Screaming Babies on Board

The baby screamed five hours straight through the night, all the way from Las Vegas to New York on the packed holiday flight.

He wasn’t mine, thank goodness, but his wails kept me awake just the same.

Veteran traveler Patricia Mace was so upset by the young children crying and wreaking havoc on a flight home from London that she complained bitterly to American Airlines.

“We don’t allow adults to disturb other passengers, so why do we allow a tiny child to scream?” the Los Angeles dress designer said. The flight attendants should have done more, Mace said. “I don’t think other people should have to put up with this.”

Unfortunately, they don’t have much choice. “This is public transportation, and children have as much right to be there as anyone else. We can’t refuse to sell tickets to children,” said Pat Friend, president of the 43,000-member Assn. of Flight Attendants.

In fact, airline officials say more children than ever are flying as air travel grows increasingly popular--600 million people a year are boarding flights in the United States, reports the Air Transport Assn. With more than 33 million heading to airports between now and the end of the year, you’ll be hard pressed to find a flight without children.

But airlines field far more complaints about lost bags, late flights and even disruptive adults than pint-size passengers.

American Airlines responded to Mace’s letter with a nice “sorry for your inconvenience” letter and $100 travel vouchers for herself and her husband.

Don’t expect the flight crew to help much. Airlines don’t consider the kids on board to be their responsibility unless they’re flying unaccompanied. “It’s up to the parents to control the kids,” said American Airlines spokesman Bill Dreslin.

United flight attendant Susan Irick-Hacker said, “Parents just look at me cross-eyed if I say anything, even if the kids are in the aisles and it’s not safe. They get very defensive if you criticize how they’re handling their children.”

Many parents lament the airlines’ the-kids-aren’t-our-problem attitude. Most won’t even hand out the airline coloring book unless a parent asks for one.

“It would make life more pleasant for everyone on board if airlines did more for families,” said Laurie Stiver, a West Coast certified public accountant and mother of a 2-year-old. On one flight, she said, the flight attendant wouldn’t even get her water for her son’s bottle. Wait for the beverage cart, Stiver was told. Try telling that to a tired 2-year-old who couldn’t go to sleep without his bottle.

Some airlines finally have taken the cue and instituted special services for families traveling with children. Delta has a just-for-kids frequent-flier club with a special magazine. Virgin Atlantic has an individual entertainment center at every seat, complete with kids’ movies and video games. It gives out backpacks stocked with toys, games and even sunglasses, and special boxed snacks.

El-Al has established special family zones where parents with children are seated. The kids get toys and activity books. Bathrooms are equipped with changing tables, and baby food and diapers are on board.

If your baby is under 2, most major airlines will allow you to purchase a ticket at half the lowest available fare so that he or she can fly in a car safety seat, as the Federal Aviation Administration recommends, rather than on your lap.

It’s time airlines did a lot more for their littlest paying customers. How about selling inexpensive small toys or coloring books and crayons along with the headsets and drinks; programming recorded children’s books on the audio channel; handing kids a snack and puzzle book when they board; or equipping bathrooms with fold-down changing tables and plastic bags for used diapers.

All of you flying parents must have many more ideas. Send them to the airlines.

Taking the Kids appears the first and third week of every month.