Search Results for: blog breastfeeding at 35 000 feet high flying controversy

Flying the Not-So Friendly Skies

What is it with families and flying these days? And by flying I mean getting booted from airplanes. Barely a day goes by anymore without some innocent clan getting the heave-ho from a commercial flight due to a perceived threat made by a child. However, the latest incident doesn’t involve a screaming baby, a chatty toddler or a hungry infant; rather, a California family claims they were kicked off an American Airlines flight simply because their 16-year-old son has Down syndrome. Joan and Robert Vanderhorst, of Bakersfield, California, are irate by what they are calling “pure discrimination.” “It’s defamation,” Robert … Continue reading →

Another One Bites the Dust

Kids seem to be getting kicked off planes left and right these days. What is it with commercial carriers and fussy tots, anyway? The latest victim: A cranky 3-year-old and his parents. According to news reports, last Sunday, a screaming toddler was booted off an Alaska Airlines flight departing from Seattle. The incident enraged the boy’s father, who claims the airline overreacted. “Kids crying, people snoring, large, smelly people, we deal with it, it’s normal,” said Mark Yanchak. Yanchak told reporters that his son was being a little fussy while the family prepared for their flight to depart. “He was … Continue reading →

Screaming Kid Makes for Travel Nightmare

In more ways than one… Talk about a flight from hell: Not only did Pamela Root’s nightmare of flying solo with her 2-year-old son come true, but so did her fear that her toddler would not behave in the airplane. In fact, the boy’s behavior was so distracting it led to the mother and son getting booted from their Southwest Airlines flight last week. According to airline officials, the Roots were sitting onboard a flight departing Amarillo, Texas, bound for San Jose, California, when young Adam got hit with a major bout of the crankies. The boy reportedly spent the … Continue reading →

A Mother’s View from the Pool: Breastfeeding by the Water

It’s that time of the year again… time for a new season of “A Mother’s View from the Pool.” Last year I kvetched about kids wearing Crocs in the pool, babies wearing teeny-weeny bikinis, and parents, who use lifeguards as their personal babysitters, while they chat on their cellphones, read their rag mags, and work on their tans. This year we are fortunate not to have to make the daily drive to our local city pool. By a rare stroke of luck the fees we pay to live around here were actually used to fund something worthwhile (besides snow removal): … Continue reading →

Delta Death

I could make a terrible tie-in between the following sad travel incident and the fact that Delta Airlines just announced it will now be charging passengers on domestic flights $50 to check in a second bag, but out of respect for Michaele Carnahan, I will restrain myself. According to news reports, the 61-year-old was found dead in the restroom of a Delta Airlines plane shortly before the aircraft landed in Atlanta yesterday morning. A spokeswoman for the airline said it was unclear how the woman died or how long she was in the plane’s lavatory before she was found. Responding … Continue reading →

One Flight You Wouldn’t Want to be On

Quick… think back to the strangest flight you have ever been on. Now, compare it to the one passengers onboard a recent American Airlines flight experienced and see how it stacks up: As if the emergency landing in Oklahoma City wasn’t bad enough consider what travelers onboard American Airlines Flight 725 were thinking when they saw a naked man strolling through the cabin and later watched as he tried to open an emergency exit door while the plane was 30,000 feet in the air. According to authorities, the flight, which left from Boston en route to Los Angeles last Friday … Continue reading →

Entire Family Gets Kicked Off Plane—What would you do?

Imagine spending thousands of dollars to fly yourself, your pregnant sister and your four young children from Detroit to Seattle, but instead of getting to your final destination without incident you end up at a police station in Phoenix and details of your horrific encounter are splashed in newspapers from coast to coast. Hard to fathom, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Wendy Slaughter just a few short weeks ago. Slaughter, her four young children, and her expectant sister were traveling on a Southwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Seattle and had gotten as far as the Phoenix Sky … Continue reading →

Why Passengers Don’t Mind Being Delayed in Hong Kong

No one likes to be stuck in an airport when they should be somewhere over the Pacific. But according to a recent survey, if you have to be delayed anywhere, it’s best to be held up at the Hong Kong International Airport. For the seventh year in a row, the massive airport was ranked the best by millions of passengers around the world. Visitors chose the Hong Kong International Airport over 190 others in an annual survey conducted by Skytrax, a privately owned research company. The London-based firm reportedly collected more than 8 million questionnaires from travelers flying into and … Continue reading →

Honest Pilot Refuses to Fly

Is honesty truly the best policy? It’s a question passengers onboard a cancelled United Airlines asked themselves yesterday after their pilot announced he was too upset to fly. It may be the first time in commercial aviation history that an emotionally distraught pilot has walked off the job minutes before he was set to take flight. His decision left hundreds of travelers stranded and many more scratching their heads wondering how a situation like this could have happened in the first place. According to news reports, the angry United Airlines pilot was scheduled to fly a plane full of people … Continue reading →

Freaky Flight Attendant Starts Fire on Plane

Talk about a disgruntled worker. Be happy you weren’t on this flight: A Compass Airlines jet carrying 72 passengers and four crewmembers was forced to make an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota last week when an angry flight attendant deliberately set a fire in the plane’s restroom. Luckily no injuries were reported, but those on board the flight said the incident led to some very frightening moments. According to news reports, Eder Rojas, a 19-year-old flight attendant with Compass, was allegedly upset about his work schedule so he decided to set the plane on fire. But he only partially … Continue reading →