Ask any frequent flier what their greatest fear is and their answer is likely to be one or all of the following: delays, cancellations… and sitting next to babies.
Parents of traveling babies often try all sorts of life hacks to ensure a peaceful flight. Some are even known to have handed out packages to fellow passengers containing sweet treats, an apologetic note, and ear plugs.
A mother flying with her baby on Southwest Airlines from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) was beyond grateful when a flight attendant came to save the day by taking her screaming child on a ‘tour’ of the aircraft.
The mother, Jessica Nelson, shared a video clip of the moment the flight attendant carried her baby while walking down the aisle. The aircraft tour proved to be an effective way to soothe Nelson’s baby, who was flying for the very first time.
“To the flight attendant who gave my screaming baby a plane tour, thank you,” Nelson wrote on the video.
“Southwest, she deserves a raise,” the mother added.
The flight attendant was showered with praise and compliments on the video comments, with many calling her a hero for sparing the other passengers from what could otherwise have been a painful (to the ears) flight.
Many viewers of the video agreed with the mother, tagging Southwest Airlines and asking the airline to give the flight attendant a raise.
The sound of children screaming inside an enclosed space for a prolonged period has triggered several passengers in recent months.
In May 2023, video footage of a child screaming ‘non-stop’ for eight hours during a transatlantic flight to New York’s John F Kennedy Airport (JFK) made the rounds on social media.
One of the flight’s passengers, who took the video, said that the three-year old’s mom looked like she was “used to it”. The mother was also overheard telling one of the flight attendants that her child has a behavioral problem.
Thankfully, the passengers on the flight were understanding and accepted that it was going to be a long, loud flight. In the clip, the child can still be heard screaming even as the flight landed and passengers were deplaning.
However, not everyone will be quite so understanding. In April 2023, a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) had to be diverted in order to remove a man who lost his cool over a baby crying on the flight.
According to witnesses, the baby had been crying for 40 minutes on the flight when the man also started yelling and screaming, ranting about the baby’s incessant crying.
When flight attendants requested for him to stop yelling, he shrieked, “So is the baby!”