[Weyland-Yutani]

Air New Zealand and Qantas have banned men from sitting next to unaccompanied children on flights, sparking accusations of discrimination, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The airlines have been accused of political correctness gone mad after a man revealed he was ordered to change seats during a Qantas flight because he was sitting next to a young boy travelling alone.

Auckland man Mark Worsley said an air steward approached him after take-off on a Christchurch-Auckland flight and told him to swap seats with a woman sitting two rows in front. The steward said it was the airline's policy that only women were allowed to sit next to unaccompanied children.

A Qantas spokesman confirmed the carrier did not allow unaccompanied children to sit next to men. The spokesman said the airline was erring on the side of caution and believed it was what customers wanted.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the Kiwi carrier had a similar policy.

True story. This has been practiced for a number of years. I'm not going to play shocked or anything but hey. It is rather extreme. With assigned seating it isn't as if child molesters can choose to be seated beside an unaccompanied minor, so what are the odds?

The article doesn't say if the men have to be travelling alone or if this 'rule' is negated when they are travelling with their wife, another man or their own kids.

Sexual harassment happens on planes, for sure but more often to young women and young men than anyone else. Perhaps the women should just sit on the right side and the men on the left? (excepting of course if it is an unaccompanied minor, then he's placed with the women because they never sexually harass anyone..)

The New World. Never stops to amaze me.

http://www.travelbiz.com.au/articles/70/0c039270.asp

cheers

W-Y

[jcadam]

When I was a minor I would often sit next to grown men on the public transportation system (bus, etc.)





Nothing ever happened. Maybe I wasn't cute?

[strictlyplaid]

What's the difference between this, and pulling people over for DWB (driving while black)?

[Dark Helmet]

Good. I hate sitting next to kids anyway.

[Dark Helmet]

Good. I hate sitting next to kids anyway.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Good. I hate sitting next to kids anyway.

Yeah me too, but it would be smarter to move the kid than the adult - if someone is going to be inconvenienced then it should be the kid. They don't care where they sit anyway.

cheers

W-Y

[ReggieX]

Well, as we all know, women can never be child molestors.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

Yeah me too, but it would be smarter to move the kid than the adult - if someone is going to be inconvenienced then it should be the kid. They don't care where they sit anyway.

cheers

W-Y

You try to pull a kid away from the window seat.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by ReggieX

Well, as we all know, women can never be child molestors.

Yeah, but biys don't mind, so long as they're attractive...

[Rolling Bones]

Jesus...why would anyone want to sit near a brat? Good rule.

[rjenkinson]

so... why are they moving the man? why can't they just seat the child beside a woman somewhere else?

-r.

[rjenkinson]

the guys protecting the database must be on break right now.

-r.

[production_coordinator]

Wouldn't a rule saying "Unsupervised minors must sit near a flight attendant or have an open seat next to them" be more appropriate?

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Good. I hate sitting next to kids anyway.

Yeah, nothing is worse then sitting next to some little brat on a 12 hour plane flight during a 24 hours worth of travel.

Must.... hold... back.. fist.. of... death...

[JoshuaZ]

Kids borther the heck out of me on plane flights. I would request not to sit next to one.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by strictlyplaid

What's the difference between this, and pulling people over for DWB (driving while black)?

One is racist, the other is sexist.

[Oisín]

*burp*

[Salty]

Our church has a policy of no youth worker being alone with a kid of the opposite gender. I've regularly asked if they realize that, well... if I understand correctly, pedophiles just tend to pick one or the other. It's actually not simply a preference for the exceptionally young.

As well it's funny but it's easier to get a job working with kids if you're a married guy vs. single. However stats show that most child molestation is done by married men as opposed to young single guys.

[Weyland-Yutani]

What about the poor women who have to sit beside the brats. Making women automatically unpaid babysitters is damn sexist as well IMO.

I think production_coordinator's suggestion is the best. Either the flight attendants take care of the babysitting or nobody has to suffer with a kid by his/her side. It's only fair.

cheers

W-Y

[Weyland-Yutani]

A more in-depth coverage with more sexist remarks from the airlines:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...026469460.html

A Cathay Pacific spokesman, David Bell, said the carrier felt that females tended to "relate more to young kids".

A United Airlines spokesman, Tony Rasman, said the policy was in place because women were "much more maternal".

With that kind of "psychological analysis" then why aren't all pilots men then. After all they are naturally better to take command and lead in difficult situations, right? Why aren't all flight attendants female then, after all they are more soothing in case of emergency..

..it is bad enough to know that there are cases of sexual abuse or harassment in the air but to top it off with early 20th century stereotyping by the airlines is way beyond reasonable.

Heck why not have the women at home, barefoot and pregnant? They are so much more maternal (being mothers they can't be paternal now can they?) and they relate so much better to young kids. I know the airlines would agree if they could just have a few pretty gals to play stewardess for them between pregnancies

cheers

W-Y

[Spliffdaddy]

Here's a logical answer to the problem -

just don't allow minors to fly without a parent or legal guardian.

-------------------------------------

On a related note - have you seen the billboards asking people to "teach your boys that it's not OK to abuse women"

Because we all know that males are born with the instinctual compulsion to beat women - unless they're taught otherwise.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

A more in-depth coverage with more sexist remarks from the airlines:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...026469460.html



With that kind of "psychological analysis" then why aren't all pilots men then. After all they are naturally better to take command and lead in difficult situations, right? Why aren't all flight attendants female then, after all they are more soothing in case of emergency..

..it is bad enough to know that there are cases of sexual abuse or harassment in the air but to top it off with early 20th century stereotyping by the airlines is way beyond reasonable.

Heck why not have the women at home, barefoot and pregnant? They are so much more maternal (being mothers they can't be paternal now can they?) and they relate so much better to young kids. I know the airlines would agree if they could just have a few pretty gals to play stewardess for them between pregnancies

cheers

W-Y

Of course women are much more maternal. You wouldn't expect them to be paternal would you?

And if the women were barefoot and in the kitchen how would they be able to serve me my booze while I'm crossing the atlantic?