AC tosses 6yo Kid Off Plane

[cx777]

Air Canada tosses six year old off flight

Wed, September 6, 2006

By FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES
MONTREAL -- It appears to be the first time Air Canada has thrown a child off a plane. "To the best of my knowledge, we have never faced a case like this," said the airline's John Reber.

The incident happened Sunday at Toronto's Pearson airport. Sixty-two travellers had boarded an Airbus A320 scheduled to depart for Cancun, Mexico, at 8:30 a.m. A six-year-old kid, who was travelling alone and who had been escorted onboard without a problem by Air Canada staff, decided to be the killjoy. The plane had begun to move and passengers had just been told to fasten their safety belts when the child decided he didn't want to buckle up. Cabin crew members attempted to make him understand, but he wouldn't listen and became uncontrollable.

what's a 6 yo kid doing by himself on a plane to CUN?

Edit: According to some sources, the kid was brought back to his parents who were waiting at the airport..

[ptbodale]

He was an Unaccompanied Minor, just like the story says. The newspaper article is very sanitized compared to what the kid did.

[DAL767-400ER]

AC did the right thing. Being "afraid" of seat belts is no good sign, as it makes it look like his parents don't have him buckle up in the car either. Case of bad parenting it appears, though I'd bet the parents will find a willing lawyer to sue AC for discrimination/mistreatment/other lame excuse to earn money fast.

[screaming_emu]

sounds like the right thing to do by AC. I do the same thing when I drive, you're wearing a seatbelt or you're not riding in my car. I picked my dad up from work one time because he didn't have much time for a lunch break. We only had to drive 3 blocks to where we were going to eat and he didn't put on his seat belt. When I noticed I stopped the car and refused to move until he put it on. Talk about a reversal of roles

[cx777]

I agree that AC did the right move.. What the heck were the parents thinking? Letting their 6 year old child fly on his own..

[ptbodale]

We have lots of them every day. There are a lot of divorced people around and the kids make the trip from one parent to the other quite regularly.

[A332]

I would have tossed him out the front right side door...

That's the problem with parents today, they're too worried about their own lives to care about their children... or they figure they need to be their kid's best friend, which is wrong.

Kids need to have their asses kicked and learn independence and responsibility at a young age... it's too bad that simple logic is above the majority of today's parental units.

Good on AC!

[MaxPower]

I agree that AC did the right move.. What the heck were the parents thinking? Letting their 6 year old child fly on his own..

Don't tell me you haven't seen or heard about Unaccompanied Minor passengers ever before ?

The age requirements that are generally used by the airlines to define the unaccompanied minor are children between the ages of five and eleven years old (and sometimes up to 15 - it is always advisable to contact the airline to make sure that they accept unaccompanied minors as passengers)

It's the airline's responsibility to take care of this minor, seatbelt or not I dont think he should have got kicked out of the plane. It shouldnt not be that hard to convince a little kid to wear the seatbelts.Btw aren't the F/A's also trained to take care of these kind of issues too ??

[ACman]

It's the airline's responsibility to take care of this minor, seatbelt or not I dont think he should have got kicked out of the plane. It shouldnt not be that hard to convince a little kid to wear the seatbelts.Btw aren't the F/A's also trained to take care of these kind of issues too ??

If you tell the kid to put it on, and they refuse, then become hostile? You tell me what your going to do about that one...? Im sure the F/A's tried there best to get him to buckle it. There is just a point where they wont do it.

[Da-BoB]

If someone wont follow the safety rules then kick them off no matter who it is.

Stupid kid...
Stupid parents for letting the kid go alone....

The crew did the right thing.


BoB

[Chris Kilroy]

It's the airline's responsibility to take care of this minor, seatbelt or not I dont think he should have got kicked out of the plane. It shouldnt not be that hard to convince a little kid to wear the seatbelts.

Have you ever tried to make a six year old do something they don't want to do? Obviously not, because it's a lot easier said than done. I'd place bets that the cabin crew tried everything short of vodka in his milk (not a bad idea if I say so myself! ), and the kid simply wouldn't listen. At that point, nothing you can do.

Good call by AC! No reason to inconvenience the other 61 passengers more than absolutely necessary to get this situation resolved!

[Crunk415balla]

I would think either it was his first flight, or he is just bad behaved on aircraft. Either way, his parents should have known and not allowed him to fly on his own.

In a situation like this one, regardless of age, the airline did the right thing.

[MaxPower]

^^Been there, Done that !

If you tell the kid to put it on, and they refuse, then become hostile? You tell me what your going to do about that one...? Im sure the F/A's tried there best to get him to buckle it. There is just a point where they wont do it.

I would do anything to shut the kid up. Can you feel the sarcasm here ? I'm kidding.

Have you ever tried to make a six year old do something they don't want to do? Obviously not, because it's a lot easier said than done. I'd place bets that the cabin crew tried everything short of vodka in his milk (not a bad idea if I say so myself! ), and the kid simply wouldn't listen. At that point, nothing you can do.

Good call by AC! No reason to inconvenience the other 61 passengers more than absolutely necessary to get this situation resolved!

Like one said in this thread, I definitely think it's a bad parenting of the child. Not once did my nephew refuse to listen at me if I tell him to do this or that. Otherwise I'm not being hostile at all if he infact doesn't do what I tell him to. There's always another option , and its to offer the little kid some toys or whatever. I understand it as they "tried" everything to settle him and they failed. I guess they're not trained to take care of kids but one thing is for sure is that it's part of their job, right ? Hey don't flame me for this, this is only an opinion. Not ranting at the F/A's for failing with this kid. Not at all....

[uy707]

Well done AC and let your exemple be an inspiration for quite a few airlines
F/As are not supposed to put parents' shoes regarding brats and pests who are not in a hurry to understand they have to behave when outside home.
Alain

[JordanD]

Still beats the hell out of me why a 6 year old was flying alone to Cancun. Spring break was 7 months ago.