New system introduced on an airline..

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It's about time something like this was introduced. Being stuck next to a 1 or 2-year-old on a long flight journey is my idea of a nightmare and surely I can't be the only one.


http://igvofficial.com/airline-has-intr ... re-seated/

I am in no way surprised that JAL is the first airline to do this. Japan proving once again why they’re #1 in customer service!

I don't get why some people complain about this; it's a win-win! People who don't want to sit near babies won't have to and the people with the babies don't have to deal with other angry passengers since the ones who'd get most unnerved by the babies would be on the other side of the plane.

Do I like babies? Yes
Do I know that they or their parents can't control the crying? Yes
Do I like to listen to the crying? No
Can my ears handle the crying? Not really
Is it somehow away from the parents of these babies that I get to be away from them? No

People need to learn to be more tolerant, they say. Well yes they do, more tolerant of people with sensitive ears that is! Yelling at or insulting parents who can't keep their baby quiet would be a sign of intolerance, wanting to stay away from a crying baby isn't.

I fly a LOT. In the past, I found that if I did not pre-selcet my seat, I was assigned one in the "family" section, typically those seats in the middle of the plane and those next to the galley that have the built in drop down changing tables or cribs. I complained about this one time and was told - by an airline staff member- that women traveling alone are assigned seats next to kids because the belief is that women won't mind their crying and general activity. Yup, there is gender stereotyping in seat assignments! So women: always select your seat when booking on -line! And for anyone generally, if you avoid the middle aisle (the 4-5 seat section) you have a better chance of avoiding kids.

This.

I don't think I would mind a young baby, under 10 months, sitting next to me, it's toddlers that agitate me. I can tolerate a baby or young child crying when their ears are hurting from the pressure when the plane is taking off or landing, but I just cannot stand demanding, shouting and temper tantrums. Having an unpredictable kid next to me will really agitate me, especially if they fidget or start having a tantrum over nothing or keep staring at me. Having a child not seated next to me isn't so bad because it's easier to block their noise out with earplugs or headphones, etc. But it's not so easy to relax if one is seated right next to you, especially if you're not really a tolerant person with small children. It's OK if they go to sleep but you can't always guarantee that they will sleep.

oy vey and the kid behind you kicking the seat
I find Emirates, Aeroflot, and Air India to be the worst in terms of disruptive kids. Russians and Indians in particular are very indulgent and will let their kids run up and down the aisles screaming, and pestering other passengers. Imagine that on a 9-12 hour flight.