Turbulence, lousy meals, crying babies are among the things that some travellers would rather avoid on a flight. Well, the last one is contentious, as one travel influencer recently found out.
Content creator Sofia Kalimeridou (@sophiefamilytravel) recently travelled on Japan Airlines (JAL) with her toddler. To her surprise, she found out that “when selecting your seat they show you if there are any babies around so you can avoid them,” she posted on Instagram (full video below).
This is part of Japan Airlines’ Smile Support scheme. “Passengers traveling with children between 8 days and 2 years old who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen. This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there,” the airline states on its website.
“What Japan Airlines doing is not okay,” Sofia lamented in her video, which has racked up over 12mil views. “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.”
She encouraged netizens to share their opinions in the comments section – and the discussion veered in an unexpected direction.
An overwhelming majority of the 5,000 (and counting) comments disagreed with Sofia. Most said that what the airline is doing is reasonable; many others wished more airlines did the same.
“People fly for many reasons, not just a happy vacation. They could be flying for business and need sleep ready for a meeting when they land, or flying to a funeral and want peace, or a disability like autism and sounds like a baby crying or kids screaming can be overstimulating. So this service just allows the option to meet the needs of all passengers,” travel influencer @worldwide_winston commented.
One netizen who’s a mother herself, also supported the idea of JAL’s baby seat map service.
“As a toddler mum, I’d rather be surrounded with other mums and families who would be understanding of the discomfort a child faces during air travel and be compassionate towards me, than a non-parent judging and possible negatively interacting with me or my child. It’s a win-win for everyone involved I think!” she said.
According to reports, the baby seat map service from Japan Airlines is not new and has been around for some time, said a JAL rep in 2019. An All Nippon Airways (ANA) spokesperson also confirmed back then that they offer the same service.
Scoot offers a Scoot-in-Silence cabin on some flights, where only passengers aged 12 and above are seated (we tried it out for ourselves, read our full review here)
READ MORE: What It’s Like Flying On ScootPlus Vs Scoot-In-Silence
What happens if your flight has no baby seat maps or quiet cabins available? You’re left to your own devices, literally, to drown out the noise on the plane. Pack noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs – we found everything you need for noise cancellation on a flight.
AloJapan.com