“Delta's policy towards children”
by b2zig on July 14, 2010
Flight from Kansas City to Philadelphia
- Airline:
-
Delta
- RT/OW
- Round Trip
- Number of Stops:
- 1 stop in Detroit, Michigan
- Date of Flight:
- July 2010
- Seat Class:
- economy
On a recent round trip from MCI to PHL (layover/plane change each way in DTW), my son, wife, two children(ages 4,5)were given seat assignments together on only one of the four flights. Upon calling Delta in advance several times to try to obtain adjacent seats, they were told that the airport gate attendant would assign seats with an adult next to a child. However, the gate attendants at MCI, DTW, and PHL all said that they had never heard of that. My son would just have to ask people to move once on the plane. Well, people did not want to move! The children would just have to sit with strangers in vacant seats all over the plane! The stewardesses were nasty and responded that unaccompanied children fly all the time. Well these were NOT unaccompanied children! Plus,the age limit for unaccompanied children under the Delta site is 5 - and our youngest child is 4. I cannot imagine a business person having to tend to 4 and 5 yr olds for several hours - all because Delta does not seat minor children next to parents! There were other families with small children in the same predicament, so the problem was multiplied.
Is this normal procedure for flying with children?
Two years ago on a United flight, my son was "abruptly" told by a stewardess to "just hold the child on your lap" so the overbooked (thus delayed) plane could take off. The child was 2 yrs old and had a paid ticket! And the plane took off while my son held the 2 yr old!