Airline JSX has banned a family from travel, cancelling the return portion of their trip, after their toddler “dropped some chips on the ground” and then threw up as they were deplaning the Embraer-145 aircraft.
If anyone is looking for a recommendation for the least family friendly airline, fly @flyjsx ! They canceled our return flight and banned us from the airline because my toddler dropped some chips on the ground and my baby spit up on our way out.
— [Redacted] December 25, 2022
This has proven highly contentious. Reactions from some travelers has been to applaud the airline, and say they’re more likely to fly JSX – the scheduled charter service that flies to and from private terminals – while others are appalled at cancelling a family’s travel plans because of something that happens from time to time with a young child.
Kids can be messy. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, though it’s not unreasonable for the carrier to want passengers to control (and clean up after) their children. And a child who makes a mess and spits up after one flight might impose those same cleaning costs and possible delay and inconvenience for passengers (both on that flight and the next) on subsequent legs of a journey.
The airline confirms that they don’t abide this behavior, and consider the decision appropriate – to protect themselves and other passengers. According to a JSX spokesperson,
JSX reserves the right to refuse travel to any customers who create a threat to the well-being of our Crewmembers and fellow Customers. While we regret to inconvenience anyone, the safety of our operation remains our paramount priority and appropriate actions are taken, when required, to maintain such an environment.
As the father of a young child I was fortunate to travel all over the world with her, and fortunate that she was a relative breeze. However travel was limited during some of what would have been her most challenging periods by the pandemic.
Is it the case that how you feel about this decision depends on whether you’re a parent or not, or whether you’re the parent of a current toddler or not? I’ve certainly really enjoyed flying JSX and would do so again. But they’ve certainly put parents on notice: you’re responsible for your child’s behavior, and they should be held to the same standard as adults. And not for nothing but I’ve flown with several adult passengers who should be banned under this standard as well. Airline JSX has banned a family from travel, cancelling the return portion of their trip, after their toddler “dropped some chips on the ground” and then threw up as they were deplaning the Embraer-145 aircraft.
Good. Keep the [redacted -gl] at home.
I’m assuming all other pax on JSX have exemplary behavior at all times, and don’t unknowingly leave crumbs on their seats or wrappers in the console?
As a child, I was anxious to grow up and board a flight with smartly dressed passengers in their 20s and 30s, and gorgeous stewardesses in their 20s. Then I grew up and discovered my rambunctious day care was a thousand times more civilized.
Just give me a hazmat suit and sleeping pills si I can fly undisturbed by contemporary culture.
Good. Keep the [removed -gl] and their enabling parents on Southwest.
There has to be more to this story than what’s presented here. I’d like to see some pictures of video of just how bad the mess was and if it was spread over more than their seats.
It doesn’t pass the smell test with me.
I’m sure it was more than “some chips“. Most likely it would have been a huge mess. Of course adults can make the same mess and they should be treated as the same. I’ve never flown this airline, nor am I familiar with it but by the picture it appears to be a somewhat premium offering. That being the case, this is probably very reasonable if someone is paying a significant premium to fly in a more isolated environment the last thing they would want to hear, is a screaming baby, throwing things all over the place, and potentially vomiting all over as well. At the end of the day, it’s best, just simply to not travel with small babies. No one ever wins. Babies tend to be miserable themselves, and everyone around them tend to be just as miserable, so best to simply avoid all together.
Family should fly Spirit. No matter how kids are noisy or messy, they are always welcomed!
Sorry but this seems a little suspect. It is hard to believe that a child dropping chips and a spitting up would cause an airline to ban them. I have a feeling there is more to this than is being reported.
Yes please ban unruly pax and parents who refuse to control their kids. It causes suffering for the other pax – why should we all suffer bc some parent won’t act responsibly
I’d be willing to bet that it was the parents’ actions and behaviors that got the family banned, not the kid’s.
Agree with everyone else, it definitely has to be more than “some chips”. For someone to get banned and have their return flights cancelled, it had to have been really bad. Every once in a while we’ve seen photos of the mess that some families left when deboarding a plane, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case for this person too.
If the kid left a giant mess, is it that hard to clean up after their mess? Sure, it’s not their home. However, having the etiquette and courtesy to clean up after your family isn’t a big ask, regardless of where you are.
an adult here. To say that you know, when you are sick, you often cannot have any control over bodily functions. Kid or adult. IT’s a dreadful feeling or horribly embarrassing to have such a problem/accident in public. But to ban people? Although if the basis for the move was concern re the spread of illnesss I totally agree.
It is commonplace these days that entitled parents think that someone will pick up after their kids. Hate to see what their homes look like.
This is always a controversial issue. I flew a trip home yesterday in F class. Two year old in front of me screamed and yelled the whole two hour trip. Annoying, very much so. Ban the family, I would not.
