Over 50% of fliers would prefer families-only sections on flights

By Gary Stoller
September 8, 2010

Most consumers would like a families-only section on flights, according to a poll released Tuesday by a travel website.

Nearly 60% of more than 2,000 travelers polled by Skyscanner, a fare-comparison website, say they want airlines to create such a section. In addition, nearly 20% said they'd prefer child-free flights.

Skyscanner posted the poll on its site after a confidential settlement last month between Qantas and a 67-year-old American passenger who sued the Australian airline after a 3-year-old screamed on her flight last year. The woman complained of excruciating pain in her ears and was taken to a hospital before the Darwin-bound flight departed from Alice Springs.

Most poll respondents in favor of creating a families-only section said they don't have young children and "want to sit as far away as possible" from them.

Skyscanner spokeswoman Mary Porter says results of the unscientific poll are not surprising. A previous poll found that young children are the "most annoying" factor on flights. "I can still remember that feeling of dread when you found yourself seated next to a baby on a long flight," Porter says. "However, since regularly flying with my 1-year-old, I am much more aware of what a stressful and often embarrassing situation it can be for parents."

The Air Transport Association of America declined to comment. But at least two airlines, Southwest and JetBlue, say they have not looked into assigning parts of the plane to families.

"We invite our customers to choose their own seats," says Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd says there's "no way an airline can allocate seating capacity to families," because airlines "don't have any idea" before check-in how many families will be on a flight.

Frequent flier Kyle Clark of Spring Hill, Kan., has two 6-year-olds and doesn't want airlines to create families-only sections. He also opposes child-free flights.

"Family travelers have the right to purchase a ticket and travel on the same flight as business travelers," says Clark, a manager in the plastics industry.

Another frequent flier, Richard Boyd of Beverly Hills, has no children and also opposes families-only sections.

"Reserving sections for families only restricts the airlines' flexibility in seat assignment," says Boyd, who works in the entertainment industry and has flown on 117 flights this year. "Blocking a group of seats for families only reduces the number of aisle seats that are available and preferred by many travelers."

Boyd says airlines shouldn't prohibit young children on any flights but suggests seating them in the back of the coach section and not allowing children under age 7 in first class.

"Last week, I was in the last row of first class with a baby in the bulkhead row behind who did not cry but screamed for most of the first hour of the flight," he says.

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Over 50% of fliers would prefer families-only sections on flights

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