kids on flights?

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It may have started as an April Fool's joke, but now it seems one airline is looking to truly keep kids away from adults on particular flights. As reported by Australian Business Traveller today, M...
It may have started as an April Fool's joke, but now it seems one airline is looking to truly keep kids away from adults on particular flights. As reported by Australian Business Traveller today, M...
 
 
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Arie Smith
0 Fans
12:06 PM on 05/04/2013
Thumbs up. I think it's about time. I'm a child myself, but I don't act like a little monster. Above age 7 I think that they shouldn't create chaos. Under age 7 I think that's fine. For me I'm a thirteen year old girl and I see some kids near my age and they act horribly RUDE. I don't think they have an excuse. Oh yes they're just a baby. Soo? Just ,because they're young they're aloud to act like that? I think it's about time that MY own generation shuts they're mouths and grow up a bit. Is it so hard to sit in your seat and not act like a human worm? Read for once! The kids that are in my generation won't even TOUCH a book. I think it's about time that parents should buckle down on their children and teach them some MANNERS. Gasp. Manners, is that not in your vocabulary? If not, I think you should pick up a dictionary and teach yourself, THEN your kids. I think this is a perfect solution. Kids SHOULD be allowed to fly just not adults. Just for once TRY to help people. Yes, YOU I think you can make a difference. Help, the parents a bit to calm their children down. Sometimes the kids can't help it and sometimes it's no ones fault. I think this is a helpful solution for everyone. They're not 'BANNING' us kids they're just resricting the more troublesome ones to a certain location.
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Red The Grey
16 Fans
 
08:45 PM on 05/25/2012
I think it's an awesome idea. I doubt my kids would feel the same
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RosaParks2012
0 Fans
04:02 AM on 04/17/2012
I agree with the Malaysia Airlines policy and applaud their ingenuity in increasing their bottom line by exploiting the self-obsessed.

Most children are not acting out due to lack of discipline. A long haul flight with a child is a stressful experience. I am a parent of a 14-month old. He has been travelling from 5 weeks and has been to 8 different countries. The duration of most flights are 12 to 20 hours. The only difficult flight I have experienced was because of the following:
1. The cabin was too warm because they ran out of blankets.
2. The bassinets were positioned right below the cabin television which did not turn off and emitted more heat.
3.They did not to turn off the cabin lights for 3 hours after take off and turned on the cabin lights 3 hours before landing
4. The cabin lights shined directly on to the bassinet and in his face.

Any adult would have a difficult time falling asleep or calming down in these conditions.

Let's not forget 95% of the flight you have the option of headphones and can listen to music or watch a movie. Also, 100% of flights offer earplugs so if sleeping on a flight is truly your priority you can make it happen crying, fussy child or not.

To me, this is yet another sign of modern societies lack of compassion and understanding of others different than them and the increasing popularity of the self-obsessed.
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candlesmp
life is as good as you make it
338 Fans
12:47 AM on 04/06/2012
Try putting a correct title on the article - it's a completely misleading headline. They aren't banning kids from airplanes, they are keeping them in restricted areas - ie restricting them from the upper deck on certain flights. Banning isn't the same thing as restricting.

That being said - it would be wrong. As much as I hate to admit it, but there are kids that are just fine on planes. Sure there are some unruly ones, but those parents who are in possession of out of control kids: get some control. And if you can't: don't travel on long flights until you get your kids under control and they don't disrupt the world. Babies: babies will cry, I've no problems with babies, they can't control it. It's the kids, the ones that can be reasoned with and told "don't bug the person beside you, stop kicking that seat, it's rude": if they won't listen to you: best be finding a car and driving to where ever you want to go.
Don't let a bunch of ill-behaved kids ruin it for everybody else. It's the parents who are to blame. You've got unruly kids ? Deal with them and don't bring them on planes until they grow up a little and learn some proper behaviour.
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J T B
24 Fans
06:19 AM on 04/05/2012
Yes, yes, yes. It is particularly problematic on long flights when you NEED to get some sleep so you can function upon arrival, but unruly children don't let you. By all means, implement some regulations to solve this problem.
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gerald1961
Not as nice as I use to be
378 Fans
12:31 AM on 04/05/2012
Thank you , thank you, thank you. Child free anything is GREAT. Its not that all children are bad, its just that a few parents won't manage their children in public. A few unruly kids on a plane can set the stage for trouble.
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LaBelleBretonne
27 Fans
07:54 PM on 04/04/2012
What a heavenly idea !!!!
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Maritimer50
7 Fans
07:33 PM on 04/04/2012
Babies are babies. Sometimes the parents don't have a clue... step up community!
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
DocManhattan
178 Fans
07:30 PM on 04/04/2012
The headline's kind of misleading here - shouldn't be surprised, really, since HP will sacrifice accuracy for sensationalism more and more often these days. Kids are not being "banned from airplanes" by anybody. They're being kept to a single deck of the world's largest airliner, which means there will be about 300 seats on the aircraft where parents CAN seat their children.

