Of course the parents think the airline people are big meanies for not letting their prescious little angel scream, cry, and disrupt the other passengers. They won't be using that airline again. Boo hoo! They'll find one that won't make them control their daughter's behavior inflight. I wish more businesses had the balls that this airline does. I can't believe they reimbursed the family though. I love children, but there is nothing that makes my ovaries shrivel more than the sound of a spoiled, disobediant brat.

Toddler's Temper Ousts Family From Plane
By JIM ELLIS
AP
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 23) - AirTran Airways on Tuesday defended its decision to remove a Massachusetts couple from a flight after their crying 3-year-old daughter refused to take her seat before takeoff.


Tussle Over a Tantrum
A family removed from an Airtran flight says it won't take the airline again.

AirTran officials said they followed Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seat belt upon 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," AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said.
Julie and Gerry Kulesza, who were headed home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers, said they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter, Elly.

"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

The Kuleszas said they told a flight attendant they had paid for their daughter's seat, but asked whether she could sit in her mother's lap. The request was denied.

She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, Graham-Weaver said.

The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and the Kuleszas flew home the next day.

They also were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.

The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.

wow, i dont know how I feel about this. do you think they really gave her "no" time to control their daughter? I am sure they gave them a little bit and if so, I would kick them off too. But I do understand how it is hard to control kids regardless if they are brats or not...it is hard to control a three year old. When my cousin was 4 years old she wanted this barbie and her mom would not get it for her becuase she did not need it so my little cousin screamed bloody muder claiming that my aunt was not her mother. said it over and over -- it looked like her mom was kidnapping her. Yes, it sounds like she was being a brat but she really is not one -- that age can just be hard to deal with.

the family is not pressing charges are they?

The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and the Kuleszas flew home the next day.

They also were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said.

The father said his family would never fly AirTran again.

They should be thanking the airline.

I agree that it can be difficult to deal with children at that young age, but it is still the parents' responsibility to prepare the child for certain situations and make sure that the child behaves appropriately. If a child can't handle himself in certain situations like sitting quietly on a flight or in a restaurant or movie theater or accept the meaning of the word "No!" , then the parent needs to take charge and remove the child from the situation no matter how inconvenient or embarrassing it is for them. They need to show their children who the boss is.

The parents should have better prepared their young daughter for the flight by bringing some quiet toys and coloring books and telling her exactly what was expected of her. The other passengers should not have to deal with the delayed flight and listening to this girl's tantrum because the parents couldn't be bothered to show some responsibility and consideration for others.

I know which airline to use the next time!

I appulad AirTran because people just don't know how to control their kids at all anymore. Parents want to blame everything but their damn selves and it's annoying. I have two children and they have never acted up in a public place because they know what would happen if they do.

It's a pain when people let their kids act like well.. brats, especially on planes, grocery stores and restaraunts. I don't know how many times I had to let someone know that their kid is annoying the hell out of me.

Let's mention stores for a minute, people have let their kids run loose, look under other people's dressing rooms, and climb on things. Why would you let your kid run loose especially when kids are easily being snatched up by pathetic child molesters and yes, these dumb clueless parents are the first one on T.V crying their eyes out when the kid becomes missing. Yes, not all cases are like this but to some that are, it's your duty to watch your kids, not the other customers, not the store, but yours!

I'm done ranting:lol: . Sorry, this crap happened yesterday while I was in a grocery store, this dumb clueless mother let her son run around the store talking to strangers, bumping into people, lying on the floor etc.

This is the reason why, when flying with my daughters, I wake them up early that morning, so by the time we're on the plane they are knocked out.

:clap

:clap
agreed.

Now if they would only start removing the unruly brats from restaurants. That makes me really cranky.

They got a refund, and were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies...??? That doesn't sound like bad service to me... I'd have taken it.

In fact, The parents didn't even need to use the third ticket.... it would have been the perfect vacation from the child....:devil:

geez...it's NOT the parents' fault. the kid is three years old. i'm no parent but i know from formal education that it is absolutely typical and should be expected for children that young to behave that way sometimes. yes, the parents need to teach them not to throw tantrums in public and whatnot, but it takes way more than three years for that process to complete. it's almost like blaming them for not controlling their screaming infant.

They got a refund, and were offered three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies...??? That doesn't sound like bad service to me... I'd have taken it.

In fact, The parents didn't even need to use the third ticket.... it would have been the perfect vacation from the child....:devil:
:rofl:

geez...it's NOT the parents' fault. the kid is three years old. i'm no parent but i know from formal education that it is absolutely typical and should be expected for children that young to behave that way sometimes. yes, the parents need to teach them not to throw tantrums in public and whatnot, but it takes way more than three years for that process to complete. it's almost like blaming them for not controlling their screaming infant.
I'm with you. I work with 6-7 year olds, and we have a hard enough time getting them to stop talking in the hallway. And at 7, you should have a better concept. But on an airplane...maybe it was a new experience for the girl...maybe she was scared. First graders are hard to calm down...can't imagine how hard it is for a preschooler.

