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There are certain topics that are guaranteed to get a rise out of frequent travelers. Things like whether you can save seats on Southwest Airlines while you’re boarding (no), whether you prefer the window or aisle (aisle), if you should check bags or not (#TeamCarryon), if you should stand up as soon as the plane gets to the gate (yes) or if parents of young children should give goodie bags to fellow passengers (no). But perhaps nothing raises the hackles like whether kids should be allowed in business class.

Recent Air Canada Business Class Flight

On my recent Air Canada business class flight from Tokyo to Toronto, there were a few kids in the business class cabin. I mean I guess technically my son was there too, but as he recently turned 18, I guess he doesn’t count as a “kid”…

For most of the flight, I heard nothing from them, but at one point, one of the younger kids was crying for quite awhile. I didn’t catch exactly how young they were, but I’m guessing somewhere between 2 and 4? It also wasn’t clear to me if all of the kids I saw were part of one traveling party or separate. The child was not crying for very long (though of course in the middle of it, it feels like forever), though it was when everyone (myself included) was trying to sleep.

So yes, it was not ideal, but I just cranked up the white noise on my headphones and tried to get back to sleep. I was actually able to tune it out and go to sleep with no problems (though it doesn’t always work out that way)

a girl crying with her hand to her eye

Should Crying Kids Be Allowed In Business Class?

Now this might be an exception to Betteridge’s Law Of Headlines, but I am going to go on the record as saying that I have no problem with kids in business class. Yes, crying kids are annoying to be around, but I choose to put faith in people and parents doing the best they can. I know that there are some people who are of the opinion that young kids should not fly at all, and CERTAINLY not in premium cabins. These people usually have no kids themselves and, in fact, sprung from their mothers’ loins fully grown as an adult.

Again, I get it – the sound of a child crying is biologically engineered to be annoying. And I do understand that in many cases, people have paid extra for a premium cabin seat (either with cash or with miles) specifically to be able to sleep. So anything that interrupts that is going to be extra annoying.

I do believe that parents do have some responsibility here – if you know your child is going to cry and possibly disturb others and you won’t be able to console them, then I think you should consider either delaying flying or not flying in a premium cabin. And I would hope it would go without saying (though it probably needs to be said) that parents absolutely have a responsibility to do everything they can to hep console and/or entertain their children. While I’m fine with a crying kid if the parents are doing their best, it is NOT okay for the parents to be sleeping or otherwise ignoring their kids who are crying or running up and down the aisles.

The Bottom Line

Now it’s your turn – what do you think.

Should Crying Kids Be Allowed In Business Class? Leave your (respectful) thoughts in the comments below


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