‘Truly awful’ American Airlines gate agents scream at mother and flight attendants at JFK over child’s car seat aboard aircraft

When my husband and I became first-time parents eight years ago, our worlds changed in indescribable ways, some expected and others unpredictable. We were world-travelers before welcoming kids but becoming parents was a journey like no other.

Our kids are our greatest joy but that doesn’t mean it’s easy and traveling with children in particular is a unique and often stressful experience. We’ve been fortunate; since we took to the skies with our children when they were quite young, they’ve grown accustomed to the experience and travel extremely well. But even so, an enormous amount of work and preparation goes into every flight we take with the kids to make sure things go as smoothly as possible.

But of course, there are so many things that can go wrong that are just out of your control.

Take, for instance, this incident aboard an American Airlines flight. Dan Eleff of Dan’s Deals witnessed a situation on a flight recently that I found, as a frequently traveling parent, stressful just reading about. According to Dan’s post on X, formerly Twitter, gate agents working an American Airlines flight operated by Republic Airways from New York to Cleveland, forced a passenger to remove her child from a carseat and gate check it.

Here’s what happened, in Dan’s words:

“Hey @AmericanAir @FAANews @USDOT, let’s talk about something that happened on AA4366 operated by @RepublicAirways from JFK to CLE yesterday.

I was just a bystander, but the gate agents’ actions against the flight attendants and a passenger were appalling.

The flight attendants warmly greeted everyone, which always bodes well for a great flight. Flight attendant Carly loved the box of goodies I was carrying home for my kids and said to be sure to bring the kids on my next flight as she loved having children on her flights.

As I settled down into 2D, I noticed a mother juggling her infant and a bag boarding the flight. Flight attendant Carly saw that the gate agent had tagged her car seat to be gate-checked, but saw that it was approved for air travel.

As this was a half empty flight, Carly stopped it from being gate checked and brought the carseat back to the mother for the infant to use on the flight.

Before closing the doors, the pair of @AmericanAir JFK gate agents came onboard and noticed that the carseat was being used on the flight. They lost their temper, screaming at the mother and the flight attendants that they already told her it had to be gate checked and that the mom should have bought a seat. “If we let them do it once, they’re always going to expect it.” They made the mom take her infant out and took the carseat off the plane to be gate-checked.

I went to chat with the flight attendants in middle of the flight. Carly and Adalberto both said they were shocked and embarrassed at the 2 gate agents working the flight. Carly said she offered the gate agents to stow the car seat in the back of the empty plane so that the mother wouldn’t have to wait for it in Cleveland and so that it wouldn’t get damaged or dirty, but the gate agents refused.

The kind flight attendants even offered the mother and infant to move up to the half empty first class cabin after boarding, but she was already settled and stayed in coach.

The @FAANews says they strongly encourage infants to fly in carseats. If there are available empty seats, the airlines should allow parents to bring carseats onboard. The FAA and DOT should make that a required policy in the case of empty seats. @PeteButtigieg

Incredible flight attendants, but truly awful gate agents @AmericanAir”

Hey @AmericanAir @FAANews @USDOT, let’s talk about something that happened on AA4366 operated by @RepublicAirways from JFK to CLE yesterday.

I was just a bystander, but the gate agents’ actions against the flight attendants and a passenger were appalling.

The flight attendants… pic.twitter.com/qaNDvDnFvl

— DansDeals (@DansDeals) September 10, 2024

American Airlines replied on X: “Our team should approach every situation grounded in respect, and it’s clear we missed the mark. We have shared your comments internally with our leadership team in JFK. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”

Dan responded: “That’s great, but airlines should always allow carseats onboard if there are empty seats available, even if no seat is purchased. This flight was half empty, so there were no excuses for this!  @PeteButtigieg @FAANews @USDOT”

American Airlines replied again: “We appreciate your feedback and that you’ve brought this to our attention. The appropriate leaders have been made aware for an internal review.”

While many airlines allow children under the age of two to fly for free as a lap child, the FAA says, “The safest place for your child under the age of two on a U.S. airplane is in approved child restraint system (CRS) or device, not in your lap. Your arms aren’t capable of holding your in-lap child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence. ‘Unrestrained lap children are prone to in-flight injuries, particularly during meal service or turbulence,’ according to a 2019 study by the National Institutes of Health.”

If you are planning to use a car seat, to guarantee that there’s space, you must purchase a seat for your child but in this instance, given that the aircraft was half empty, there was no justifiable reason for the gate agents to demand that the seat be gate checked and to put the child’s safety at risk.

When traveling with a child, be sure to check your airline’s policy regarding car seats and other restraint systems and don’t forget to add your child to your reservation if they are non-ticketed and traveling as a lap child.

H/T View From the Wing

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