Harried couple stops to change baby’s dirty diaper in airport, and misses their plane. Who’s to blame?
According to Dan Blais, he got to the gate in Las Vegas 20 minutes before his family’s flight to Edmonton via Seattle was scheduled to leave. His wife, Collen Roberge, went to the bathroom to change their 8-month-old’s dirty diaper. The gate agent told Blais he had two minutes to get his wife and baby to the gate or she would give away their tickets. Blais ran to get them and returned – and sure enough, the gate agent had reassigned their seats.
Outraged, Blais started a web site called “Alaska Airlines Hates Families” to vent his ire and shame the airline. Apparently, it worked – his latest post says Alaska Airlines offered to reimburse the family $1000 for the replacement tickets they had to buy.
Travelling with kids is always tricky, and babies do have an uncanny knack for choosing the exact worst moment for diaper blowouts. You hope people, airline employees included, will be understanding and cut you a little slack. On the other hand, you still have to be on time and follow the rules, babies or no.
Who do you side with – the tardy, diaper-changing parents or the stickler-for-rules airline employee? And have you ever had a nightmare experience travelling with kids? Share your thoughts in the comments.