Screaming Babies and Children are Airplanes’ Banes!

Ask me that question: what comes to mind when I spark a discussion about screaming babies or children on airplanes? I am reminded of that ad for a cruise line when a kid in the yellow and black stripes grabs the man’s face and screams at him, seconds before he jumped off the plane and into the pool of one of the cruise line’s vessels. It’s one of the funniest cruise travel TV spots, but it sure pays homage to those screaming demons on, say, Bratty Airlines Flight 13.

Having flown on an airplane several times, the levels of squalling has varied. Some of all flights I had taken in and out of any airport were great because screaming kids and babies were so rare, and I blamed it on late-night and early morning flights! The others were pure insanities – screaming kids and babies abound to annoy many a passenger who wants his 2 hours of tranquility.

So why are bratty babies and children an issue we face when flying for vacation or business trip time, like summer, spring break, or the holiday season?

Many people have the memories on reading about that incident on AirTran fresh in their minds. Elly Kulesza, then a little, spoiled brat as some of you might view her, screamed, cried, hit her parents, and crawled under her seat. Attendants repeatedly admonished her parents to calm her down, but they gave up. That prompted the crew to eject the Kuleszas from the flight, which got delayed due to the incident. They soon reimbursed the tickets and they flew home. Some who read the story felt sorry for the Kuleszas, but some others agreed with the airplane’s actions.

So why are babies and children so bratty on the planes? Besides the usual on-land triggers, like hunger, tiredness, and boredom, there are a host of other cruxes. Air pressure is a concern because little ears cannot take an excessive amount as much as we adults-with-bigger-ears do.

Noise is also an issue when flying because there’s so much bustle and you’re over 9,000 feet above ground. Noise and changing altitude aside, a plane full of screaming babies and kids makes you want to leap off the plane and land into a pool of a cruise ship.