Nowhere in this article does it say why the girl was crying, so we don't know if it was a brat fit or not, so we can't pass judgment, now can we?

Now if they would only start removing the unruly brats from restaurants. That makes me really cranky.

:lol:

Now, here's something we can agree on....

I can't stand to have have unruly brats continue to stare at me while i'm enjoying my meal or come up to my table and talk my ear off while the parents just smile and say "Little Suzy is learning how to be outgoing..." Whatever. Instead of taking them out to Applebee's, take the kid to McDonald's where at least they have a playland out front.

geez...it's NOT the parents' fault. the kid is three years old. i'm no parent but i know from formal education that it is absolutely typical and should be expected for children that young to behave that way sometimes. yes, the parents need to teach them not to throw tantrums in public and whatnot, but it takes way more than three years for that process to complete. it's almost like blaming them for not controlling their screaming infant.

You are right... you aren't a parent, I am, and I'm expected to keep my kids in line. When I was three I didn't yell and scream in public, I was well behaved because I was.....taught. That is the problem with parents today, they want to blame everything but themselves on why their kid is a brat.

If you were on that plane, I bet you too would have been annoyed as hell and couldn't stand for a three year old to scream their lungs out the WHOLE entire flight while the parents just smile and say "They are expressing themselves", bull, you can control your screaming child. People need to learn to teach their kid manners, if they couldn't control their kid to keep their mouth shut on a plane, then they shouldn't have board the plane at all. They needed to realized that other passengers don't want to hear that noise, the airline did the right thing instead of delaying they flight so the kid can be quiet. People could have had deadlines and don't have time to wait for a kid to shut up. Same with kids in grocery stores and restaraunts, if your kid can't behave in public settings as simple as a trip to the grocery store, then leave the kid at home.

We're talking about an airline flight here. The plane couldn't take off until everyone was seated and buckled in. Without assigning blame, the child had to go.

I've been on a number of flights where I wished the airline would have removed an unruly child and their parents! :eek: :lol:

They needed to realized that other passengers don't want to hear that noise
first of all, did you agree with me or not? you started the post by saying "you are right" and then stated a bunch of arguments against what i said.

secondly, who says the parents didn't know that they needed to shut their kid up? and for the love of christ, WHO said that they didn't try everything they could to make her stop screaming? everyone here is implying that they didn't care. "clueless parents," the thread title says, with no evidence that they were such.

i'm not speaking of the matter of her family being boarded from the plane; in overall fairness that was a reasonable thing to do; i'm just telling people who are calling the kid a brat that they're being way too judgmental. we don't know why the kid was crying in the first place. if you were boarding a plane with your three year old who's screaming and crying because (i'll use cathy's example) they're scared to death, and people told you were a bad parent because of it even though you're trying to calm your kid down, how would you feel?

there's something else we should look at.

"We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything," Julie Kulesza said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

obviously they didn't have much of a CHANCE to do any parenting, did they?

a child is crying and screaming in public. therefore, he or she is a spoiled rotten brat with horrible parents who don't care. great logic people! :clap i'm sure you all never did ANYTHING like that between ages 0-4!

geez...it's NOT the parents' fault. the kid is three years old. i'm no parent but i know from formal education that it is absolutely typical and should be expected for children that young to behave that way sometimes. yes, the parents need to teach them not to throw tantrums in public and whatnot, but it takes way more than three years for that process to complete. it's almost like blaming them for not controlling their screaming infant.
:nod: the kid was only 3. now if the kid was 7, it'd be a different story.

first of all, did you agree with me or not? you started the post by saying "you are right" and then stated a bunch of arguments against what i said.

secondly, who says the parents didn't know that they needed to shut their kid up? and for the love of christ, WHO said that they didn't try everything they could to make her stop screaming? everyone here is implying that they didn't care. "clueless parents," the thread title says, with no evidence that they were such.

i'm not speaking of the matter of her family being boarded from the plane; in overall fairness that was a reasonable thing to do; i'm just telling people who are calling the kid a brat that they're being way too judgmental. we don't know why the kid was crying in the first place. if you were boarding a plane with your three year old who's screaming and crying because (i'll use cathy's example) they're scared to death, and people told you were a bad parent because of it even though you're trying to calm your kid down, how would you feel?

there's something else we should look at.



obviously they didn't have much of a CHANCE to do any parenting, did they?