At JSX, when the “chips” are down, get rid of the clowns.
When in doubt, throw them out!!!
Definitely a JSX hit job here. Likely excluded:
1) Parents told to clear up chips — refused. Doubtless they were acutley concious of what good people they were;
2) Parents told to pay for vommit cleaning (including removing the smell). Again, acutley concious of what good people they were;
I bet if Gary’s daughter did the latter he would be profously embarrassed and offer to pay. If the airline declined he would whip out his phone and say “name me a charity that I can contribute $100 to on the web in recogniton of the cleaning crew at JSX”.
These parents thought the other passengers should contribute tro them.
Something seems off about this story. I’m sure there is more to the story although she says there isn’t on her Twitter feed. I’m surprised a liberal like her would use up so much carbon footprint to fly a semi-private jet for a Christmas trip but it was a good idea not to fly Southwest I guess.
Evidently, we do not have as much information as commenters would like. My thought is that JSX need to inform prospective passengers in easily readable writing of the policy that resulted in the couple in question being banned. Verbal notice will not suffice, nor will fine print somewhere on the ticket.
That said, from the information provided it appears that the parents were unprepared for the disturbance their child created. Wise parents, even if inexperienced, should know that a young child may drop food, toys, etc., and experience gastric distress, i.e., throw up, spit up, have diarrhea, etc., and be prepared to keep the mess to a minimum.
We’re not told how the parents and flight attendants interacted. Attitudes play an often-determining role in how rules, procedures, and regulations are enforced.
Let’s hope that all parents who fly JSX with young children will bear in mind the effect their youngsters’ behavior may have on the crew and other passengers and keep their cool, behaving courteously and with understanding when their children exhibit disturbing behavior.
Meh, I’d rather fly a plane filled with toddlers then most members of the general public.
Although to be be fair, I’ve always enjoyed “inconveniencing” anyone who thinks flying is a right reserved only for them.
Everyone was a child at some point. I will boycot this airline. Screw all you arrogant tupes out there. Just shows the level of self indulgence this society has become!
I would bet the house that there is WAY more to this story than what she has posted on Twitter. There are always 2 sides to every story.
Maybe I’m an a-hole but I just booked a flight with JSX for an upcoming trip *because* of this story.
There is more to it per some folks I know more familiar with it. It wasn’t just simple crumpled chip. The parents attitude had a lot to do with it apparently.
Not buying this for a moment.
Suspect the real answer is the parents handed the kid a bag of chips and the kid threw them all over while the parents laughed and thought it was cute.
Does anyone really thing the parents are telling the whole story?
Agree with most comments, there’s more to the story than poor mom lets on. I’ve taken my kids on flights and if they spilled something I had them clean it up. It’s called accountability.
Again, there is more to this story than the family is saying. I’m sure the airline is not being that petty.
This begs the question, should the parent(s) be thrown off, or the child? Now I’m not advocating for throwing them all off at once, I’m not even advocating for banningvthem permanently. I believe that had they taken appropriate measure and thrown the mother off the flight ✈️ mid-air, the father might have properly cared for the child thereafter. Of course, the airline could have also chosencto throw the child out of a window and the parents might then have realized they should have cared for their child sleightly better. Either way, a complete ban of the whole family seems a bit drastic.
For folks saying there is something else going on here, JSX did not make any suggestion to that effect when I reached out.
Thank you JSX for standing your ground and making flying more comfortable for the rest of us.
My general attitude to this is that parents do not have the right to inflict their children on others. The folk who booked a JSX flight did so because they wanted comfort and less hassle. (never flown them, may give them a try) That’s not what they got. Sorry, but just because you spawned another human doesn’t mean you get to share them with everyone else. That’s why you have a car.
Now let’s re-write this to an airport club… same comments
@Gary: JSX is hardly likely to say anything. To do so invites some kind of lawsuit from this fathead woman. To say nothing has achieved their objective of getting her off their planes to make them a better place for everybody.
Their focus on customer service is so total it is almost certain they had good reason for their actions.
@T: “…I will boycot this airline. Screw all you arrogant tupes out there. Just shows the level of self indulgence this society has become!”
And you can use your extra time spent in airport terminals working on your appalling sentence composition.
UPDATE: Caroline Chatham @thecipster is now blocking everybody on Twitter who is critical of her. Not only a strong sign of guilt but also biasing the content of the tweets you see.
@L3 – 1000% agree with everything you’ve said!!
@L3 – airlines, including this one, will at least usually offer some context on background
Ya don’t really know what actually happened. I will bet that the back story is a lot more interesting than just dropping a few chips and spitting up. I have had children who flew with me to and from Europe, but never once did I have to correct disruptive behavior. When one of my sons was about 10 he was seated a row behind me next to a businessman in first class. At the end of the long flight the man gave him a $5.00 bill for being such a good companion. Kids can be disruptive and unpleasant if they know that the parents will not correct them or fault them for it. Parents who look the other way when kids act up make flying awful for other passengers.
