V-Flyer

At first I had sympathy....

All had gone well and we were away form the stand and had taxied up to the runway - we were but a couple of minutes and crew in the jumpseats.

We lingered for a bit too long.... then announcement that a passenger has a problems and we need to return to stand.

Immediate thought - fine no probs, it happens and hope they're ok

Next the rumourmill makes it in to UC... woman with kids.. oh no! goes the caring mindset how embarrassing for poor Mum having to have the plane go all the way back, just hope the kids are ok and not too seriously ill.

Then... I have a chat with the ever friendly UC team, apparently both kids wanted to sit on Mum's lap and she was politely told one of them had to sit in the seat next to her for take off, after which they'd be fine.

The screaming children continued - the Mother decided that if she wasn't allowed to have them both on her lap then she'd rather get off.

As a result the flight was delayed for a good 2h - I've never heard so many apologies from a flight team - almost as though they were exorcising themselves of the frustration of the delay and hassle caused.

Everyone on that plane was more than a tad annoyed at this woman, if there's any kind of karma I think it'll hit her like a train!! B)

Rest of trip was fine in the "old bird" a340, UC in some of these planes looks so low rent and tired now imho.

That's pathetic, to hold up all the other passengers because of 1 mother with 2 spoilt brats! Sorry, seems stupid.#

Hope she got no refund or transfer!

Like you say, a 2 hr delay for a medical emergency is completely understandable but for this?! hmmmm...!

Thanks for sharing anywayu!

Why do some people have no control whatsoever over their kids?

Interesting story, and very frustrating for all. Has me wondering though, what else could VS do, what would VS do if I stood up while taxiing and shouted 'Get me off'! Does an airline have to, legally ... is the opposite of turning back imprisonment ... it's different in the air for obvious reasons?

slinky09 wrote:Interesting story, and very frustrating for all. Has me wondering though, what else could VS do, what would VS do if I stood up while taxiing and shouted 'Get me off'! Does an airline have to, legally ... is the opposite of turning back imprisonment ... it's different in the air for obvious reasons?

dont they have handcuffs !

): Lock them all together at the back and put a gag on them. ^)

That's ridiculous, how selfish of the woman!

15isto2 wrote:
dont they have handcuffs !

And Duck tape for mouths!

Totally selfish and I like otheers hope that VS refused to carry on another flight.

Am not sure they could claim false imprisonment afterall they voluntarily bought a ticket and got on a plane knowing that they wouldn't be able to get off! I would say that once the doors were closed and the plane off the stand then to all intents and purposes it is 'in the air'

That said best all round in the case to get them off as they were still on the ground.

slinky09 wrote:Interesting story, and very frustrating for all. Has me wondering though, what else could VS do, what would VS do if I stood up while taxiing and shouted 'Get me off'! Does an airline have to, legally ... is the opposite of turning back imprisonment ... it's different in the air for obvious reasons?

A good few years ago I was on a flight where we were lined up on the runway but then returned to the stand. We were told that someone had wanted to get off the flight and the decision to abandon the take off, lose the slot, have to undergo all the security checks on hold and overhead luggage and risk the crew going over time was because it was thought the passenger would be a disruptive influence during the flight.

I wouldn't be too quick to judge here, there are always two sides to every story, you could look at this in different ways.

If they both could fit on her lap, the children were still presumably very young, and if a mother feels uncomfortable leaving one of her children in their own seat at a potentially dangerous time such as take-off...One of the children could have been flying for the first time, have illness etc...I guess she might not have been aware of such a regulation before boarding.

A mothers kids are everything to them, and they wont accept any situation if they feel they are doing something to harm them. It's just unfortunate that such a huge delay had to be incurred.

Of course it could be the other way around, where two spoiled brats wouldn't stop making trouble and the mother submitted in rather weak fashion