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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Girl Kicked Off Plane After Tantrum (3 yr old) |
| 2007-01-24 |
| (roll eyes) Last I checked, spanking was still legal. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Flight attendants often deal with obnoxious passengers who won't listen to instructions by kicking them off the plane. But a Massachusetts couple think AirTran Airways went overboard by treating their crying 3-year-old daughter in much the same way. Julie and Gerry Kulesza and daughter Elly were removed from the flight when the girl refused to take her seat before takeoff, airline officials said Tuesday. But her parents said they just needed a little more time to calm her down. The Kuleszas planned to fly home to Boston on Jan. 14 from Fort Myers after a four-day visit with the girl's paternal grandparents. She was removed because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat" during boarding, AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said. AirTran officials say they were only following Federal Aviation Administration rules that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seatbelt 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," Graham-Weaver said. But Julie Kulesza said: "We weren't giving 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." The couple told the attendants they were trying. Julie Kulesza said she asked the attendants if Elly could sit on her lap, but they said no. The family flew home the next day. The Orlando-based carrier reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets, and offered them three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies, Graham-Weaver said. But that's too little, too late for the Kuleszas. The father said they would never fly AirTran again. |
| Posted by:Danking70 |
| #15 geez, how can I get a crying obnoxious child so I get a free RT ticket and my money back for the flight? on second thought no thanks.... lol |
| Posted by: Jan from work 2007-01-24 20:54 |
| #14 Th flight had aready been delayed 15 minutes. What did the family expect them (and the other 112 passengers) to do? Wait until they get their spawn under control? The airline was right - sorry but you had 15 minutes to contol your child - if you haven't yet then you probably don't have a clue what your doing. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-01-24 16:20 |
| #13 Check the kid's destination: Boston. last time I checked they have a couple of excellent senators there for role models. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-01-24 15:17 |
| #12 Imagine trying to deal with that kid in about 13 years. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-01-24 14:37 |
| #11 It sounds as though these parents could use a spanking as well. The child is learning this behavior from somewhere. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-01-24 14:08 |
| #10 "The flight was already delayed 15 minutes Which no doubt means the poor child had been in hysterics for a good half hour, and wasn't about to calm down short of chloroform in that environment. Removing the family from the environment was the only option, and one the parents should have requested, were they thinking clearly. A spanking might have been salutory long term, but would only have worsened things short term, it seems to me. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-24 14:02 |
| #9 Right on. If they have no control over the child, they don't need to fly. It's their problem not the airline's or ours. Same with Muz scum. Comply with rules or walk. No compromise. We don't give a shit. |
| Posted by: SpecOp35 2007-01-24 12:06 |
| #8 But Julie Kulesza said: "We weren't giving an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything." Sounds like she'd make a good state assemblywoman in California. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-01-24 12:02 |
| #7 A long long time ago, in a place....about 250 miles away, I used to work for Wal-Mart. This one customer had come to pick up his layaway. Now, we searched for it for nearly half an hour, what happened to it, where it went, no clue. And we didn't have any more of the doll, which costs about $45. So, we talked with a manager, who called around, found the doll at another walmart and was going to send one of us to go get it for the customer AND he offered the guy a $25 gift card for having to wait. This wasn't good enough for the man, who decided the best thing in the world to do was take a swing at the manager. So the manager hit him, we dog piled him, and then the 'off duty' cop we had that watched the front doors came back, slapped the cuffs on him and dragged him away. Now, I don't honestly know what else the manager could have done for him, but he did as much as he could to make this guy happy. But some people would rather make a scene, get arrested and be Leroy's playmate in a cell instead of having a bit of patience. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2007-01-24 11:07 |
| #6 The toddler wasn't crying. She was praying to Allah. The ignorance of islam on this site is remarkable and, dare I say, islamophobic. The child's behavior was in perfect conformity with all four schools of islamic jurisprudence. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-01-24 10:51 |
| #5 A spanking or perhaps a pre-flight cocktail would have solved the problem, but taking them off the flight was the right move. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-01-24 10:30 |
| #4 A spanking would have accomplished wonders. Have the parents ever considered that option? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-01-24 10:23 |
| #3 ...A crying child can be a serious distraction to flight attendants - AirTran was 100% correct in handling this one the way they did. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-01-24 10:01 |
| #2 The father said they would never fly AirTran again. Looks like AirTran just moved way up on my preferred list... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-01-24 09:45 |
| #1 The father said they would never fly AirTran again. Thank goodness! |
| Posted by: other Airtran passengers 2007-01-24 09:43 |