A mother & her autistic daughter were on a return flight from Disney. The daughter is 15. They ended up being booted from the plane. I want to know if you view this exchange as a threat.

"I asked the flight attendant if they had anything hot, because Juliette is very particular about her food." "If it's warm she won't eat it, if it's cold she won't eat it, it has to have steam rolling off of it. The flight attendant said, 'there's not anything we can get you,' so I said, 'well how about we wait for her to have a meltdown, and start crying and she tries to scratch, and then you'll want to help her.'"

Its not a threat as such I don't think. It is some entitled twat wanting the rest of the world to have to deal with their problem instead of her cheap ass not buying a first or business class ticket where that kind of service IS available.
OK, so your kid is damaged, I get that, I have friends with autistic kids. Some are more functional than others and as a parent to one, its your responsibility to know your kids limitations and be responsible for them.
In this particular instance, Mom knew the kid freaks if her food isn't hot, so book a flight where you can have that, don't push it off on the flight attendant.

I wouldn't say a threat but it was rude to say the least. Everyone knows flying anywhere these days is a drama. Everyone is in a hurry. The flight staff are busy getting everyone seated and the plane ready to take off. Flights are delayed. The airport is busy. I think that lady should have made special arrangements when she booked their flights. Im sure it's difficult having an Austin child. BIt it doesn't give her the right to act like an entitled brat. And I'm referring to the mother here.

I might have popped the food into the microwave and made it sizzling hot so hot you would need tongs to handle it.

Last flight I was on they didn't even have a MW, Spirit. The coffee was loaded on in a bucket, no plated food, nothing hot.

I didn't know that, better get food at the beginning of a long flight I guess.

Perhaps the flight attendant felt intimidated. In this case the flight crew can go to the captain and explain that there is "interference to them performing their duties". It's his call as to how he wishes to handle this problem. What if at Disney she was going to have a meltdown because the Mickey and Minnie welcome characters wouldn't stand on their heads for her? I think this is similar to the kid in Texas who was a "victim of affluenza" --(the product of parents who never set limits for the child). The parents need to manage this child in the very circumstances they themselves created and stop expecting everybody else to make the adjustments. In this case the veiled intimidation backfired.


49 U.S. Code § 46504 - Interference with flight crew members and attendants

Current through Pub. L. 114-9. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

US Code
Notes
Authorities (CFR)
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An individual on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States who, by assaulting or intimidating a flight crew member or flight attendant of the aircraft, interferes with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant or lessens the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties, or attempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. However, if a dangerous weapon is used in assaulting or intimidating the member or attendant, the individual shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

(05-12-2015, 01:15 PM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote: . The parents need to manage this child in the very circumstances they themselves created and stop expecting everybody else to make the adjustments.

I think you're asking too much and I don't say that rudely at all, it comes from what I observe from some parents and their kids that I see for myself when I'm out in public and read about online.

(05-12-2015, 01:21 PM)Duchess Wrote:

(05-12-2015, 01:15 PM)ZEROSPHERES Wrote: . The parents need to manage this child in the very circumstances they themselves created and stop expecting everybody else to make the adjustments.

I think you're asking too much and I don't say that rudely at all, it comes from what I observe from some parents and their kids that I see for myself when I'm out in public and read about online.

I wasn't there to hear the "tone" that the parent used to the flight attendant but the crew is charged with the responsibility and the safety of all passengers. They aren't there just to serve beverages and if special provisions for this child were needed in that regard, the parents should have made them before the flight. The fact the airline bought them tickets on another carrier showed the passengers were worthy of flying but not if they were perceived as interfering with a flight crew. If while waiting for their new departure they complained about their previous experience to the boarding agent, it's possible they would find themselves on the Bolt Bus with no services. I have seen passengers refused boarding because while they waited for their flight they went to the bar and drank too much. They were simply re-booked for the next day. My point is the child's condition, and what the parents expected as accommodations for her, collided with the post 911 flying reality the airlines face.


p.s. nobody likes riding the Regional Bolt Bus...

http://nypost.com/2015/05/12/bolt-bus-ca...-explodes/

I don't disagree with any of that, Zero.

(05-12-2015, 05:49 AM)Duchess Wrote:

A mother & her autistic daughter were on a return flight from Disney. The daughter is 15. They ended up being booted from the plane. I want to know if you view this exchange as a threat.

"I asked the flight attendant if they had anything hot, because Juliette is very particular about her food." "If it's warm she won't eat it, if it's cold she won't eat it, it has to have steam rolling off of it. The flight attendant said, 'there's not anything we can get you,' so I said, 'well how about we wait for her to have a meltdown, and start crying and she tries to scratch, and then you'll want to help her.'"

If a mother said this to me on a flight, I would advise her that we don't serve anything hot, and that she may want to change her flight so that she can upgrade her ticket and thus, prevent her daughter from having a meltdown in my sweetest voice possible. The mother sounds very entitled and probably is enabling her daughter to act like a brat. Heck, she may even be suffering from Muchausen (sic)syndrome...

I think we are all aware that airlines no longer offer much in way of food or drink and if they do, they charge for it, just as they charge for the unique tradition of carrying a suitcase while traveling. The airlines have lost a lot of their former class, but so have passengers and I understand the angst on both sides.

Airlines have website for info re traveling with disabilities. I have to use this website and I would imagine if this mother wanted special consideration, she would have alerted airline personnel that she was traveling with autistic child with a propensity for "meltdowns." Then, perhaps airline would have selected appropriate solution at the time of booking ticket, rather at time of takeoff. Yes, I think this was a threat and mother needs to hone her people skills..

I don't know if I'd call it a threat, but it was bullshit.

Kids have meltdowns and as a parent you have to go out of your way to make sure it doesn't inconvenience the people around you, not the other way around. You take that little bastard in the bathroom, smack their ass and tell them to stfu or else. I've done it several times.

And if the kid is a retard, well that's your problem too. Make other arrangements to accommodate the tard before hand.

She wasn't threatening the FA, but it does represent a threat to the safety of passengers. The mother didn't say who or what the girl would try to scratch, and anyone "having a meltdown" on a flight will probably be viewed as a danger to those around them. The mother didn't threaten anyone directly, but I agree with Zero, it was an intimidation tactic and represented a threat to the airline staff for the safety of the plane.

There are different kinds of threats but if you board an airline and ask for something specific and you are told, it is not available, then you say something like.....well, if you don't do it, just wait for the temper tantrum or whatever to happen, that is a threat. On a flying tube full of people depending on a flight crew to keep them safe and happy (?). Yes, one disruptive person on board can be a safety factor and distracts the crew from doing their assigned duties. If you want special treatment, advise someone beforehand that you have special needs........a threat has varying degrees, but if I tell you that I like something a certain way and if you don't deliver it like I want, I might just have a meltdown, that is a threat. I think the mother was being overbearing to the crew. I don't think we have to figure out what a meltdown means; we all know about temper tantrums. I have seen adults on airlines having worse tantrums than children.....not pleasant....and someone could get hurt in process of calming someone down.

I don't like that mother's attitude.