"Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap? Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence. "The statistics on passengers injured in turbulence are not so alarming, but it does happen and small kids in their parents arms are at the highest risk. The FAA is worried enough about the dangers of turbulence that it mandates seat belts for adults, why not for kids? One theory that I've seen is that they're afraid that parents will not want to pay for seats for their kids, so they'll drive instead. Driving is always significantly more dangerous than flying, so they don't want to encourage that. The NTSB also recommends child safety seats for children under two years old http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/Pages/Children.aspx. In other words, all the experts in safety say it's necessary, ignore them at your (and your kids and other passengers) own risk.
Once I became aware of this, I purchased a seat for Matis on every flight we've taken. You would think that considering the recommendations from the FAA/NTSB and that the airlines are getting money for a child who could fly for free, they'd be prepared to deal with passengers who bring car seats. You would be wrong. At least if you're flying on KLM, Air France or Delta.
So far we've had 3 flights between Detroit and Tel Aviv, each with at least one stopover and on every single flight the cabin crew tried to make us check our car seat (which is FAA approved). I even called the airlines and confirmed with the check-in staff each time and was told "if it's FAA approved, you can use it on the plane". Yet, every time we tried to get on the plane, we were told that we had to check it, b/c the seats were too small, or not given a reason at all. We insisted each time and after waiting for approval from the crew chief (or something like that) we were allowed to bring it.
I wish I would have seen this earlier, but the FAA site says clearly:
"If an approved CRS, for which a ticket has been purchased, does not fit in a particular seat on the aircraft, the airline is responsible for accommodating the CRS in another seat in the same class of service."Which leads me to a long story.
On our Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris in June, the flight attendant had us switch the car seat from rear facing to forward facing because the back of the seat was touching the seat in front of us. Turns out this is actually the FAA recommended way for a kid as heavy as Matis. We complied and it fit, snugly. This was fine until a couple hours into the flight when Matis woke up and wanted to stretch his legs out, which was impossible without kicking the seat in front of him. The first time this happened the lady in front of us turned around and yelled at us. We apologized and tried to find a way to adjust him so that he would be able to sit normally without bothering anyone. Unfortunately, there was just not enough room and the next time he kicked her seat, the lady in front of us yelled at us and told us to move to different seats.
I called the flight attendant, but it was during meal service and it took a while for her to get to us. During this time the lady continued to yell at us, despite our apologies and call for help. I don't blame her for being upset, nobody wants to have their seat kicked, but she was plain nasty. This whole time, Nehama was talking to her, trying to explain what was happening. If the lady wasn't taking up all our time yelling, we probably would've taken Matis out of the car seat in the meantime, but honestly at that point I didn't mind her getting kicked.
When the FA came, we showed her that there was no way for Matis to sit normally without kicking the seat and asked her what we could do. Initially she told the lady in front that the baby has to be in his seat, so if you can't deal with the kicks we'll have you switch seats with someone else (I'm not sure who would volunteer for that change). The lady refused to be moved and yelled at the FA too.
The FA then told us "you have to stop your son from kicking her". Again I showed her that he wasn't kicking, just trying to sit straight and asked her how we can stop that. She said "I don't know, but he can't be kicking her the whole flight".
At this point we took Matis out of the chair and held him. I asked the FA if she could take the car seat away so at least we could use the seat, she said no. I said, ok, we'll hold him for the next five hours, if that's what we have to do. She agreed that that's what we should do. Nehama asked her if they would refund our ticket since we couldn't use the seat and she said "No, the airline did nothing wrong, the problem is not our seats, it's your son's feet.".
She later came back and offered to move a different passenger from the row in front of us to business class, so the other couple could move over one seat and have no one sitting next to them. Then we'd be able to use the car seat. The couple refused to even move over one seat, but the other person agreed to move to business class. We had to move to car seat to the aisle seat (it's supposed to be in a window seat so it doesn't block you from getting out in an emergency), but at least we could use it.
I wonder what would've happened if an adult passenger was kicking the seat in front of him, or if he was too tall or fat to sit in the seat without bothering passengers around him. I doubt he'd be treated with such disrespect. Congratulations Air France, you can bully an 18-month old.
This whole experience was so bad and we were dreading the flight so much that we stayed in Detroit for an extra week. I contacted Air France, KLM and Delta before our return flight (they were all part of it for some reason I don't fully understand) to make sure nothing like this would happen again. They gave me the same advice as usual "if it's FAA approved, you can use it on the flight". That's great, but then why did they tell me at the gate that I had to check it and when they finally gave in to my complaints they said "bring it at your own risk, we can't help you with it".
I know that commercial air travel is accepted as a torture we must endure if we want to travel, but I still expect more when paying $1,000+ for a toddler to fly.
P.S. I held off on posting this until I received a reply to the complaint I made with Air France, which I received today. Their response was to quote back everything in my complaint and say "I understand". They ended by saying that the FA was wrong and I should have received better service. Um, thanks?
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