Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Infant Car Seats on Airplanes

Here is an interesting article about a mother who, after purchasing an additional seat on an airplane for her infant car seat, was escorted off the plane because the seat was too big for the row.  What I find incredible about this is not that this mother was asked to switch flights to a larger airplane, but that the FAA is trying to advance policy that would make it mandatory for parents travelling with infants to buy separate seats for their babies.  Flying is expensive as hell these days, and it's no secret that airlines are struggling to (pardon the pun) stay afloat.  Is this a case of genuine concern for child safety?  Or another money-making scheme that plays off of parents' worst fears?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2014090462_webchildseats31.html

By the way... the odds of dying in a car crash during your life are about 1 in 158.

And the odds of dying in a plane crash during your life? 1 in 66,000.


**UPDATE**

January 28th, 2011: Green Bay Packers fan needs Super Bowl ticket for infant




Issues such as this face new parents on a daily basis, yet so many policies surrounding infants and young children are based on financial, rather than developmental or family-first rational.  This blog will focus on matters of policy that affect young children and their families, and seek to provide an alternate perspective on the policies that shape our lives.
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2 comments:

  1. anonymousFebruary 5, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    money-making certainly seems to be the underpinnigs of a lot of policy, if not all.

    this particular policy reminds of the fact the airlines also require "overweight" people to purchase a second seat as well when the airlines continually make smaller and smaller seats. again, they figure to make more moeny the more seats there are.

    cole

    ReplyDelete
  2. anonymousFebruary 5, 2011 at 5:58 AM

    continuation of my previous post:

    and by making theses seats smaller and smaller it is also a reflection of assuming the norm is thin and overweight or fat people are the abnormal who have to pay for their difference.

    ReplyDelete

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