a child is crying and screaming in public. therefore, he or she is a spoiled rotten brat with horrible parents who don't care. great logic people! :clap i'm sure you all never did ANYTHING like that between ages 0-4!
:lol: exactly. some kids do it too much and should be taught not to do it but EVERY kid under age 5 throws a temper tantrum at some point. just cause the kid cried and screamed doesnt mean the parents were automatically terrible people and should have the kid taken away from them. people just on parents' throats way too quickly, IMO. who knows if this kid was on an airplane before, or if they do this daily, or if they're USUALLY a well-behved kid. but screaming and crying once does not equal a horrible brat with terrible, awful parents.

and like you said, who knows if they just smiled and said "They're expressing themselves!!!!". according to the article they werent given time to take action.

Having to ride the bus to school every day with my bus driver's two daughters (ages 3 and 5) throwing temper tantrums, I know what it feels like to be distracted and annoyed by crying, screaming, and shouting. My bus driver also can't do any parenting while she's trying to drive the bus, and many of my friends are very intolerant of the girls' noisemaking. They also do call her a brat, and I often hear "Won't those spoiled brats shut the hell up! Why isnt their mother controlling them?" And I agree, 3 year olds are not brats when they throw tantrums, it's just something that most toddlers do. At that age, parenting also does not get through to them, they are going to scream and shout if they want to. Nothing can really be done until the child is calmed down.

But I do see reason to remove the child and the family from the airplane if the little girl was causing a disturbance. But one thing, there are air plane headphones and you can hook them up and listen to music and watch movies. Why couldn't some of the people on the flight have done that?

Having to ride the bus to school every day with my bus driver's two daughters (ages 3 and 5) throwing temper tantrums, I know what it feels like to be distracted and annoyed by crying, screaming, and shouting. My bus driver also can't do any parenting while she's trying to drive the bus, and many of my friends are very intolerant of the girls' noisemaking.
The bus driver takes her little kids to work with her? Sounds like a violation to me. Her job is to make things safe for her passengers. With three and five year olds pitching tantrums, I don't think anyone's interests are being served, the passengers or her children.

But I do see reason to remove the child and the family from the airplane if the little girl was causing a disturbance. But one thing, there are air plane headphones and you can hook them up and listen to music and watch movies. Why couldn't some of the people on the flight have done that?

Paying passengers, over 100 of them, shouldn't have to take measures to accommodate one screaming child. Some people like to talk, read or whatever. Not only that, but it's a safety issue. The child wouldn't take her seat, and a plane cannot, under FAA law, take off until everyone, including the crew, is seated and belted.

I missed my nephew's wedding a year ago when it took place out of the country because I knew my son would not be "quiet". I had to think abt myself, him and the other people before I would even consider having him on a flight with me. I have never flown, so can you imagine my own fears compelled on top of dealing with a child of 4 years of age who may cause trouble?????? :crazy:

I have never flown
Fear of flying?

Fear of flying?
Since I was small. 9/11 just made it worse.

You are right... you aren't a parent, I am, and I'm expected to keep my kids in line. When I was three I didn't yell and scream in public, I was well behaved because I was.....taught. That is the problem with parents today, they want to blame everything but themselves on why their kid is a brat.

If you were on that plane, I bet you too would have been annoyed as hell and couldn't stand for a three year old to scream their lungs out the WHOLE entire flight while the parents just smile and say "They are expressing themselves", bull, you can control your screaming child. People need to learn to teach their kid manners, if they couldn't control their kid to keep their mouth shut on a plane, then they shouldn't have board the plane at all. They needed to realized that other passengers don't want to hear that noise, the airline did the right thing instead of delaying they flight so the kid can be quiet. People could have had deadlines and don't have time to wait for a kid to shut up. Same with kids in grocery stores and restaraunts, if your kid can't behave in public settings as simple as a trip to the grocery store, then leave the kid at home.


EXACTLY!!!!! There's no way in hell I would let my daughter (who's 3)to act like that in public or at home. They said that the 3 yr old was climbing under the seats and hitting her parents. I don't understand how people let their children hit them.

Since I was small. 9/11 just made it worse.
I used to travel quite a bit, but haven't stepped on a plane since Thanksgiving week, 1987. I had a flight from hell. Turbulance beyond words. I swear I saw a stewardess bless herself. You couldn't pay me enough to fly now.

I used to travel quite a bit, but haven't stepped on a plane since Thanksgiving week, 1987. I had a flight from hell. Turbulance beyond words. I swear I saw a stewardess bless herself. You couldn't pay me enough to fly now.
:eek: :eek: :eek: See, that's what worries me. I hear abt turbulence all the time and in my mind, I would think that something horrible is going to happen.