Good, Stay home with your monster and don’t bother everyone with your entitlement and obnoxious manners … take UA, they love guys like you
Sounds like the same type of parent that allows her child to run amuck in a restaurant and stick his hands in the mashed potatoes on the buffet ,pull all the drink levers, climb on counters whilst saying nothing Until he/she gets hurt. Kudos to the airline!
JSX must know where they make their money. I’m willing to bet it is adult kids that have modestly better chip handling skills and only vomit for “good reasons” but I could be wrong. At least now we all know this. So everybody wins.
It must have been quite egregious for them to have been banned.
*aplause* now that’s a first class airline, putting the vast majority of their customers needs first. Definitely getting my business.
another woke liberal crying about not getting special treament.
I am 32 years old and have a 6 year old Son. When my wife got pregnant we made the decision to not do things inappropriate for children until the time was right. When we wanted to go out for dinner we got a babysitter, because when we go out to eat, we don’t want screaming kids around us, and until our son was about 4 or 5, getting him to consistently behave properly was a challenge. We didn’t take him on commercial flights for the same reason. Now that he is a bit older, we can set expectations and hold him to those. Parents need to learn that having a child is a life changing event, and expecting others to deal with your kids is unacceptable. Not everyone has kids, and your child is not their responsibility. To my wife and I, having a child put us on a 4 to 6 year sabbatical of being the traditional “public” people we used to be. Was it tough? Yes! Was it the right thing to Do? Absolutely. People need to realize that a child impacts how you live your life and plan on avoiding public settings until your child can behave appropriately.
As a plus, we learned to enjoy the long road trips as a family (much like our parents did with us), and got out of the laziness of just jumping on an airplane when a 5 or 6 hour drive would get is there.
Interestingly, on Twitter, somebody asks:
“Have you reimbursed for the cost of cleaning?”
And she replies:
“I would’ve happily paid for the two napkins it likely took to clean it up. I was holding a baby and bags at the time otherwise would have done it myself.”
So, evidently being a parent excuses you from cleaning up after yourself – too important – the strutting superior attitude of a self entitled super parent all too happy to shite on other people!
And then not only did she fail to clean up after her baby and brat, she didn’t offer to pay for the cleaning, and, most troublingly, evidently has no idea about basic health and hygiene standards (she seems to think two napkins are sufficient clean up the mucous or puke or sloppy milk, or whatever that came out of her baby’s slobbering mouth – give me strength!).
Thanks to @ Gary Leff’s former review and this incident, I’m looking at using JSX for their NY (Westchester) to MIA service on my upcoming round-the-world trip.
To note, that JSX has been recognised for their efforts in training their staff to handle kids with autism. To quote Forbes:
“A few years back, JSX CEO Alex Wilcox was on a business trip when he encountered a family with a child on the autism spectrum. The child was so distraught by the sights, sounds, and overall airport experience that the family couldn’t board the plane. Wilcox felt he could do something about this at JSX.
“After that encounter, Wilcox was dedicated to building on JSX’s existing strengths by empowering crew members to serve people with autism and their families better, furthering the air carrier’s mission of offering simple, joyful, and reliable air travel for all.”
Evidently, not the sort of company a self entitled parent should be publicly trashing in terms of their commitment to traveling families!
@ L3
There are still plenty of dissenting counter Tweets in the thread.
Tellingly, the original tweet only garnered 36 likes out of 10,000 views…..;)
@Spencer H: Very cogently stated.
Can’t stand dealing with kids and always try to move away if I have a choice on a flight. JSX has the right idea and I’d be happy flying with them.
also @Spencer H thank you for being the type of person and parent that I wholeheartedly respect. I’m glad there are still people like you in this world. I hope others can take your words to heart and consider similar measures.
Maybe a child’s repeated upchucking of food had some in the flight crew thinking the children had a norovirus infection or something like that?
Either way, it’s no fun to have to clean up the biological waste — and burp and vomit upchuck can be categorized like that — from bodily movements that aren’t exactly fully under control.
Adult passengers can vomit on the floor of planes and make messes with food too. Usually adults can manage to get a “barf bag” and use it before the vomit comes all the way up, but not always. And the cause of vomiting isn’t always an infection — it could be the product of motion sickness, airline food poisoning, allergic reactions, etc.
Airline no-fly list for those adults too?
I’d like to know how many passengers on plane. And if any saw what went on.
Also…how much they paid for flight. How much refunded.
Some of the above comments are incredibly mean and stupid. So none of them started out an infant?
Somehow I suspect there might be just a wee bit more to the story. But she’s had her 15 minutes of fame, so hopefully will change her attitude next flight. This airline seems to not be very interested in having children as pax … can’t blame them.