Nurhachi Che, a 37-year-old IT consultant, was looking
forward to two hours of uninterrupted work on her first-class flight from
Philadelphia to Kentucky in February. Prepped to conquer all her work tasks,
she carefully unpacked her laptop, her AirPods, and her noise-canceling
headphones. And then a mother and her baby plopped into the first-class seat
next to Che’s, and she was pretty sure her undisturbed flight was doomed.
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Even after putting in her earbuds and then noise-canceling
headphones over them, Che said she was unable to block out the sound of the
baby’s cries. When, an hour before landing, the baby and her mother finally
fell asleep, the infant started slipping into Che’s lap.
“I am not heartless and would never wish harm on a child, but,
quite frankly, it’s not my job to watch a sleeping baby,” said Che, who is
child-free by choice. “Needless to say, between the screaming and then
babysitting for the final hour, I got almost no work done, and ended up working
late into the night to catch up after a long day of travel.”
For many travelers, luxury and babies don’t mix. For those who
prefer to mix with grown-ups while they’re trying to unwind, we have
adults-only pools and kid-free cruises. And yet, at 10,058m, when passengers
are paying thousands (or dipping into their precious points), there is no
guarantee of a relaxing, adult experience.
There are two opposing forces at play here: On the other end of
the spectrum, parents who bring their children to first class in an effort to
be a little more comfortable and feel pampered have to withstand the glares of
their fellow passengers and hope for the best. All the major airlines allow
infants (there is no age restriction) to fly in first class when accompanied by
an adult.
“I am not heartless and would never wish harm on a child, but, quite frankly, it’s not my job to watch a sleeping baby”
The challenge for airlines lies in striking a balance between
these two competing interests, and striving to ensure a peaceful environment
for all passengers.
Michelle McGovern, a lawyer in Brooklyn, said she totally
understood the joy of a baby-free flight, especially in first class, but when
she and her lap infant were upgraded on their flight from New York to Paris,
she was not going to turn the offer down.
“I entered the plane with Gabe in my arms, took that beautiful
left turn to first class, and was terrified that he’d misbehave,” McGovern said
of her then 1-year-old, who, incidentally, did not sleep a wink throughout the
flight. “It’s that essential question: Does first class buy you the right to
avoid hoi polloi and their kids, or do you need to fly private for that?”
Passengers have overwhelmingly voiced their support for kid-free
first-class sections. Seventy-four percent of business travelers in Britain
said that children were the biggest annoyance of flying, according to a survey
by the Business Travel Show Europe, part of Business Travel News Europe, a
corporate travel company. And a 2010 survey by Skyscanner, a booking app, found
that 60 percent of people wanted airlines to offer a kid-free section.
No such luck — for now, at least. However, the fact that babies
are typically unwanted in the front of the plane has made some parents think
twice before booking that first-class ticket.
Sarah Joseph, a co-founder of Parental Queries, a parenting
website, flew from St. Louis to Dubai with her nine-month-old son and found the
ordeal to be overwhelming. She had booked a first-class ticket because she was
looking for a more comfortable experience, but after her baby started to cry,
Joseph said she became embarrassed and apologized to her fellow passengers.
“It’s that essential question: Does first class buy you the right to avoid hoi polloi and their kids, or do you need to fly private for that?”
Jakob Miller, a retired doctor on Staten Island, recently took a
trip to Europe with his wife and experienced a similar situation, though he was
on the opposing team.
“At first, we just tried to ignore the noise and focus on our
own conversation, but as the hours went by, the baby’s cries became louder and
more frequent,” Miller said, explaining that although the mother tried to calm
her baby, nothing worked — which is why he believes that babies should be
banned from first class on planes. “First class is a premium space where
passengers pay extra for added comfort and relaxation. The presence of a baby,
with their potential crying and fussing, would disrupt the peaceful atmosphere
and ruin the experience for other passengers.”
Despite the many outspoken anti-baby voices, Scott Keyes,
founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, who has a one-year-old and a four-year-old,
believes that the overall sentiment toward babies is changing, offering more
empathy toward families traveling with young children.
“Of all the people in society who could use a bit of extra rest
and relaxation, it’s parents of young kids,” Keyes said.
That is not to say that families with babies should ignore
etiquette if they choose to fly first class, however.
Before booking a first-class ticket, parents must make an
informed decision as to whether they think their child will be a disruption,
said Elaine Swann, founder of the Swann School of Protocol, an etiquette school
in Carlsbad, California. This means being conscious of the length of the
flight, the time of day that they’re flying and the age of the child. If it
seems like the child will be a disruption to others, parents should select
another section of the plane, Swann suggested.
“This is where we need to think about how our choices and our
behavior can impact others’ well-being,” Swann said.
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