If you don't want to pay and are separated from the kids, I'm sure that if they started crying they would soon be moved.

However, are the children really at risk from sexual predator on a flight (in which most are just a few hours)?

Doubt it.

The risks are by far overplayed.

Only if they're sitting next to one.

Oh, hang on .

When I read your posts GreyhamO I can only conclude that you have been well and truly brainwashed to the point where you are no longer able to think outside the box.

Emirates charge rather more than £2.

And multiply that by more than one passenger.

And I can recall SirTim Clark talking on the in-flight audio about this and anybody who hadn't flown before might have thought he was talkign about a new ffacility where previously airlines didn't sit people together but now they could.

It didn't seem to be an issue over thelast 30 years + that I've been flying until the online technology allowed them to sell this feature and the copy cat nature of the marketeers in the business means they all pile in.

The airline industry as a whole has been fairly despicable about this.

It suits them to turn this into a 'fear sell' for families. So even if they are not doing anything deliberate they are encouraging some customers to pay out of concern.

My feeling is that government could do something simple. Air tickets are VAT free. Any extras such as 'speedy boarding' or seat selection should be liable for VAT. That would give the airlines a bit of a dilemma.

The evacuation argument trumps pretty well every other consideration.

If the airline sits your kid(s) further from the exit than you, are you going to abandon them in an evacuation, or force your way towards them against the flow and potentially put other passengers' lives in danger?

Airlines need to get real.

Well....It's not just the families who might feel a bit inconvenienced.

Last year, I had to fly back from Luanda to CDG in Economy because the Business Section was full, and I found myself sitting next to two youngish children ( maybe 10 or 11 years old ) who were seperate, didn't know each other, one in the middle seat, one in the window seat.

I spent the whole nine hours or so being interrupted either by the children wanting to get past to go see their parents for something, or the parents leaning over me to talk to the children.

Felt like quite probably the longest, worst flight of my life.

Saintsman

Would you risk your children?

When I first flew I was 14 and BA organised a stewardess to escort me from the terminal to my seat, which was next to a kindly middle-aged lady. I'm sure I remember reading that there was a law against seating lone women and children next to single men but it seems I must be mistaken.

Fast forward a few years and I took an Easyjet flight to and from Cyprus. On the way there, they did as I thought they always did at the time. Families with young kids got free speedy boarding and you got your pick of unallocated seats and could always ensure you were together. It was a good and generous system.

On the way back we were given allocated seats. My partner and I were separate and my 2 year old son was about 20 rows back across the aisle and between two single men. It was remarkably difficult to interest the flight attendants in the problem, or the other passengers who didn't seem to want to move. And I've checked my reservations and there was no mention of any possibility of booking seats beforehand.

I'm afraid anybody who doesn't think that is ridiculous doesn't have kids of their own.

Anyone who doesn't think that is more probably the sort of person we parents are trying tp prevent getting at our children.

I agree. On a one-off basis the risks are doubtless quite low, but if you're going to take a few dozen flights as a child then the risks will become more significant.

But this is hardly the only issue: as a parent, having your toddler sit 20 rows away might feel like a blessing. None of that constant making-sure they have their seatbelts on. No interminable repeat-readings of 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. No careful rationing of snacks when they seem about to have a tantrum. Somebody else can sort out the changing of nappies. Or else believe me they'll suffer for it.

This from a pal:

My wife is the one that makes sure we have passports and tickets when going away. Once on a flight when [name] was just two, they boarded an airplane to discover there were only single seats. Naturally my wife wanted to sit with [child]. She went up and down the plane asking if anybody would accommodate, but nobody would. So she took [child] and put him in the centre of two guys who refused to move. She said she hoped they'd have a good trip and they were good with screaming two-year-olds. They suddenly decided to give up their seats.

As it happens, the boy was not a 'screamer' and is very mild mannered but it shows that some people do not understand the problem.
https://www.pprune.org/data:image/pn...AASUVORK5CYIIA

People paying for seat selection has rather hardened attitudes.

Those who haven't and end up with issues when it comes to seating at boarding time get little sympathy.

It probably makes things more difficult for CC as well - more likely to cause a dispute if they try and move people.

All the more reason, then, for the airlines to keep family groups together when they allocate seats.

If you read the OP’s link, and my previous post, this investigation has nothing to do with Children being seated with their parents. While, I’m sure it’s an interesting discussion ...

ExXB, you mean that the thread has somewhat drifted off course? Quelle surprise! ;)

In something like 98% of cases of child abuse the perpetrator is known to the child. So statistically the airline should exercise their duty of care by sitting children next to strangers.

I think the issue here has nothing to do with child safety. The practical reality is I do not want to be seated next to someone else's child if I can avoid it, particularly if the child is not supervised. So I expect the airline, in every ones interest, to seat children with their parents.

Maybe Ryanair should offer the option to pay not to sit next to an unsupervised child? I'd pay a lot more than £2!

Imagine the horror this February 14th if lots of Valentines couples find they need to pay extra to be seated together at the restaurant!

"XYZ opens up Valentines dating flights."

You buy a ticket for 9.99, cabin bag only. 1 night away. You turn up at the airport and XYZ then tells you where you are going so they can fill up the flights. A section of the cabin has been blocked off for participants and you have no idea who you are going to sit next to. Good luck with aviation speed dating. During the flight seat swapping is allowed.
Some will be luckier than others. The next day you turn up at the airport and the procedure is repeated; meaning you have no idea which airport you are going to come home to, only the country. Good game. Good game.

Flying standby I rarely was seated with my partner. Sometimes we couldn’t even travel on the same flight. Perhaps I should sue for damages. That will teach them.

ExXB, I know it was a partly tongue-in-cheek comment, but travelling stand-by isn't quite a valid argument! ;)