Airline Etiquette Pet Peeves –
Rudeness vs good manners for travelers
We’ve been asking our blog and newsletter readers to provide questions, comments and pet peeves about airplane travel etiquette. We’ve heard from a lot of you and we want to address some of them on our blog posts.
Scent of change wafting on the airways?
CTV recently contacted Joanne to ask her her opinion of changing a baby’s diapers at your seat in an airplane.
Here’s part of the diaper etiquette story from Laura Lowe and Linda Hoang of CTV Edmonton:
An Edmonton-area woman Gillian Linard is raising concerns after a mother sitting near her on a recent flight changed her baby’s diaper at the seat instead of in the bathroom.
“The lady next to me was rolling her eyes and you could just tell, people were shocked… I didn’t say anything but the people around me were visibly disgusted also.”
Linard claims the mother did not wash her hands after she changed her baby’s diaper. She couldn’t believe the airline didn’t force the mother to use a bathroom and she’s concerned about potential health risks.
No official policy
According to CTV none of the major airlines have an official policy that bans diaper changing at the seat, but, most said they encourage passengers to use the airplane’s washroom.
Here’s what one of our newsletter readers shared:
“My baby has been an active flyer since she joined us 30 months ago (two trips to Las Vegas, one to Hawaii & countless short flights to Saskatoon). We’ve been fortunate to not have any major diaper issues on planes, but I personally would never consider changing her at our seats.
Most of the planes have reasonable room for a change table in the lavatory. I always carry ziplock baggies to handle dirty diapers after a change (if not most airlines ask you to use a bag of theirs to avoid leaving odors in the lavatory garbage).
The only circumstance I could even consider a parent thinking about changing a diaper at the seat is if they have another small child with them, but in that case, most flight attendants are more than happy to help keep a child occupied.”
Here’s what Joanne had to say
“Changing diapers at the seat is inappropriate. I think you are infringing on other people’s space, the smell is an issue and it could dirty the seat.”
Along with our reader, Joanne agrees passengers should be mindful of what parents may be dealing with. “As a passenger, it’s a hard thing to ask a parent to take their child to the bathroom. That’s where I think you would enlist the help of the flight attendant.”
The CTV site had lots of comments; mostly supporting changing away from the seat but a few didn’t agree.
Click here to watch the video and read the CTV Edmonton story.
What do you think? What are your air travel pet peeves?