Should be bubble be a child free zone?

The revised layout in the bubble has received a mixed press so far. How about utilising it as a child free zone? (Ahhh – bliss!!)
Doubtless you would have to justify this by some sort of risk assessment, i.e. safety on stairs etc., otherwise equality rights/children’s rights lawyers will be kept in Rolls Royces for years to come as they progress their claims through courts, appeal courts, European courts etc..
Seriously though, what is the V-flyer community view on this?
(Child free zone, not lawyers!)

We are flying out with our 20 month old shortly. Before we had him I might have agreed with you but (now that we do) I don't think it would be fair to exclude a proportion of travellers on the grounds that they are travelling with children - particularly since we have to pay (albeit a modest amount) for him to travel!

[Neil]

I have split these posts away from the main LGW refits thread to allow that thread to remain about questions and information regarding the refits.
Please feel free to continue any discussions re the bubble being child free in this new thread.

This comes round every so often.

All of the bad and/or disruptive behaviour I've encountered on VS has been the fault of adults, I'm afraid -- and mainly thanks to excess drink.

An example was my flight last week:
http://v-flyer.com/forum/index.php?f=6&t=277465&rb_v=viewtopic

Perhaps it would be a better idea to make the bubble a child only zone! As a PE only traveller I am still a bit miffed that the bubble is not the PE only sanctuary it used to be. It could however be put to good use as a sort of nursery/naughty step, giving the remainder of the pax some peace and quiet.
I agree with at240 that the main problem is with adults who don't know or care how to behave.

Don't stereotype by age... I can think of specific flights where adults were more noisy and inconsiderate than the odd child sat nearby...
At the end of the day it's public transport. The way round avoiding others is hire a private jet.

I'm sure that the last time I flew in the bubble (about 2001/02) in PE (LHR to SFO) there was some sort of statement on the website about not being allowed up there if you had difficulty managing stairs.

Is that statement still there?

In my view is a risk hazzard - especially if the plane needs to be evacuated quickly.

That should be the only reason to make the bubble adult only (and by adult I'd start that as aged 12+) and it certainly shouldn't allow VS to advertise it as a 'child free' zone.

Please feel free to continue any discussions re the bubble being child free in this new thread.

Neil I'd love to feel free to place a reply regarding this question but I'd be booted off the site for good ii)

3rd post from someone who joined a few weeks back and they come on with a remark like this - smelling a rat and a trouble maker at work IMHO

Perhaps the next comment might be that children should be restrained in the hold area :w

I would gladly pay a small premium to guarantee a child free flight, too many of my flights are spoilt by badly behaved children and undiciplined adults unable/unwilling to control them.

Children running up and down the aisle climbing over me/my seat screaming, camping out in my legroom and treating it as a crèche is just as bad as smoking, we used to seperate that from non smoking why can't this be the same? As for unruly adults... They have the threat of diversion and or handcuffs on flights, unfortunately the crew cannot threaten to put 5 yer old jimmy or Jemma in cuffs. This would be a
Happy medium for all.

A far east airline has dedicated a section to adults only, Malaysian I think, I will look into this as a serious option next time I need to go that way, rather than blindly searching VS options like normal, they have already potentially lost my business because if this.

[Neil]

Please feel free to continue any discussions re the bubble being child free in this new thread.

Neil I'd love to feel free to place a reply regarding this question but I'd be booted off the site for good ii)

3rd post from someone who joined a few weeks back and they come on with a remark like this - smelling a rat and a trouble maker at work IMHO

Perhaps the next comment might be that children should be restrained in the hold area :w

You are more than entitled to share your opinion, provided you do it in a manner that doesn't break any of the site rules.

This isn't a new subject and as mentioned above has been brought up and discussed a few times before, so I don't see any issue with it or with the OP for posting it. We are all adults and just because a subject maybe slightly more controversial to some, shouldn't mean it is censored or turn in to a slanging match.

Neil

Don't feed them.

Ok oo) oo) that's me put in my place again.

Ok oo) oo) that's me put in my place again.

Having endured a flight many years ago where a child screamed from take off to landing (LGW-MCO)I would say yes,Im looking forward to a couple of years time to take my grandtwins (who will be 4)to Orlando im only hoping they will be good (they are well behaved now!)but being on a plane can be daunting for young children although im sure my GC will be well behaved

From a business perspective, VS could offer an exclusive quiet cabin/bubble.

Means noisy adults, teenagers, pensioners, babies, toddlers, crew would be kindly asked to keep it down..

Now that I could buy into!! |:)

Having endured a flight many years ago where a child screamed from take off to landing (LGW-MCO)I would say yes,Im looking forward to a couple of years time to take my grandtwins (who will be 4)to Orlando im only hoping they will be good (they are well behaved now!)but being on a plane can be daunting for young children although im sure my GC will be well behaved

I don't blame the children, it's the parents fault if a child is misbehaving. There is also a difference between a child being 'naughty' and a young child who is too young to understand why they can't run around / play with other children / have pain in their ears / are over tired * delete as applicable.