This child-free cabin is, no doubt, another way for an airline to persuade passengers who can't afford premium business or first-class seating to pay a little more for their ticket. Personally, if I were travelling on business - especially long-distance - I would definitely consider it.

Mother nature designed children to have voices that demand attention. It's impossible to rest when you're a few crowded rows of seats away from a screaming child, and if you're on a 12-hour flight heading straight into a meeting, it's hellish. If you're a parent travelling with your kids, chances are you're going on holiday or to visit other family members. So you voluntarily take the chance that your child could misbehave on the trip, and the worst that'll happen is that you'll have to sleep off your fatigue once you get off the plane. Other people around you have not volunteered to endure your child's tantrums. Why should they be expected to do so?
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Cascadienne
101 Fans
02:05 PM on 04/05/2012
"Other people around you have not volunteered to endure your child's tantrums. Why should they be expected to do so?"

Airline travel is not a right or a privilege. It's glorified public transit. I support the airline offering the child-free option as much as I support the parents' rights to fly with kids.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
DocManhattan
178 Fans
02:32 PM on 04/05/2012
I never said air travel was a "right" or a "privilege". Airlines simply offer different levels of comfort to passengers, depending on how much the passenger is willing to pay - that's just business as usual. I see no problem with offering the comfort of peace and quiet at a price, in the same way that the airline might offer more legrooom or entertainment options.

Parents have every right to fly with kids. I never suggested that they don't. Likewise, other travellers should have the right to travel in a child-free cabin, should they wish to do so.
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bubble popper
24 Fans
07:15 PM on 04/04/2012
It's about time that corporations stand up and say to all these helicopter parents who bubble pack their kids and let them get away with bloody murder and just say "aren't they cute" took the back seat. Better yet, fly them cargo! Strap them to a pellet and ship them!.
The unfortunate reality is though, if it came to Canada, the goofballs at the human rights tribunal would be all over it. But one can always dream.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dior12
45 Fans
07:06 PM on 04/04/2012
Why does the CEO of malaysian airlines tweet as if he was 12 years old?
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Remendado
59 Fans
11:43 AM on 04/07/2012
I'm an absolutely anti-twitter type, but it seems that you have to make "dose" sorts of compromises when you've got to count your letters per message.
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LilPuppy
Canadian conservative,still left of a democrat
364 Fans
07:04 PM on 04/04/2012
please , please bring that here...
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VegShark
35 Fans
06:46 PM on 04/04/2012
I think it is sad that parenting has gotten so poor that this is an issue. I'm not a big fan of kids, but good parents have well behaved ones. I once had a 4 hour train ride where a woman had an infant. Every time the infant got a little fussy, she would go to the bathroom with it and settle it down. I think we would all be more willing to tolerate children when there parents are courteous and actually making an effort like the one I had on that train ride. The sad part is that probably the only reason I remember that is because it stood out as so abnormal to me.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
opprobrious
More speech. Less Flagging.
923 Fans
06:39 PM on 04/04/2012
Noiw all we've got to do is allow Malaysia Airlines the right to operate domestically.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
AlisonCarnie
I am unique ... just like everyone else
780 Fans
04:34 PM on 04/04/2012
Thank god ... wish we have children-free shopping days as well.
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