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Topic: Flying is overrated (AKA: Northwest Airlines YOU SUCK!)
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 07-16-2007 03:15 PM
I guess I come down somewhere between Brad's position and Mark's on this. I imagine that in a country the size of the US, families with very young kids are sometimes going to be in a position whereby there is no practical alternative to flying. Over here a 200-mile trip is about the longest drive most people have to make on a regular basis. I find that a stressful nightmare in most circumstances. But if you live in, say, Southern California and have close relatives in Maine, I can't think of any other sane way you're going to get there other than flying. The alternative is a week's drive each way, with all the fuel and motel costs that lets you in for. And of course it's that sort of flight (i.e. a lot longer than just one or two hours) on which being cooped up with a screaming toddler is hell on earth (or rather, hell at FL35): hence my suggestion for 'quiet flights' on long-distance routes, on which children simply weren't allowed.
There are other things the airline could do, though: for example, seat all travelers with young children together in the back two or three rows and a thick curtain separating them from the rest of the plane. It wouldn't shut the noise out completely, but it would help a bit.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 07-16-2007 06:36 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
I guess I should clarify that I hate screamin' babies on flights as much as the next person, but I can sympathize with the flight crew. Quite often there's no way to quiet a baby when it's crying unless you can stand up and bounce it around and sing to it. I've seen it in the theatre a million times: Baby cries, mom stands in the back and bounces kid around, kid quiets down....mom sits back down, kid cries again (repeat ad nauseum). But it's not exactly practical (or safe) in a plane.
But that's my main gripe here, there wasn't one single attempt by the flight crew to request the mother try and keep her baby under 150db, nor did the mother make ANY attempt to quieten the baby.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Remember that we were once infants and annoyed others
Wrong! My parents had better sense than to permit me to annoy others like that. They absolutely REFUSED to let me travel by plane until I was 5, and even then they were ADAMANT about me being quiet so as to not disrupt others.
Leo has some great ideas here. I have always felt anyone with infants should be forced to sit in the back X number of rows. Heck, split the cabin between the front and last half and make it clear that the last 5 rows are for infants and mothers only. That way for those who don't "appreciate" the ear shattering screams from a baby with bad parents, they can get a guaranteed seat reasonably far away from them. (First class tickets should never be permitted anyone under 18 either, but I've been on flights with a screaming baby in first class.)
Also I would say if the flight time is more than 90 minutes from gate to gate that infants shouldn't be allowed on period. That way if someone just HAS to take their baby across the country, it would be a reasonably short flight for the rest of everyone to have to endure if the parent can't or won't quieten their child. In this instance they could simply make a stop or two to get where they needed to go (which would give the kid more of a break).
I still think the best solution is to have "business grade" flights where no one under 18 is permitted...end of story. The airlines could charge an extra $50 and EVERYONE would pay it!
quote: Phil Hill
The kid cannot help it, but the dumbass POS mother can.
Honest and straight to the point!
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Richard Hamilton
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1341
From: Evansville, Indiana
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 07-16-2007 08:08 PM
My last trip back from China, I was on a United flight back to the States. They pushed us back from the gate and announced to us they had a warning light that was staying lit and they were trying to figure out the cause. Should be fixed momentarily! 3 hours later they cancelled the flight. That was the longest they could wait because anything longer, the flight crew would go over their time limit for the shift. Right before they cancelled it, the pilot says "We're gonna give it one last ditch effort here and cycle the power to see if the light goes out"!
We had to stand in line for our hotel and flight voucher. Then had to stand in line waiting for a bus. No one knew where to go. Another 4 hours later, I was in my hotel room. We had to wait in line to get our room keys. Imagine a few hundred people dumped into a hotel lobby at once. They told us the buses would be back at 10:30 the next afternoon to take us back. The next morning I called the front desk and they re-affirmed the time, but they told me to just stay in my room and they would call me. I think to myself"BULLSHIT, I'm in China, I'm going out and checking things out!" I had 2 1/2 hours to get into some sort of trouble! About 5 minutes later the front desk calls and says the buses were here and we needed to check out. That little Chinese man learned some new words that day. I didn't even have time to shower. I called my cousins room, woke him up and told him the news. So here we are, two dirty and propaply smelly americans walking into a lobby full of people trying to check out. We had to give them our flight vouchers to check in. So by the time I get to the desk, they have a bill for me for the 2 beers i took from the mini bar. I refused to pay it, but he kept insisting. I kept getting loder and louder with him. When it got to the point were I said very loudly that it wasn't my fault I had to stay here United is paying for my room, they can pay for 2 fucking beers!!!, was the point the manager rushed over and they talked very quickly that they were sorry and there was no charge.
So then we're at the airport like three hours early! They had taken the part that they needed off a plane at Narita to fix ours. About an hour or so before the flight, They announce our flight is delayed. Talk about a mad rush to the counter! I've never heard so much yelling and screaming at once.
When the flight crew arrived, they quickly ducked behind the doors to the boarding hall. When told of the situation the crew came out and the pilot calmly explained the situation. A little later I was talking to a stewardess and she told me they can't be delayed more than 3 hours again becuse they were considered on the clock even though they were just waiting. So as that time is nearing, I was talking to the Stewardess and she said there was a flight coming in and that we would take their plane and the people on that flight would take ours when it was fixed. By the time they prepped the plane and everyone boarded, we only had a few minutes to spare. We had to be pushed back from the gate before that 3 hour mark.
The flight was uneventful as I had depleted all the beer out of the vending machines and took advantage of their free drink policy on the flight! I didn't hear any babies, but I'm suprised no one complained about me snoring!
Of course we missed our connection in the states, meaning waiting in long lines after getting our luggage and waiting in lines at Customs. Then more lines for vouchers and buses.
Then we had to drive 3 hours from Atlanta to Nashville, then the next morning another 3 back to Evansville. Long fucking trip back!!!
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It's with American this time though, so we'll see how that goes.
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