My son is a little sod, totally in to everything, opinionated, can't sit still for a minute but he knows damn well how to behave in public and what the consequences are if he doesn't. Yes, this means that my husband and I can't chill out on a flight and watch back to back movies but hey, we've got an 'effervescent' six year old that requires parenting at all times whether at 37000 feet or on on the ground.

Malaysia Airlines don't allow children in the upper deck of their A380.

A child free bubble would be an excellent idea for everyone. For travellers without children it would provide a quiet area for either work or relaxation - I usually need to work whilst travelling PE and find it very difficult with a screaming child nearby. In addition, there are often very few children in the bubble and it is therefore embarassing for parents when a child is noisy. When my children were younger, I never chose seats in the bubble in deference to other passengers.

I'm going to show my ignorance here but I kind of thought it was a child free zone I've only ever flown in the bubble in PE.

I've only ever seen tiny babies (under a year) in the bubble, I thought VS actively put "families" who had booked PE downstairs.

I'll admit I was horrified when I saw the babies in the bubble but they ended up being quiet and better behaved than the adults :w

Perhaps the next comment might be that children should be restrained in the hold area :w

Now theres an idea ):

In my experience, in the main children misbehave because parents let them.

If VS were to offer a child free zone I might be interested. Price would be a consideration.

I would support the idea of a quiet zone, although the experience of it on trains suggests how difficult it is actually to police and enforce this.

However, as indicated earlier in the thread, I do not support the idea of a child-free zone. For one thing, discrimination on the basis of age is in many cases now illegal -- you would struggle to make a case for this because there is no accepted evidence that children are more disruptive than adults.

It's called public transport for a reason.

Sorry if I caused offence posting here. Perhaps I should explain that prior to my recent retirement most of my destinations (ABQ, SLC, DEN, PHX etc.) were not served by Virgin, hence I didn’t use the V-flyer forum.
As to being a troublemaker I can assure you the topic of child noise, particularly in First (= Upper & others) is well discussed over many forums, covering a similar range of opinions, but usually politely, as are seen here.
I agree that parents are often to blame. However that is not the point. Whosoever is to blame the result is disturbance, often prolonged, for dozens of passengers. And, as ever with problems in the cabin, it is the long suffering cabin crew who get the flak. (But not from me!!)

I am in favour of an obnoctious person free airplane - no matter the age.

I get very annoyed at the persecution of children on flights, where does that end, restaurants, high streets?

I'm sorry, but we left the Victorian notion of "children should be seen and not heard" quite some time ago.

The airlines should make better provisions for tracking troublesome passengers and issuing warnings/bans for disruptive behaviour....could be done if embeded in terms and conditions I guess.

And, for the avoidance of doubt, I am totally not in favour a a child-free zone, it is penalising the parents who ensure their children behave rather than those that don't - a bit like the limited drinks on offer on flights to LAS now as a few can't control themselves, everyone has to suffer.

It's a sign of the times - it's easier to ban and legislate than it is to manage and influence.

And, I took a deep breath before responding to this thread, as the concept of banning children from sections of planes or anything else really gets me angry.

Rant over!

I get very annoyed at the persecution of children on flights, where does that end, restaurants, high streets?

I'm sorry, but we left the Victorian notion of "children should be seen and not heard" quite some time ago.

Obviously we are all entitled to our own views here, but I have the complete opposite opinion to you; I get very annoyed at the bad behaviour of children and their un-interested parents on flights (and, for that matter, in restaurants and other public places) and would whole-heartedly welcome a child-free flight.

Too many of my flights/meals/holidays etc etc have been ruined by unruly families completely taking over, with scant regard for anyone else around them. Of course it's not the childrens' fault - it's the parents - we all know this. But given that many parents seem to have lost the basic concept of other peoples right to space, privacy and peace, then why not have a section where us Victorians can sit happily in silence with minimal disruption?

Why just children though, that's my point - and, by the way, where does that end, age 16, 18, 21?

Don't get me wrong, I've been on flights with the all too typical badly behaved children with un-interested and indulgent parents as well - but I've had my flights ruined by, ooh let's see, sitting next to a woman with so much perfume on that it gave me a sore throat and I bearly tasted my food/drinks, someone with incredibly bad BO, somenone who didn't stop winging about everything the entire flight, a bunch of lads getting completely slaughtered and being loud and obnoctious to everyone, someone who spent a lot of time shouting across me to their companion in a different seat (I offered to swap seats, but they "wanted" the window seat), and so on.

Of course, this issue of "chiild free" has and will continue to divide oppinion, I just wish the subject were broadened to disruptive passengers, no matter their age - because isn't that the real issue? And then, people's tollerance of different "disruption" has different break points...

In the final analysis, I guess the airlines will doo it if there's a business case.