Mum kicked off plane for refusing to comply with crew instructions on take off

[bladeau1981]

Virgin Australia: Breastfeeding mother kicked off flight
A WOMAN has been kicked off a Gold Coast flight after she refused to stop breastfeeding her baby during takeoff.

Virgin Australia has come under fire for calling Federal and local police on Virginie Rutgers, who was breastfeeding her crying 10-month-old son as the plane taxied down the runway, Seven News reports.
She claims she was using a baby sling to cover up for privacy but a cabin supervisor demanded she remove it and ‘started to raise his voice’ and become ‘quite abusive’.
The pilot returned to the terminal when Ms Rutgers refused to stop because staff would not explain why the baby carrier was a safety hazard.

Seems to me like the crew and pilot did the right thing by turning back and kicking her off. Strap your kids in! (and yes I have a 6 month old before the "you obviously don't have kids" brigade kicks in.)

 

[medhead]

Yep, gotta use the belt. Not a baby sling.

 

[Grimace1]

*waits for all the Facebook posts to Virgin Australia's wall to start...*

 

[marki]

Could have been managed differently by both the lady in question and especially the Cabin Supervisor who is trained to handle situations similar to this. It takes two to tango.

 

[boomy]

Another idiot that had to argue with the cabin crew instead of following their instructions.

 

[RooFlyer]

Could have been managed differently by both the lady in question and especially the Cabin Supervisor who is trained to handle situations similar to this. It takes two to tango.

Well, yes, but it only takes one to have the authority and another to be the one who is obliged to do what the first one says. May not like it, think its horribly unjustified, but do it anyway.

 

[Denali]

I would have thought its possible to use a lap belt and breast feed a 10mth at the same time... Ive seen it done before.

On min facts given, I think the FA didn't handle it the best as there was a better way to handle it BUT I wasn't there so don't know how exactly this went down. I do support following FA instructions and rules but I also question turning around an entire plane and staring a mommy PR war.

 

[Limewood]

One guy was taken off a landed flight in Cairns yesterday by AFP, was carrying on throughout the flight as his kids jumped all over the seats and the mother did zilch and mouthed off as he wanted faster service, he apparently poked his finger into a FA and was swearing.

 

[DC3]

Yep, gotta use the belt. Not a baby sling.

Another idiot that had to argue with the cabin crew instead of following their instructions.

Yes, and I would expect QF, or any other airline, to handle this in a similar way.

 

[bladeau1981]

I would have thought its possible to use a lap belt and breast feed a 10mth at the same time... Ive seen it done before.

On min facts given, I think the FA didn't handle it the best as there was a better way to handle it BUT I wasn't there so don't know how exactly this went down. I do support following FA instructions and rules but I also question turning around an entire plane and staring a mommy PR war.

I agree on the minimum facts given being hard to tell, but since the minimum facts given come from the mother you would assume that they would be presented in the best possible light as an airline bashing story. Going by that assumption I would come to the conclusion the mother was simply being painful because it is her "right" to do what she wants with her baby. Would be interesting if there was any witnesses on board who could comment.

 

[TraceyK90]

I would have thought its possible to use a lap belt and breast feed a 10mth at the same time... Ive seen it done before.

.

Yep I have fed our three for take off and landing, easy enough to do, use a wrap to pop over bub for coverage, never a problem. Put the belt on and get on with it. End of story.

 

[samh004]

Saw this discussed this morning on TV and there was some discussion of something missing from the story, as it was said the 10-month old had it's own seat, which seems unlikely.

 

[JohnK]

Oh dear....

 

[OzEire]

The pilot returned to the terminal when Ms Rutgers refused to stop because staff would not explain why the baby carrier was a safety hazard.

The same tiger mum would cry blue murder if VA had relented then the crew needed to abort takeoff with heavy braking with the result that bub went rolling down the aisle. Yes, its a facetious comment, same disclaimer as the OP, I also have a well travelled bub.

The crew have regs to follow, help them do their job of getting you and family safely to your destination.

Ability to deal sensitively with difficult pax should be a core criteria for cabin supervisors. Perhaps the message could have been delivered differently, but I wasn't there, some people are just stubbon.

 

[Homer]

Marge breast fed both our kids and carried them in a sling at times but it has always been very clear that they needed to be out of the sling or baby carrier, etc, and in a seatbelt for take-off, landing and turbulence, just as a baby placed in the cot attached to the bulkhead has to be removed and in a seatbelt when the seatbelt sign is on.

There's nothing confusing or "grey" about any of that. It's all explained by the safety announcement and it can be further clarified by the crew if you still don't understand it. Those are the rules and you agree to follow the rules and cabin crew directions when you buy your ticket and if the airline and the regulator have determined that a seatbelt is safer for my baby than a baby sling then why would I second-guess them? I think this VA crew did exactly the right thing.

 

[Revolio]

On face value this article seems a bit on the harsh side. However, it is reported in the OZ media, so bits must have been left out (to promote sales), and secondly, there are passengers and there are passengers. (and everyone has a memory of the their understanding of this notion).

 

[UP4014]

Another idiot that had to argue with the cabin crew instead of following their instructions.

Takes two to argue, did the crew member offer a lap belt for baby?

Matt

 

[Flying mermaid]

Yep I have fed our three for take off and landing, easy enough to do, use a wrap to pop over bub for coverage, never a problem. Put the belt on and get on with it. End of story.

Yep me too - never had a problem doing it and best way to stop their ears hurting. Hard to know what all the facts are, but certainly safe restraint and breast feeding are not incompatible.

 

[Alanslegal]

I saw a guy friend rant on Facebook how he would never fly Virgin because of this - and I just rolled my eyes. I probably rolled my eyes so far round that I saw the back of my skull.

Anyway, cut away the sarcasm, and there is always two sides to the story. A captain making a decision to return to the gate is a major decision. It would not be a simple as turning the plane back, offloading the person, and getting back underway. There's the return to gate, connecting the aerobridge, waiting for the police, offloading the passenger, offloading their checked bags, if the airport allows them to get back into the departure queue as there might not be any departure slots left or it might be a while, other passengers would be inconvenienced, then there's crew maximum working hours to be considered, if its about to be exceeded due to the delay, a new set of crew may need to come in adding more time. So many factors.

Anyway, I am glad the mother and child was offloaded safely rather than something unfortunately happening like the child being thrown out of the mother's arms and hitting the bulkhead partition, causing serious and permanent injuries.

 

[Quickstatus]

Just because you are a customer does not mean you are always right
Just because you bought an airline ticket does not mean all airline employees have to tiptoe around you
Just because you are eligible to gain entrance to a airline lounge does not mean you should be a slob
Just because you are a mother does not mean the entire world revolves around you and rules must be adjusted to fit your requirements

This is just another example of entitled behaviour. The variety sits on the same scale. On the one end you have a mother who wont take instructions from crew, and on the other end is the KA executive who blew a fuse when served nuts in a bag. Same behaviour.