Air Plane Baby Ban! First Class Behavior or Plain Trashy?

Malaysia Airlines is set to ban babies from first class in Airbus380 and Boeing 747-400 fleet. The Airbus 380 will be available in 2012, but the ban is active in the Boeing 747-400 jets. Malaysia Airlines reported that the reason behind their decision was due to the complaints from passengers. They also addressed the issue of noise blocking contraptions. "We already hand out noise headphones in 1st class. They don't work so well for babies crying," tweeted CEO Tengku Azmil. He also pointed out that the passengers spend a lot of money for first class. Another reason for the baby ban was that there wasn't enough room for bassinets. Tengku Azmil raises great points for his discontented passengers, but what about the large percentage of parent passengers Malaysia Airlines will lose?

From a Social Perspective

First Class is known for the fluffy seats and cookies. Since when did crying babies become avoidable? They are everywhere. But the good news is they usually stop crying at some point. Banning babies from first class seems abrasive. It makes the airline seem like Buckingham Palace. People who ban babies are equivalent to people who hate candy, rainbows and unicorns. Who hates unicorns?! The even better question, who bans babies? The notion just seems plain rude.

Potential Financial Blow for Malaysia Airlines

There are parents who will choose to fly with another airline because of the restriction. It is a huge inconvenience to only offer coach to parents traveling with a baby. It is also unfair to coach passengers. Why should passengers who aren't parents be seated with all the parents and crying babies? Malaysia Airlines is implying that their coach passengers are not equally important. If the first class passengers complain, then the coach passengers will complain as well; only there complaints aren't valid.

A Better Solution

A better solution would be to create a separate fleet specifically for parents and children. This solution allows for equal treatment of all passengers regardless of their finances. Other parents will be more patient and accepting of crying children.