AirTran Removes Family from Flight Because of a Toddler Tantrum

Julie and Gerry Kulesza were headed home to Boston on January 14 after spending a few days in Fort Myers, Florida. Upon boarding the plane, their 3-year-old daughter Elly started to cry for some reason, and wouldn’t stop. She plopped herself down on the floor in front of her seat and ratcheted her cries up into a full-blown temper tantrum, shrieking and slapping her mother on the arm.

As Elly’s piercing howls echoed through the cabin, some passengers tried to be sympathetic, with one of them even offering her a lollipop, which she immediately rejected. Some passengers began to worry that the flight to Boston would be a long nightmare if the Kulesza’s were not able to get their screaming daughter under control.

A flight attendant approached Mrs. Kulesza, who is four months pregnant, and asked if the empty seat Elly was howling in front of was one the family had paid for. When Mrs. Kulesza replied that yes, they had bought the seat for Elly, the attendant said that Elly needed to be seated in it before the plane could take off. Mrs. Kulesza told the stewardess that she was trying to get Elly to get into the seat, and asked if she could hold her daughter in her lap. But the stewardess said that she couldn’t. When Elly continued to howl without ceasing, the Kulesza’s were asked to leave the plane.

AirTran officials defended the flight crew’s decision to remove the family from the flight Tuesday, saying that they simply followed procedure. Federal Aviation Administration rules specify that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be seated wearing a seat belt upon takeoff. Since Elly was not strapped into her seat, the plane had no choice but to sit on the runway waiting.

"The flight was already delayed 15 minutes and in fairness to the other 112 passengers on the pane, the crew made an operational decision to remove the family," said AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver. She added that the child was removed from the plane because "she was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents, and wouldn’t get in her seat."

The Kulesza’s were astounded at the airline’s insistence that they leave the plane. They say that they just needed a little more time to calm their daughter. "We weren’t given the opportunity to hold her, console her, or anything," Mrs. Kulesza told reporters. "I was trying to console her and the stewardess came over and said, ‘Did you buy that seat for her?’ I said yes, and she told me my daughter needs to sit in it. I told her I was trying."

When Mrs. Kulesza was unable to get Elly calmed down, another AirTran employee approached the couple and told them that they would have to get their daughter under control or they would have to get off the plane. Gerry Kulesza was stunned. "Are you serious?" he asked. The AirTran official said yes and told him, "Sir, you need to get off the plane now."

The family got off the plane, while their luggage and Elly’s car seat remained on board and flew on to Boston. In the terminal they were taken to speak with an AirTran supervisor, who told them that the stewardess had become uncomfortable "because you have an unruly child who struck a woman on board." Amazed, Mr. Kulesza told the supervisor, "That was her mother. She hit her on the arm. Lady, this is a 3-year-old child we’re talking about." The AirTran supervisor replied that the airline "doesn’t differentiate between 3 and 33," and because Elly was holding up the flight and inconveniencing other passengers, they had no choice but to ask them to leave.

The airline reimbursed the family $595.80, the cost of the three tickets they had purchased, and they flew home the following day at no charge. They were also given three roundtrip tickets to any location where the airline flies. But Mr. Kulesza told reporters that his family would never fly AirTran again.