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Child seats urged for air travel

Did you know that children under two aren’t required to wear safety restraints of some kind while flying? You are, during takeoff and landing and whenever else the pilot decides to turn on the seat belt sign. Not your baby. For some reason, the FAA simultaneously thinks that adults need to be belted in for safety during portions of the flight but that babies are perfectly safe sitting in your lap without a seat belt or car seat — as if they’re somehow immune from whatever can hurt an adult.


The NTSB's [National Transportation Safety Board] unanimous vote is the latest move in a 25-year battle over how to protect children younger than 2 on flights. Three children who were riding in a parent's lap have died in crashes in the past 20 years when the impact flung them across the cabin.

- Yahoo! News - Child seats urged for air travel

The NTSB has once again recommended mandatory child safety seats on flights. But the authority to enforce such an action lies with the FAA and they think differently. They claim that if people were forced to buy tickets and use car seats for infants on flights that more people would drive instead and that some of those people would be injured in car accidents — more than would be injured if they’d just flown with the baby on the parent’s lap. The NTSB did a study and didn’t find any evidence that this is true.

We flew to Denver two months ago and brought both car seats. Man, what a pain in the ass that was. Lugging two car seats, two (at times unconscious) kids, and bags through an airport (and security) is no fun. And then trying to get them down the Calista-Flockhart-sized-aisle in the plane itself is not for the faint-hearted or short. You’ve got to be able to carry the seat over your head so you can see and not hit anyone.

We flew on United, and despite the fact that I told them I was bringing infants and car seats when I bought the tickets, when we arrived at check-in we found out they’d sold me tickets that I wasn’t allowed to use the car seats with. Apparently, you’re only allowed to use the car seat in window seats. The check-in lady shrugged and didn’t seem to care very much. In the end I got the seat assignments rearranged so we could use them.

The whole experience was very weird. It’s like the whole system is setup to make it difficult to use a child safety seat. You’d think they’d be making it as easy as possible so that more parents would buy the extra ticket. As it is, it just seems like the entire airline industry doesn’t care about babies.

Ultimately, flying is very safe and you probably don’t need the seatbelt. Your child will probably be perfectly safe sitting on your lap and you’ll save some dough. And if the plane crashes, seat belts and child seats aren’t going to help you anyway. But what if your baby was one of those three that died? Does the FAA really think that the potential loss in revenue from families not flying because they won’t buy tickets for their kids worth the risk?

Comments

  1. Wiley Hodges on 2004-08-19 16:19:23 wrote: For what it’s worth, I just traveled on Soutwest Airlines this past weekend with my 9 week-old son and had a relatively pleasant experience. SWA offers 129 each way infant fares even at the last minute, though you have to book them over the phone rather than online. The gate agents understood the drill with boarding us and our car seat and child, and since they don’t have pre-assigned seats it was easy to get a window. I have to confess that I was never a fan of Southwest before, but this trip somewhat changed my thinking. Hearing about how unfriendly the ‘Friendly Skies’ have become makes me think I may be flying Southwest more often in the future…

  2. Syd J on 2005-03-28 09:58:49 wrote: We flew Delta with our two year old, and it was a complete PITB. Delta refuses to pre-board parents travelling with small children, so we had to get in the cattle call line with all the people who blocked the aisles playing with their laptops. Meanwhile, we’re carrying a baby and a car seat. When our flight arrived late, Delta’s gate agents flat-out refused to call the gate for our connecting flight, to make sure we could get there in time, so we literally had to run through Atlanta’s massive airport, take escalators and trams to get to our connecting flight, with carry-on luggage for three people, a toddler, and a car seat. I’ll never fly Delta again.

  3. flying with baby on 2005-08-31 01:58:36 wrote: I fly with my baby. she is under 2 and don’t bother to buy a seat for her. she is perfectly fine with me on my seat. she is well behaved and travels well. I still don’t belive in having to use a safety seat since just like what other say. if the plane crashes. it’s not going to save anyone. that lap belt won’t even save an adult. have you seen an adult in a lap belt survive a plane crash? and especially a plane crash in water? that baby in a safety seat will sink down to the bottom of the ocean due to the weight.

  4. Liz - mother of 3 on 2006-04-29 17:56:11 wrote: I have been flying for 10 years with my children, and I have always bought each child a seat. I have seen laptops fly off tray tables in rough turbulence. What makes a parent think he or she can hold on to a small baby! I am furious today because I just found out that United has discontinued its infant fares (used to be 50% off). American really is not doing better since infant fares are now only available under the highest classes of service, guaranteeing that they are not reasonably priced. Shouldn’t we be incenting young families to buy seats for their children? The whole thing is just shocking. Remember Sioux City….children in infant seats lived; children on laps died. Thanks for letting me vent!

  5. Raymenie on 2006-11-29 15:20:15 wrote: I’m an au pair so I often fly with small children as part of my job. Depending on my employer I have flown both with a car seat and with a child just on my lap. I have to say that unless that fare is ridiculously expensive it’s worth having the car seat just to give your child somewhere more comfortable to sit. Most infants and small toddlers are comfortable in their car seats plus in my experience they can’t kick the seat in front and annoy that passenger if they’re belted into their car seat. Having them on your lap for any long flight is uncomfortable for you and them. And for what it’s worth I recently flew with Alaska Airlines with a two year old and a six-year-old and took the car seat for the youngest child. I had to drag it through the airport and onto the plane by myself (along with the kids and luggage) but was allowed to place it in any seat except an exit row. Plus the stewardess came by to check that it was properly installed in the airline seat. And Alaska Airlines still pre-board families with children under 12. A seatbelt isn’t going to save a child if the plane crashes mid-flight but most crashes are during take-off and landing and then it could certainly save your child from serious injury.