"'I know this is public transport and I am not a child hater but the crew neither spoke to the parents nor did anything to try to shut the kids up. I still have a headache.'
It is an issue some airlines, like Lufthansa, have tackled by adopting a child-friendly approach with a mascot, gifts and a children's lounge, which they believe makes good business sense and benefits everyone on board.
'When our flight attendants see that a child is not calm it's their first priority to help out and see what's going on,' says Aage Duenhaupt, director for Lufthansa's corporate communications in Europe.
Gulf Air has gone a step further. In 2003 it introduced crew members specially trained to keep children entertained.
Seven years on they can now be found on all long-haul flights.I know it sounds like pandering to parents, but having the staff entertain kids really does benefit us all. I have only taken two cruises; the first was overrun with children so as to make the pools and hot tubs unusable. The second was quite peaceful. The difference? The latter had a kid's program to keep them entertained all day with children-appropriate activities. It was called - I kid you not - Troll Land.
Technorati Tag: childfree
1 comment:
Yes, I agree with this - years ago I was somewhat annoyed that Air France boarded families with small children first.
However, it meant that by the time the rest of us boarded, the kids were strapped into their seats rather than running round driving everyone else crazy.
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