sreyoB yrraL
AVSIG Member
Reged: 05/16/04
Posts: 7451
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Quote:
I wonder if they reserved on-line and purchased at the counter.
If they entered the infants on the web site the site would have required them to enter at least as many adults as infants. It has separate fields for adults, seniors, children (2-14), infants (in seat), & infants (in lap).
The only way I see for an uninformed passenger to mess it up is to think that they don't have to list the infants since infants don't get a ticket.
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sreyoB yrraL
AVSIG Member
Reged: 05/16/04
Posts: 7451
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Quote:
Of course most of us know the rules--but why do we expect the amateurs to know the rules?
Well, Ralph... They don't seem to have any trouble figuring out that their <2 yr old infants can fly for free. :)
As I pointed out above, the web site does a really good job of making sure that you have an adult for each lap-child.
Quote:
Sounds like event the flight crew spent 40 minutes figuring them out.
It was an unusual situation having that many babes-in-arms. You had the complexity of making sure each person had an O2 mask (4 per row of 3 seats) and you did have a ticketed passenger for each lap-child, just not an adult. I've never heard of someone trying that before. Then they added the idea of having the unrelated passenger take the extra lap-child, but they figured out that was against policy. Then a passenger offered to buy them an extra seat but that required retrieving a checked child seat. Then, apparently, the family decided not to re-board for reasons that I haven't seen detailed.
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sreyoB yrraL
AVSIG Member
Reged: 05/16/04
Posts: 7451
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Sorry, just getting tired of engineers trying to dictate what common sense is and these all encompassing, in some cases, overdone, regulations that extend to out toilets, light bulbs, medical choices, etc.
You're sounding an awful lot like a Libertarian, Dave. :)
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Dave Siciliano (ADS)
Top Gun
Reged: 05/17/04
Posts: 5728
Loc: ADS (Dallas, TX)
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Don't get me wrong! I don't agree with what they did. Planning on putting an infant on a 3-year-olds' lap doesn't sound too smart to me and shouldn't be allowed. Oxygen mask availability certainly should be considered. But Mom and Dad having a small one on their lab seems acceptable.
I think press releases like this hurt us all. It shouldn't have to be published on a web site. Folks shouldn't be counting on a 3 year-old holding an infant for the length of a flight and being responsible for him/her in an emergency. Now, where is the line? What age?
Best,
Dave
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sreyoB yrraL
AVSIG Member
Reged: 05/16/04
Posts: 7451
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Quote:
Now, where is the line? What age?
On USAirways, the minimum age to hold a lap-child is 18.
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Russell Holton
AVSIG Member
Reged: 07/07/05
Posts: 8538
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Quote:
Folks shouldn't be counting on a 3 year-old holding an infant for the length of a flight and being responsible for him/her in an emergency.
Is that what they were counting on, or was the plan that one of the parents was going to double-up?
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Russell Holton
AVSIG Member
Reged: 07/07/05
Posts: 8538
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Quote:
If they entered the infants on the web site the site would have required them to enter at least as many adults as infants. It has separate fields for adults, seniors, children (2-14), infants (in seat), & infants (in lap).
The only way I see for an uninformed passenger to mess it up is to think that they don't have to list the infants since infants don't get a ticket.
That's assuming that
1) US Air hasn't change the website.
2) That they were looking at the same page you were.
I'd like to see if they can find that page again. While they said it was a US Air webpage, I wonder if it was something like Expedia or Travelocity. Once they selected the flight/airline, they thought there were at that company's website when in fact they were still at a third party's site.
Also, if they did buy the tickets at the counter, it seems like a missed opportunity to catch the situation before it got that far. Although I suppose it's possible that only one parent went to the counter.
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Geoff Sjostrom - Chicago
Top Gun
Reged: 04/29/04
Posts: 3798
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>>"The option for infants or kids under 2 is not included unless you look at a
>>different part of the website and click again for a further explanation."
>>I wouldn't expect anyone to go over the entire website. This sounds like
>>bad website design.
I went to the main page of the US Airways website and searched for the term
"infant" and the first page listed was "US Airways: Infants & Children".
The first two sentences on that page are, "US Airways defines an infant as a
child less than 2 years (24 months) of age. Infants less than 2 years of age
must be accompanied on all flights and in the same compartment with an adult
at least 18 years of age."
It wasn't that hard.
Geoff Sjostrom
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Russell Holton
AVSIG Member
Reged: 07/07/05
Posts: 8538
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Quote:
I went to the main page of the US Airways website and searched for the term "infant" and the first page listed was
A good way to find policy, but it's not necessarily what I'd expect someone looking to buy tickets (or create a reservation) to do.
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nehoC hctiM
Top Gun
Reged: 08/03/04
Posts: 1736
Loc: ORD based, heart in So Calif.
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People sometimes turn into complete idiots when traveling.
Some probably don't have the time nor inclination to digest rules, and possibly think they are the kind that rules will be bent for.
--------------------
USA Today said, people over 50 are calmer.
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