Written By: Naz Haider | Updated : October 15, 2016 10:55 AM IST
My two-year-old has taken quite a number of flights, and most of them have been with Indigo (cheap rates, yaaay). I have mostly had a pleasant experience, even on long flights, lasting up to 5 hours. This last time around, I was surprised when they refused to allot the front row seat, which usually was the norm if you were travelling with a child. It was only later that I discovered that Indigo has a new rule stating that seats in rows 1-4 and 11-14 are 'quiet zones', child-free zones in layman's term.
As a mother, it infuriates me, and as a human it disgusts me even more. How is having children in a specific number of seats going to help other passengers' peace and 'quiet'? We are in an aeroplane, a sealed metal box that sits roughly 150 people. You think a child crying their lungs out in seat 7A won't be audible in seat 13C? What we need is not child-free 'premium' seats, but a crash-course in tolerance. And whose genius idea is to cram all the kids in close proximity to each other. If you are a parent, you know that a child's cry is contagious. Maybe Indigo's idea of in-flight entertainment is to make all the children in a plane howl together. That surely sounds fun!
What I think would have been a better solution to cranky kids on a flight was to create a 'quiet zone' for the infants and toddlers. Where the mother could take the child and feed her in peace, unlike trying to find a comfortable position in an almost-negligible legroom seat. Maybe allot the last or front two seats as a 'children friendly area' decked with a few toys and activities. I know, space is a concern inside an aircraft, but if passengers can make space for a Muslim traveller to offer his namaz (we have all seen that viral-esque picture) then why not show the same warmth towards the young travellers!
The onus of making a flight comfortable for everybody does not lie only on the airlines or 'child-free' passengers. Children will be children, but parents need to buckle up. Talk to your children about good behaviour when sharing a closed space with strangers. Stop your child from kicking the seat in front. If your toddler wants to stretch her legs often, swap your window seat with an aisle one. Pack sensibly to have all your toddler's requirements in a single bag that you keep with yourself. Do not keep disturbing other passengers because you need to scavenge through all your 3 bags to find your toddler's snack. And most importantly, keep your child busy. Even if it means singing 'five little monkeys' and making funny faces for three hours straight. Hand her the tablet or your phone if that'll pacify her. Keep your 'no-screen' time rule for when you are not cruising at an altitude of 39,000 feet.
Let's work together for making the flying journey pleasant for everyone. As for the Indigo's quiet zone rule, all I have to say is -- do not challenge a toddler's ability to disturb peace!
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