The FAA has warned parents over holding lap infants on planes in light of the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug incident. Had a parent been sitting near the hole that opened in the plane’s fuselage, the child could have been ripped from their arms. The MAX 9 debacle may be used in a push to ban lap infants, requiring parents to buy tickets for their children under two years of age, something that the head of the largest flight attendants union has been calling for for years.
And that’s a bit of a strange concern!
- Is the FAA expecting more gaping holes in fuselages going forward? If so, any focus on lap infants rather than Boeing would seem misplaced.
- Lap infants aren’t safe when a hole opens in the fuselage of the aircraft. The question is how often do they expect this to happen going forward?
When something bad happens to a baby or a toddler, it’s horrible, and you want to do something about it. There’s an emotional pull to act even with a theoretical risk that’s never actually happened.
A child with their own seat and a car seat or CARES harness is the safest option, and many parents choose that. Should we force all parents to do so? I’m not so sure.
- That last time a child without a seat died in turbulence was 1994. That’s 30 years ago.
- In contrast, “About 150 children younger than 5 drown in bathtubs, buckets, toilets and other containers in and around the home each year.”
In terms of actual risk, this doesn’t seem like it ought to be among our higher priorities. Meanwhile banning lap infants on planes – requiring families purchase seats for children under 2 – may make those children less safe.
- Flying is safer than driving. Maybe even on a 737 MAX 9!
- Making flying more expensive encourages driving
It never shows up in the safety statistics for flying, but more people driving means more people in car accidents, and the resulting fatalities are representative of a phenomenon referred to as ‘statistical murder’.
Making air travel more expensive for families means making travel less safe for families who are forced to use other means of transportation instead. So I’m not sure requiring families to spend more on travel makes their children safer. But it’s a great issue. The next time something bad does happen, proponents can say “told you so!” And they bear no responsibility for car accidents.
Meanwhile, my advice to parents who can’t afford that extra seat? Fly Southwest. Their open seating policy means that on any flight that isn’t completely sold out you’ll probably have an extra seat free. Because nobody wants to sit next to a screaming baby! Fly especially at off peak times if you can to improve your chances even further.
If you’re worried about lap infants during rapid decompression of an aircraft due to a hole opening up in its fuselage you probably don’t allow the aircraft to fly, and you probably require everyone to remain belted at all stages of flight, before you ban lap infants over this issue.
@ Gary — That doesn’t seem unreasonable
Yeah, and even if Boeing did it’s &$#!*%@ job and made planes that were, what’s the word?….oh yeah, SAFE,…..the reality is that there will still be the inevitable, unforeseeable extreme turbulence that sends adults to an ER and might kill an infant.
Ban fake service dogs while they are at it .
@ Alert — Amen!
Holding a baby in your arms is about as safe for others as holding apiece of luggage in your arms while taking off or landing. The reason it is required in some circumstances, like for a infant, is probably about keeping the baby as comfortable as possible in a situation that often causes babies to cry. I think that requiring that the baby be in a parent worn certified harness that doesn’t allow the baby to separate from the parent would be the correct solution. Of course, an alternative would be to have the baby in their own seat in the equivalent of a car baby seat but one certified for air travel. In that case the baby should have their own paid ticket that is not able to be revoked by the flight attendants. It seems like the FAA is trying to be proactive at this time so they can avoid any responsibility for the Alaska Airlines incident.
Statistical murder is a great term. California just started a wealth tax. It is Statistical exile or expulsion.
For now, it applies only if you have $1 billion. Ha ha, punish those fat cats. However, the tax is increasing so that $50 million I assets are taxed in 2026. Even if not changed, inflation will cut that to an equivalent of $6 million in 30 years. In California, $6 million is the value of a nice house and zero assets or an average house in SF plus assets for retirement. That will mean retirees should move out of California. Note that the tax applied for a few years even if you move.
Holding an infant is dangerous. No deaths since 1994 is not the right measure. It’s also injury.
Still it’s statistically safe but dangerous in terms of physics.
It’s tiring to hold an infant more than SFO-LAX or BOS-DCA.
