By now I guess you’ve heard or read about Elly Kulesza. She is the 3-year-old girl who, along with her parents Julie Kulesza and Gerald (Gerry) Kulesza, was escorted off an AirTran flight. The Kulesza family has starred in a lot of news coverage, including an appearance on ABC.
The headlines, and the associated ABC News poll, just mention that the kid was crying, and ask “Do you think children who cry uncontrollably should be removed from airplanes?”
Fer pete’s sake, people, the family wasn’t booted off the plane because the kid was crying. The problem was, that the child was not in her seat. FAA regulations prohibit the pilot from taking off unless all passengers are seated and buckled in.
The family was taken off the flight because they were keeping the flight from taking off – and by then the flight was already 15 minutes past its scheduled takeoff.
I have read this story in newspapers and on websites, including but not limited to the ABC News website. Nobody seems to understand why the Kuleszas – now basking in their “victim of the week” media status – were really booted from the flight.
Crying kids fly every day as passengers on commercial aircraft. And as long as they’re seated and buckled in for takeoff, they just wail away. Not much fun for those around them but not an FAA rule violation, either.
It was the kid’s antics – and the parents’ refusal to pick her up, sit her down in the seat, and buckle her up – that led to the crackdown. Not her screaming.
Don’t know if it’s legit, but this was posted on the ABC News discussion board related to the story:
I was at the gate in Ft. Meyers waiting for the Air Tran flight to take off for Boston so I could board the next arriving flight that would be headed to Atlanta. I witnessed this family 30 minutes prior to their flight taking off and this child was disobedient and unruly to the parents. Several waiting passengers commented on the lack of control. Then I saw the family deplane and the child was absolutely out of control for another 30 to 40 minutes. She was screaming, kicking, and crawling across the floor. The mother had NO control and the father ignored the situation. I am upset that the media has played this as a sympathetic situation to the parents as it was clearly an issue of poor parenting. I too am the mother of two children and this would have NEVER occured as I would have gotten both myself and my child away from the other passengers had either of my children behaved this way.
[...] not limited to the media ”victims of the week” – Julie Kulesza and Gerald Kulesza (see below). The PhilosophicaLawyer has posted another wonderful letter to a client about the [...]
Thanks for stopping by my blog and your comment. It made me feel better that I wasn’t alone in this — and then reading your own post. I still wonder how long it takes a grown adult to realize they are larger, stronger, and smarter than a toddler/preschooler.
Oh- they aren’t smarter than Elly. Not at all. She got them off the plane- she didn’t have to fly that day. That’s one smart and determined cookie. Kudos to AirTran and kudos to those who get it.
[...] by Suz at Large in Travel, Current Events, Bloggin’. trackback While Gerald and Julie Kulesza (see below) have been basking in their victim-of-the-week turns on national TV shows, the public has rallied [...]
Yes, the crying was NOT the problem!
Finally someone is spelling out that simple fact.
It is encouraging to see that, despite poor reporting that is somewhat biased in favor of the knucklehead parents, most people agree entirely with AirTran. I have never flown on that airline before, but next time I book a flight, I’ll choose AirTran if at all possible.
I applaud Air Tran and intend to fly with them if I can…the parents should be ashamed of themselves…I personally hope they never fly again period…or go to a restaurant, or the mall…or out in public with this child.
That airplane screamer should have been forced to stop and placed in her seat by parents. Hurray for the airlines.
That said, remember Coach Bob Knight?
Screaming, cursing, choking basketball players?
Throwing chairs across the floor?
Throwing a vase at a secretary, because she told Knight to wait a few minutes to see her boss?
And yes, on a plane in Puerto Rico, Coach Bob Knight exposed himself. And slapped a cop– but charges were dropped. Lucky for Knight — other adults making excuses, tolerating Coach Bobby Knight because he is SPECIAL. And everybody’s intimidated by him.
Hmmm sound familiar?
First of all, kudos to AirTran! They made the absolutely best choice in bumping this family off the flight under the circumstances. I cannot believe that the Kuleszas actually had the gall to think they were “inconvenienced” because of their own daughter’s actions. To think that they expected 100+ people to put up with their daughter’s antics…unbelievable! I find it absolutely commendable that AirTran not only handled this situation fairly, but also took care of this family on another flight after the antics stopped.
I myself have two sons, both of which have ADHD. Although I’ve gone through my share of difficulties with them (as any parent does), they NEVER threw temper tantrums like this girl did. Elly has resorted to this reaction because she has learned that it is what has works to get her way on something, and it’s the parents’ responsibility to change this behavior.
My youngest son (who is 11) will be flying alone on AirTran next month – the first time I have ever used this airline. This story gave me much more comfort in knowing he will be taken care of properly and fairly.
To the Kulesza family: You wanted to meet someone whose children never through temper tantrums? Here I am…
wait a minute – i just read on another new press – the 2 year old was in a row in front of the mother – AIRTRAN – AIRSCAM – I think we are all missing a point here…… did airtran try to make them all fly in separate rows?… here is why I ask…
I just flew with airtran last week – with 3 kids – 7,4 & 2 – Airtran had us all in separate rows. I dont know how you all feel about that – but i thought is sucked. To make it even better – after we boarded the plane I asked the steward if he could help. He called the agent to help – she came on board, locked at me and said – “you either take your seats or we will remove you from the plane”. The steward was so disturbed by her actions he asked for my tickets – so he could have her written up. Call me stupid – but I would think when parents buy tickets for young kids – the dam sets would be near each other.
I think there is more to the story on the 3 year old and her family than we are being told…. how many of you think your 2 or 3 year old would calmly sit alone strapped into a chair without their parents in sight?
The parents should get freebies alright, copies of the DVD and book of Fearless. And maybe Janet Brown Lohr’s Congressional testimony on child restraints on aircraft. Which she became involved in after being a flight attendant on the Sioux City air crash and one of the “lap babies” died in the crash which about 2/3rds of the plane survived. And so should anyone who wants to criticize the airline for taking care of safety first. I don’t have kids, but if I did, I’d rather deal with a 24 hour delay than my kid dying from hitting his or her head during a rough take off or landing or ending up with permanent brain damage. It’s not even about courtesy or consideration of others. It’s about caring about your own kid enough to make sure she doesn’t crack her head open. Even animals are capable of that much, which is more than I can say for this family.