Dramatic stories about people who complained about the babies they had to sit next to during a long flight are far too common, from this model who was criticized after posting an Instagram Story complaining about a baby , to this passenger who was kicked out of a plane for refusing to sit next to a baby.
Putting it shortly, being inside a flying tube for hours does not bring the best in people.
I would like to think that people wanted to behave their best these days. After all, the chances of being recorded while having an irrational outburst or throwing a tantrum are very high. Not to mention that such videos can have long-term repercussions, particularly if it goes viral, reaching the smartphones of one’s coworkers and supervisors. Nevertheless, each month we get some news related to people misbehaving in one way or another; and videos related to ill-mannered passengers always make headlines…
However, not everyone who hates flying next to babies will have this type of bombastic reaction, opting instead to hold their anger and suffer in silence during the rest of the flight; and while some passengers might be sympathetic to parents, it does not mean that they would like to be seated next to infants.
That’s why JAL’s new feature that just took the Internet by storm is revolutionary. This feature allows people to know where families flying with young children will be (this is, of course, when those families have selected their own seats). The feature only works if people book the tickets using the airline’s website, and it won’t show this type of information if the aircraft is changed last minute, or if people are part of a tour.
Japan Airlines has introduced a feature on its seat booking system that shows where young children are seated, amid complaints of screaming babies. It only works for bookings made through the airline's website, and icons will not display if there is a change in aircraft pic.twitter.com/Uyt3XPNNoW
— BFM News (@NewsBFM) September 27, 2019
While this is not revolutionary in terms of the airline’s soft and hard products, it does make JAL and ANA stand out among other carriers. While JAL is the one benefiting from all the attention, a spokesperson from All Nippon Airways stated that ANA’s seat maps have been showing where toddlers are sitting “for a while.”
The seat map’s feature also addresses a topic many find to be some sort of taboo: that many people don’t like flying next to babies.
The reason the topic is considered a taboo is that those who complain about babies on planes tend to be scrutinized. After all, everyone who boards an aircraft is doing so for a reason, and thus complaining about those who have to do it with infants can seem cruel and pointless. For that reason, many people prefer to hold their tongues when this topic comes up during a conversation. This is not necessarily the case in online forums, where anonymity allows people to express themselves more freely (there’s a reason Twitter is so popular in Japan). When it comes to online forums, the sheer amount of people who complain about infants on planes becomes more apparent.
When people started tweeting to applaud JAL’s feature, many others users commented that it was important to be tolerant, and that “we were all babies once.” These discussions are not rare, and interactions between those who don’t want to be right next to a crying baby and those who demand tolerance tend to be so repetitive it’s like listening to a broken record.
Now, I’m sure other people would also welcome a feature that showed where those with pets were going to sit. Another topic that causes a lot of debate is that of passengers flying with service animals. This has become an even more heated subject after the realization that some people were taking advantage of the system and its loopholes to fly with their pets. Needless to say, there are those who would not be entirely content having to sit close to an animal; and if someone has an allergy, you bet they won’t want to be anywhere near a pet.
When it comes to flying with pets, I would also welcome a feature that would let me know where people with animals were going to sit. That way I would immediately choose the seats next to them! You might think differently, but I am the kind of person who adores flying “puppy class”!
What can I say? I do love our furry family members.
I understand that passengers, myself included, have certain preferences when flying; and Japan Airlines decision to show a child icon on their seat maps is a welcome feature that provides those who would not like to sit next to infants with the option to select a different seat.
Now tell us, are you excited about this new feature?