How about a free 2nd seat like for fat people? Also, because of diversity, a free seat for African Americans. Also, a free seat on Delta if your name is T. Dunn because you are T. Smart or Too Smart.
@ derek — California has not passed this wealth tax, although hopefully it will asap.
I doubt this tax will drive retirees out of California. I don’t know why anyone would live there for five seconds after retirement. The taxes are already a rip off.
@Gary – You forgot the primary reason it doesn’t make sense; normal seatbelts are dangerous for babies and infants! The idea is ludicrous. If they wanted to improve baby safety, they should work on harnesses for the child *in the parents lap* to keep them safe and feeling secure.
Gene the wealth tax will go to a hearing on Wednesday..California passes all taxes as they love taxing their taxpayers ..The 2.7 billion in free healthcare to illegals has to come from somewhere..They started enforced another 1.1% payrolll tax =14.4% now.. nuts…
Complicated issue.
No data on lap infants injured by turbulence?
I would be more worried about that…..
I happen to agree with banning lap children. It’s not that anyone expects another explosive decompression, Gary. It’s that trying to hold onto a child during a crash is very dangerous to the child and everyone in the rows ahead.
The sudden g-force of an accident makes it difficult or impossible to hang onto a child due to inertia. The child can easily become a projectile in the cabin. Airlines are very safe, but as we just saw a few days ago, not perfect. Yeah, it will be a trial for parents with lap children to bring on approved car seats and pay a (reduced, I hope) fare. I get that. Sometimes, safety has to count over convenience.
@dee – The increase in SDI tax is very minimal. What is not minimal is the lifting of the cap on wages, to which 1.1% applies. Thus, two people residing in California married to each other with a combined income of $500,000 will see their SDI tax increase from $1602 in 2022 to $5500 in 2023, an increase of over 300%. Welcome to California.
@Gene, I am retired in California. My paid for medical, Kaiser, is only available in some parts of some states. Choosing a different provider creates a monthly charge and doesn’t always have coverage everywhere. Medical coverage alone could cost more than state taxes. Without medical coverage I would have significant out of pocket costs. Going to another state would also tear my wife away from the ethnic community she is in and enjoys. All sorts of problems would be created. Moving, itself, is expensive and disorienting. Moving to most states would make winter energy costs go up and moving to some would make summer energy costs go up. I have considered it all and there is no clear cut reason to move at this time.
Two types of infants on airplanes;
Those in car/child seats, and, in severe turbulence, projectiles..
Wow, it only takes one to change the subject and then we have six people on the discussion of a subject not part of the blog.
It’s dangerous to hold an infant on a flight, not just for the infant but for surrounding passengers. Those are facts Gary. The solution is for them to be in a buckled car seat, just like when they’re in their cars. Sure maybe some families will drive more, but that is actually a benefit for them and for airline passengers (they stay together and have a nice road trip and passengers don’t have to be disrupted by screaming infants as often).
Airlines have high fuel costs per pound. Infants buying their own seats also benefits the airlines (as would any policy that charges per pound)
Consider safety first when flying with a lap child on a Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft. For passengers concerned about their infant getting blown out of a MAX-9 aircraft after an explosive exit plug decompression, consider adding a small tube of super glue to your diaper bag before your next flight. According to the Swift product Flex Super Glue specifications, just one drop could secure an infant to their seat because, as verified by UL, one drop provides adhesion strength to lift 6,000 pounds or 2,722 Kilograms.
Another useful adhesive product is Gorilla Super Glue. Gorilla brand cyanoacrylate adhesive features high strength and a quick set time of 10-45 seconds. Gorilla Super Glue is Impact-Tough® because the reliable bond stands up to wear and tear, which could be helpful when an exit plug inadvertently departs the aircraft. From the gorillatough.com website, to remove uncured Gorilla Super Glue, use a towel dampened with acetone or isopropyl alcohol to blot the area.
