As a mom, I haven’t even attempted to take my son on a flight yet because I know that it would probably be an unpleasant experience for both of us — and the rest of the plane.
However, sometimes parents have no choice and need to fly with their little ones. One airline is earning praise for their genius booking system that helps parents and non-parents alike.
For many parents, taking their baby or toddler on a flight is stressful.
As if flying wasn’t hectic enough, now imagine doing it with a mini person who requires food, activities, and isn’t very good at sitting still for long periods of time.
And for passengers without kids, I think we all know what’s going to happen as soon as the flight takes off.
Babies crying on a flight has to be up there with nails on a chalkboard on the irritating scale.
Now, one company has come up with a genius solution to this common problem.
Japan Airlines’ website indicates which seats are occupied by children on the seat map by using a little child emoji. That way, passengers can pick seats out of the crying radius. Pretty smart if you ask me!
While the airline has been doing this since 2016, it just came to many people’s attention thanks to this tweet from Twitter user Rahat Ahmed.
Online, people are loving this idea and hoping that other airlines start doing something similar.
In fact, some people on Twitter wanted airlines to take this one step further.
One user suggested that airplanes have a “sound-proof barrier” for infants traveling on flights.
However, Rahat’s tweet also sparked an intense debate.
Some people online thought the seating chart only encouraged judgment towards parents who often don’t have any choice when it comes to their baby crying on a flight.
Parents also weighed in.
This dad explained that adults without children need to show some compassion and tolerance towards crying kids. Usually, it’s out of the parents’ hands.
Since his tweets have gone viral, Rahat also followed up with a response.
He agreed that empathy is important towards families traveling with children but still thought the seating chart was helpful for planning.
If you think about it, the tool could actually be helpful for parents.
Some parents might actually want to sit next to other families. Sometimes there’s strength in numbers, plus, you never have to worry about running out of wipes.
What do you think about this seating chart?
