Summary Two women locked a crying toddler in an aircraft lavatory, sparking outrage online. The incident was reportedly done with the consent of the toddler's grandmother. Airlines have begun implementing child-free zones to address passenger discomfort with young travelers.
A recent incident onboard a Juneyao Airlines flight has sparked outrage online, wherein two women locked a crying toddler inside one of the aircraft's lavatories in order to get the toddler to stop crying and apparently not disturb other passengers onboard. The airline has now reportedly stated that this was done with the consent of the toddler's grandmother, who was accompanying the young traveler on that flight. The incident While having a crying child or toddler onboard an aircraft does not make the best in-flight experience for other passengers onboard, and the best anyone can do is to try and calm the young passenger down, distract them, or make them feel more comfortable.
However, two women onboard the Chinese carrier Juneyao Airlines , flying from Guiyang to Shanghai, took a very different approach to handling a crying toddler. The incident occurred on August 24th, as reported by The Guardian , where a crying toddler was locked in the aircraft's lavatory by two women in order to not disturb other passengers onboard and for the young flier to be "educated". The incident only came to public attention when one of the two women involved uploaded a video of the incident on her social media, and in the video, the women can be heard saying to the locked child, "if you stop crying, you can go out" "if you stop crying, auntie will take you back to grandma" It is reported that the airline is aware of the incident, and apparently, the two women took the child to the lavatory with the consent of the child's grandmother, who was also traveling onboard the flight with the toddler.
Public outrage Though the woman who posted the video initially defended her action due to the backlash it was receiving, reports suggest that the video has since been deleted and the user's account made private. While reports suggest that the toddler's grandmother was outside the lavatory during the incident or that passengers moved to the back of the aircraft or stuff tissue paper in their ears to avoid the child's cries, the consensus from the public outrage shows that the whole situation was handled the wrong way. The public has taken to social media and has made serious arguments regarding the incident.
One user on Weibo regarding the incident states: "The grandmother and the two aunts should be sued, and social services should intervene. If there are parents like this, children will suffer in the future." Implementing child-free zones Having a crying child or toddler onboard an aircraft is uncomfortable for other passengers; locking them up is definitely NOT the solution.
However, in recent years, many airlines around the world have started implementing child-free zones, which are specific areas onboard aircraft where passengers can be assured they are away from any potential young traveler and thus less likely to be disturbed by their cries or fidgeting. Carriers like Corendon have implemented this already in Europe , while carriers such as Scoot and Air Asia have done so in Asia. While some travelers are unsure about this concept and some are against it, the majority of passengers, however, are for it.
In a test done in the United States, out of a thousand fliers, around 80% of passengers preferred to have a child-free zone or even a child-free flight. The idea is more widely-supported than you might think..
