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Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Mother sparks fiery debate after slamming airline for child-free seat feature
A mother-of-two has sparked a fiery debate online after calling out Japan Airlines for a controversial booking feature that shows where babies are seated - allowing other passengers to pick a spot far away. Sophie Kalimeridou, a 'mumfluencer' who specialises in family-friendly travel content, took to Instagram earlier this month to vent her frustration with the airline's policy after flying with her toddler daughter and young son. Sharing a video from her business class seat, she accused Japan Airlines of alienating parents and children in favour of passengers who prefer a quieter journey. In the post, uploaded to her page, @sophiefamilytravel, the mother wrote: 'Japan Airlines is the ONLY airline in the world that when selecting your seat they show you if there are any babies around so you can avoid them.' 'They're basically pre-framing millions of people that those are the areas to be "avoided" and that being sat behind a baby can make your flight uncomfortable. 'Very disappointing… what are your thoughts? Unless you're flying on a private jet, you should be ok sitting near anyone…' Japan Airlines, which operates 66 international routes across the globe, does indeed display a baby icon during the seat selection process to indicate where children under the age of two are seated. The feature, which appears after families book with infants between eight days and two years old, is intended to help passengers choose a quieter spot - though the airline notes that seat assignments can always change before departure. Despite offering a range of parent-friendly services, including hot water for cleaning bottles, inflight entertainment, and baby-changing facilities in bathrooms, the airline's seat map feature has split public opinion. Sophie's post quickly amassed thousands of views and comments from parents and child-free passengers. Many parents backed the content creator's criticism, arguing that singling out babies in the seating plan sends the wrong message. One person wrote: 'Babies are a part of life. We were all babies once. We should all grow up and accept that in a tight space such as a plane babies are part of the deal.' Another said, 'Just got off a flight where my babies slept the whole time and waved at everyone when they got on board. I don't know why you'd avoid that,' while a third added, 'Not all babies disrupt people every time.' However, not everyone agreed, as one person wrote, 'Japan Airlines understands customers. This is how businesses should always operate. Get over yourself!' while another added, 'This is amazing! I hope more airlines adopt this policy!' A third said, 'Just like you chose to have a kid, people should be able to choose if they want to sit by one on a long flight,' while another wrote, 'My thought? This is my dream. I strive to never be near babies.' One mother even voiced support for the policy, writing: 'As a mother myself… I fully support their decision for this. We chose to have children… while others choose not to have children. Sophie's post quickly amassed thousands of views and comments from parents and child-free passengers 'What impact does it actually bare on you if others want the choice of peace and quiet during their flight?' But some users questioned the practicality of the system, pointing out the potential for a passenger to still be assigned a seat next to a child. One noted: 'That doesn't even make sense. What if you book your seat before a family does?' It comes after a plane passenger was publicly berated by a furious mum after refusing to swap seats with her toddler - resulting in her considering taking legal action.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Dramatic moment Frontier Airlines gate agent clashes with passenger over unexpected snag at check-in
Footage of a standoff between a Frontier Airlines gate agent and a passenger went viral after the flier showed up only to find he was required to pay a check-in fee. The passenger, who asked to remain anonymous, said he raced to the airport in North Carolina for his flight to Boston with 50 minutes to spare, but was faced with a $25 fee upon check-in. After a week-long business trip, the 45 year old father of three thought he had made it just in time but then found out he had unknowingly missed the airline's 60-minute check in window. He left the electronic check-in point to speak to an employee, who informed him he was required to pay a $25 fee as per the airline's policy. Before he began filming the interaction, he told the New York Post that the interaction became unpleasant as the staff who greeted him rudely insinuated it was his fault. 'They all kind of started chiming in, "Well, you should have checked the website," like not in a professional or polite way. They were like, "it was your fault for not checking the website. Sorry, it's on you,"' he said. A 20-minute disagreement ensued before the passenger gave in and decided to pay the fine. He muttered under his breath as he reached for his wallet that he is 'never flying this sh***y airline again.' 'When I said that, the lady who I was talking to took a step back and gasped, and was like, "How dare you curse at me? I'm not checking you in. I don't have to check you in,"' he said. 'And my reaction was, "You will check me in." I think those were the words that I used.' But by insisting he should be checked in, the gate agent 'shut off completely' and 'absolutely refused' to check him in. It was then that two other Frontier gate agents pointed their phones at the passenger and said, 'You thought you were gonna get on your flight?' What baffled the passenger was the response he had from the staff, as he told the Post: 'What was remarkable to me also is that not one person on their side took the professional route or the high road.' 'Listen, it's my money at the end of the day, and when somebody is caught off guard with a charge that they feel is in some ways unfair or unreasonable, of course, they have a right to express themselves,' he continued. 'It's not okay to be disrespectful of somebody for no reason, but I was not being disrespectful to them personally, in my opinion. 'I thought that they were being disrespectful to me out of the gate because I was complaining about a fee that I was completely caught off guard by.' The passenger eventually even threatened to call police and the employees brought officers over to the check-in gate. 'I had a very, very professional conversation with two officers who were there and were completely empathetic. They 100 percent seemed to agree with where I was coming from,' he continued. 'I asked them, off the record, essentially, am I being ridiculous here? And they both with serious expressions, sympathetic expressions, shook their heads, "No, we see these sorts of disagreements with this airline frequently, and this is probably not gong to be the last one."' The viral video sparked online debate as some people were outraged by the airline employees' attitude, while others blamed the passenger for his late arrival. 'I don't care who's right or wrong. The way that he's being treated makes me never wanna fly Frontier Airlines,' one commenter wrote. 'Wow the disrespect and unprofessionalism is maddening acting like it's a damn joke, total disgrace do better Frontier Airlines,' another said. 'Even if he is in the wrong the response is very unprofessional.' 'Every one of them should be fired. Frontier Airlines shame on you if you don't. Never fly Frontier.' 'Frontier requires you to check in at least an hour before or the system won't allow you to check in but their behavior is beyond unacceptable,' one wrote. Another commented: 'It is required for anyone on any airlines to pre-check in if you're 30 minutes before your boarding and didn't check in an hour before, it sounds like he thinks that he is above the rules. It's policy.' 'Arriving 30 minutes before a flight is crazy though,' one said. 'Regardless of how wrong a patron may be, the unprofessional, incendiary behavior shown should be a cause for dismissal. The first step of de-escalation is empathy not teasing,' one comment read. The passenger said: 'I'm sure I'm not the first person to have complained about a fee. I'm also 100 percent sure that I wasn't complaining in as extreme a way as others have.' His ordeal ended with a $500 JetBlue ticket home to his family before he was reimbursed by the airline following a complaint. A spokesperson for the airline said in a statement that they were 'aware of what occurred and have been directly in touch with the customer. The individuals in question, who work for a third party contractor, are no longer associated with the Frontier account.'