The FAA should have banned lapbabies and lapinfants years ago. In severe turbulence adults, even strong ones, can’t secure their child holding them in their lap. While no lapbaby has died in recent years, I’ve seen two instances of them flying out of mom’s arms from severe clear air turbulence in the last 10 years. In the first one, a man in the seat behind the mom caught the child on the way down. The baby didn’t appear to hurt, but was certainly scared. In the second one, the infant hit her head on the overhead bin and blood was coming out of a head gash and one ear. She clearly had a concussion. Fortunately, in the second case we were near our destination, LAX. We waited for the 5 injured people on our flight to be taken off the plane by LA County Paramedics.
Severe turbulence and instances of uncontrolled explosive decompression don’t happen very often, but each life is precious. Everyone on a plane should have their own seat so they can be properly buckled in during take-off, landing, and every other time the pilots deem it necessary, plus the entire time any passenger is seated.
@jns … Kaiser is established in Hawaii , and no air conditioning costs because of the winds . Come to the 50th state .
@Gene … I don’t know anyone who would live there before retirement , especially if they would need to move from Hawaii .
Any incident provides an opportunity to improve safety and the Alaska decompression sent a loud warning about the unsafe practice of allowing lap children. Do parents stop flying when their child turns two years of age and they must buy a ticket. Goodness, the highways must be clogged with children over two who did not want to buy a ticket. If a child is safe in an approved car seat driving to the airport why are they suddenly/potentially disposable to save a few dollars by sitting on a parent’s lap on a tube travelling 500+ miles an hour. There has been a death since 1994 however when a child is not deemed ‘dead’ until after the flight by a coroner, then the child technically did not die on the plane. Has anyone considered the flight attendant responsibility for safety of their passengers….but only those over two years of age. How can a flight attendant provide safety for a lap child where the safety card shows an adult seatbelt secured and holding her lap child. One of two results will crush the child as soon as the adult in whiplashed in the crash and the other fact is not being able to hold that child. A mother on the Hudson River ‘landing’ was livid that the flight attendants could not help her but fortunately her seat mate was a strong man who held her baby and the ‘landing’ was not devastating. Is this a way for parents to discover that a seat is the best and only answer for safety. The very fact that lap children are allowed gives the impression that this is safe and I for one know that it is absolutely not. So please give parents and flight attendants the experience of the safest way to fly….mandate seats for ALL passengers and we will have progressed to safety for ALL.!
A substantial overreaction. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water. If we want better safety on flights, decrease seating density to allow a 90 second evacuation with real passengers in real life conditions.
Just ban them all. And those backpacking selfrighteous coach travelers. Noise and incommodation everywhere. All this trash shouldn’t be able to travel. At least those idiots are all vaccinated so they’re dead in 2 years and won’t bother us anymore.
Turbulence incidents are increasing. You don’t want the baby bouncing off the overhead.
TLDR: Pay $125 for your pet dog or cat or claim your dog is a service animal, but kids under two years old sitting in an adult’s lap fly free.
For passenger safety and maximum corporate revenue (profit) enhancement, American Airlines writes, “On flights with American, you can bring one kennel as your carry-on bag if…you pay the carry-on pet fee and your pet stays in the kennel and under the seat in front of you the entire flight.”
American Airlines charges $125 per kennel for each one-way itinerary where your pet accompanies you in the cabin. You’ll also incur an additional $125 charge on any one-way itinerary within the U.S. with more than a four-hour voluntary stopover.
Service animals are exempt from paying an extra fee, just like a lap kid under two years old. You should also know that according to 14 CFR 382.72 in the United States, airlines must allow a service animal to accompany a passenger with a disability. Airlines must not deny transportation to a service animal based on the animal’s breed or type or on the basis that its carriage may offend or annoy carrier personnel or persons traveling on the aircraft.
Unlike pet dogs and cats secured in a kennel and stuffed in front of your seat, American Airlines offers complimentary lap child travel and welcomes infants as young as two days old. Please remember that infants under seven days old must have a doctor’s letter stating that they are medically cleared to travel, and only one infant may be seated in the lap of each ticketed accompanying adult. When purchasing your ticket, please remember that you must include the lap child infant in the reservation for free kiddo travel.