Babies on Board

I have been traveling approximately 50,000 miles a year--mostly on business--for the last 20 years and was amazed by author Eileen Ogintz’s statement: “It’s time airlines did a lot more for their littlest paying customers” (“Screaming Babies on Board,” Taking the Kids, Dec. 20). The job of the airlines is to take passengers from Point A to Point B, and the key task of the flight attendants is passenger safety. Food, drink and entertainment are fringe benefits at best.

When I travel, I bring food, something to drink and reading material. If the meal and beverage service are late or not to my liking, I still have a pleasant flight.

When I travel with my wife and daughter (now 11), we check our bags that have clothes in them, and bring with us a cooler with juices and bottled water; a bag with bread and snack food; and a collection of toys and games. Children will become restless on a flight, but parents can plan ahead using their own resources. They shouldn’t rely on the airlines for everything.

ALAN BLOOM

Manhattan Beach

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Since my opinions are quoted in the article on screaming small children on an American Airlines flight from London, I’d like to make it perfectly clear that I’m not against children flying--only against a 2-to-4-year-old standing in a seat screaming open-mouthed at the top of his lungs, or running up and down the aisles unsupervised doing the same thing.

This is not an unsolvable problem; just add some common sense. There were other young children on board in both directions of my flight with no problem. As for American Airlines’ Bill Dreslin’s comment that it’s “up to the parents to control their kids,” he is absolutely right, but those who aren’t controlling them need to be assisted, and I think all airlines had better start taking responsibility for everything going on in their planes at 37,000 feet.

PATRICIA MACE

Los Angeles