Before booking a first-class ticket, parents should make an informed decision about whether they think their child will be a disruption, said Elaine Swann, the founder of the Swann School of Protocol, an etiquette school in Carlsbad, California. aware of the length of the flight, the time of flight and the age of the child. If it looks like the child will disturb others, parents should choose a different part of the plane, Ms Swann suggested.
“This is where we need to think about how our choices and behaviors can affect the well-being of others,” Ms Swann said.
Parents of infants should also be prepared to soothe their children with food, drink, toys and entertainment, said Jacqueline Whitmore, an etiquette expert and former flight attendant for Northwest Airlines who is now director of the Protocol School of Palm Beach, an etiquette consultancy and training company. Since there is no policy prohibiting children and infants from flying first class, they belong there as long as they are respectful and well behaved, she said. In addition, Ms. Whitmore said, many of them are better behaved than some adults.
Collette Stohler, a travel journalist and co-founder of Roamaroo, a travel blog, has taken her baby to six countries and seven states during its eight-month life in first class, and she said she received many compliments on how well the child was doing. behaved on those flights. That’s more than she can say for the adults around her child.
“We have encountered numerous misbehaving, loud, drunk and entitled adults who disrupt the peace and quiet of first class cabins on many flights,” said Ms Stohler.
When Dr. Amy Guralnick, a pulmonologist, brought her 3-year-old to Israel from Chicago in business class seats, the woman next to her immediately changed her seat to a bus to avoid being near the baby. The man who claimed the abandoned business class seat was loud and obnoxious, spilling his drink on the baby, who slept through the entire 12-hour flight, said Dr. Guralnick.
“When getting off the plane, the original woman saw us and said she kept checking on us during the flight, and saw Sasha sleeping the whole time, and complained that she didn’t keep her original seat,” said Dr. Guralnick.
