The debate over kids in business class misses the point. The real issue is not age, it is behavior: a quiet, well-parented child is far less disruptive than the loud, drunk, seat-kicking, aisle-blocking adult passengers airlines tolerate every day in premium cabins.
That matters because business class is not an adults-only zone, and it does not come with a greater moral right to peace than coach. Airlines sell a bigger seat, better food, and a better chance at sleep — not a guarantee that no one nearby will ever make noise. The standard should be the same in every cabin: quiet passengers are fine, disruptive passengers are not.
Journalist Ashlee Vance, probably known for his Elon Musk biography a decade ago, poses the question whether kids should be allowed to travel in business class? He answers no.
The answer is no. They should be in the back
— Ashlee Vance (@ashleevance) March 11, 2026
But he brings out the usual arguments on the subject and it’s amazing how weak the argumentative skills of Twitter reply guys can be. Nonetheless, here’s the litany:
- Kids should not fly business because it makes them spoiled or entitled. A child does not become ruined because they slept in a lie-flat seat on a 14-hour flight. Entitlement comes from parenting, not cabin class. It’s a weak argument.
- Kids should be near their parents, so if parents fly business the kids should too. Small children cannot realistically be placed “40 rows back.” On long haul especially, parents need to supervise, help with meals, bathrooms, sleep, and meltdowns. If a family is traveling together, splitting cabins is usually bad.
- You should deliberately introduce children to travel in economy first, the way you’d introduce a kid to a normal sports game before a luxury suite. A corporate suite at a game is a status experience. A premium-cabin seat on ultra-long-haul is also a sleep and comfort tool. These are not the same.
- Flying business as a kid is fine. Flying private is what really destroys your baseline expectations. Private travel resets expectations much more than commercial premium cabins do. Still, it is not really an argument against kids in business.
- Parents who can afford business should not have to choose between their own comfort and making the kids sit far away. On an overseas flight, adults being rested and functional also benefits the kids.
- Children can behave perfectly well in business. The relevant distinction is not child versus adult, it’s well-behaved versus badly behaved. Plenty of adults are worse than kids in premium cabins. We certainly see more inflight meltdowns going viral with adults.
- Putting kids in the back builds character there’s no serious support tying future success to economy travel.
Interestingly the argument that doesn’t get made in the thread is ‘kids are more likely to disturb the sleep of passengers who paid thousands of dollars to sleep’. That is the strongest argument against kids in business class but it doesn’t work either.
Essentially, it boils down to a big part of what people are buying on an overnight flight in businss class is a quieter environment and a realistic chance at sleep. A crying infant or a repeatedly disruptive young child imposes a bigger cost there than in coach, because the marginal value of quiet is much higher.
That said, a well-behaved 7-year-old in business is usually less disruptive than the drunk, loud talker, window shade opening seat kicker of an adult who keeps putting things in and out of the overhead bins. It’s not kids that are bad, it’s disruptive passengers that are bad. Plus, kids are less likely to melt down in business class where there’s more space and better sleep!
And business class is not a right not to be disturbed. Business class passengers don’t have more of a right to this than coach passengers. The notion that disturbance ‘belongs in’ economy doesn’t hold together because most airlines are not selling adults-only cabins. They sell a bigger seat, better service, and a better chance at rest, none of which is a guarantee. They may not even offer compensation when they don’t deliver on any of those dimensions.
All passengers have an equal right not to be disturbed. Economy passengers have just as much claim not to be subjected to unreasonable noise, kicking, aisle chaos, or parental indifference. There is no moral principle that says the person in coach is less entitled to peace than the person in business.
Ultimately quiet children are fine and disruptive children are not fine. And quiet adults are fine, while disruptive adults are not fine – and that’s the case in any cabin of the aircraft.
Travel with children comes down to (1) the child’s temperament – there are some kids for whom flying is something to avoid when possible, and (2) parenting, here are the strategies that work really well to keep kids soothed and entertained on a flight. I’ve been able to travel the world extensively with kids – I’m lucky with the kids – but a lot of work goes into making sure they don’t disrupt the cabin.
Something I rarely see mentioned is that a child is more apt to experience ear pain from pressure change. Giving them a bottle, breast, or pacifier helps infants, but toddlers may have outgrown those things. It can be hard for them to understand that swallowing can help relieve the ear pain. So the next time a child is crying or fussing, there may be a reason.
Of course kids can do well if parents plan ahead. But many don’t and that’s the problem.
So I should send my kids to a not very good school so they can see what that’s like before sending them to a good school? Argument just doesn’t work.
End of the day your take is spot on. Paying customers get to choose the class of service as offered by the service provider. Disruptive customers in any class of service are subject to removal. End of story.
I’d much rather sit next to a kid on an ipad with headphones on (whether it’s my kid or another kid) than many, many passengers (including drunk or nearly drunk ones) in business / domestic first.
All that said, my advice to folks traveling with children 2-4 years old is to think twice about booking international business class. Not because there’s a moral problem with it, but because in a 1-2-1 arrangement, if and when your kid needs something (this will be constantly), you’re getting up to help them. You may even be going around to the other aisle. And they have to sit on their own for takeoff and landing (and they may very much not want to do that). That’s the only grey area where, as a practical matter, sitting in premium economy or extra legroom economy is probably better- not only for the child but for the parent as well (irrespective of the desires of other passengers).
The “Airplane!” reference is a bit disconcerting here…