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We have all had this experience, boarding a plane to get a good window seat, finding out your favourite movies are on board, that you have a cute flight attendant and the smug satisfaction that your flight was incredibly cheap. Then out of the corner of your eye, you spot something. The 4-foot-tall creature moves at a rapid pace, it’s bright eyes full of wonder before it starts to scream shattering your perfect world.

Of course, this may sound overdramatic, but for some passengers having a child nearby on a plane, or even worse a baby, can mean the difference between a perfect uneventful flight, or eight hours in one of the inner circles of hell. This can be from having children running up and down aisles, asking loud questions whilst the cabin sleeps or worst of all screaming out as loud as they can in the tiny space of a pressurised cabin.

Is the fantasy of a plane without anybody under the age of 14 unrealistic, or far closer to reality than expected?

A study undertaken by the British booking company latedeals.co.uk, they found that 70% of respondents would love to see an area on the plane that is childfree (be it even just a section than the whole flight). Plus the study also mentioned the child-free zones should be compulsory on long-haul flights over eight hours. The study concluded that 35% of respondents would be happy to pay more to travel on an entirely kid-free flight.

And it’s even been rolled out before. In 2016 the airline IndiGo banned under 12 year-olds from eight rows of seats on board their aeroplanes. This is an Indian budget airline that flies to almost 40 destinations and published this statement about their rule change:

“Keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of all passengers, rows one to four and 11 to 14 are to be kept as a quiet zone.”

Even the Singaporean based airline Scoot in 2016 agreed, offering customers a chance to pay extra for a seat that was away from a child.

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“No offence to our young guests or those travelling with them — you still have the rest of the aircraft,” Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson

So what are the arguments for and against having adult only flights?

Reasons for child-free areas on planes

The first and main reason that people might be desiring the childfree experience on a plane, is due to quietness, but not for the reason that you may think. Obviously, no one wants to be sitting next to a screening baby for 16 hours on a Qantas flight between Perth and London, but with most modern airliners a big focus has been on making engine noise quieter (the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is 25% quieter than the average plane).

This means that the interior cabin is far quieter than before, and there is less ambient noise to drown out annoying sounds, such as a child screaming. Whilst in the past you may not have heard any noise from someone several rows back, it now sounds like they are sitting right next to you.

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Another reason would be more seat availability. As families must sit next to each other (in this day and age it is almost impossible for a child to be seated next to a complete stranger) this can mean that large blocks of the plane seating are bought up by one group. If the groups were smaller that would mean more seat availability for others.

Think also if you have paid extra to have a more comfortable experience for business or first class seats or even a little bit extra to secure a seat of your choice, you wouldn’t really want to be sitting next to a disruptive child.

Reasons against child-free areas on planes

Of course, opponents to these rules have come out swinging claiming that these ideas are totally absurd and that airlines would be splitting up families. They have linked this argument to the same controversy of charging overweight passengers an increased fare:

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“I can almost envision the day JetBlue reserves four rows for people with less than two per cent body-fat … suck it up! We family travellers have every right to fly with our kids.” – Parent Matt Villano wrote for Parenting.com

Supporters of having children allowed in all sections of the plane have simply pointed out that there are far fewer children found outside of economy class, it is incredibly rare to be seated next to one in business. Thus, the price of tickets is the great divider of whether or not there are kids in your cabin, rather than some arbitrary rules from the airline.

With the main choice factor for flights being price, it seems that most people will be just trying to take the cheapest fare as quickly as possible, knowing the risk of children being near them.

It is also important to note that not all children on flights are sent from Hell. There have been plenty of flights that I have experienced sat next to children in both economy and first class where they have been little darlings. Think of the advantages, no silent battle for the armrest or feeling claustrophobic and easy access to the toilet. Instead, they just sit there like little angels until landing.

Ultimately it is a very hot topic and will all depend on personal experience. But one thing is for sure, this debate isn’t over yet.