London – A businessman is suing British Airways over a policy that bans male passengers from sitting next to children they don’t know – even if the child’s parents are on the same flight.
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Mirko Fischer has accused the airline of branding all men as potential sex offenders and says innocent travellers are being publicly humiliated.
In line with the policy, BA cabin crew patrol the aisles before take-off checking that youngsters travelling on their own or in a different row from their parents are not next to a male stranger.
If they find a man next to a child or teenager they will ask him to move to a different seat. The aircraft will not take off unless the passenger obeys.
Mr Fischer, a 33-year-old hedge fund manager, became aware of the policy while he was flying from Gatwick with his wife Stephanie, 30.
His wife, who was six months pregnant, had booked a window seat which she thought would be more spacious. Mr Fischer was in the middle seat between her and a 12-year-old boy.
Shortly after all passengers had sat down, having stowed their bags in the overhead lockers, a male steward asked Mr Fischer to change his seat.
Mr Fischer refused, explaining that his wife was pregnant, at which point the steward raised his voice, causing several passengers to turn round in alarm. He warned that the aircraft could not take off unless Mr Fischer obeyed.
Mr Fischer eventually moved seats but felt so humiliated by his treatment that he is taking the airline to court on the grounds of sex discrimination-He is paying all his own legal
If he wins at the hearing next month at Slough County Court, BA will have to change its policy.
He has promised to donate any compensation to the NSPCC.
Mr Fischer, who lives in Luxembourg with his wife and their daughter Sophia, said: ‘This policy is branding all men as perverts for no reason. The policy and the treatment of male passengers is absolutely outrageous.
‘A plane is a public place – cabin crew regularly walk down the aisles and passengers are sat so close to each other. The risk of any abuse is virtually zero.
‘Furthermore statistically children are far more likely to be abused by a member of their family. Does that mean that BA are going to ban children sitting next to their own parents?’
‘I was made to feel like a criminal in front of other passengers. It was totally humiliating. Neither myself or my wife dared to speak to the boy in case the cabin crew forced us from our seats. The poor child must have thought we were extremely rude and unfriendly.’
Claude Knights, of the children’s charity Kidscape said: ‘The airline should have procedures in place to avoid this sort of situation.
‘If the airline is that concerned they should sit unaccompanied children with cabin crew who have no doubt been thoroughly vetted.’
A BA spokesman said: ‘As this is case is subject to court proceedings, it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time.’
What a stupid policy!! I hope he wins.
Kol hakavod to that business man. We’re not a bunch of predatory perverts. Don’t brand us that way.
They should move the child if they need to. Unbelievable. Not to be able to sit near your pregnant wife.
Idiot airlines.
“Unbelievable, not to be able to sit next to your pregnant wife.” I bet you would be the first to seperate them on your so called “mehadrin busses” Groise Chuchem, Groise Ferd
yeah i always end up next to men… so stupid of BA. ELAL would never do that…..
I wish them a speedy demise
Common sense is in order, they should have either changed the child’s seat or changed both the husband and wife’s seat if that was mandatory without making a scene. In addition, they should have a rule that one parent must sit with the children or have the entire family sit in the middle rows. They could also have a parent sign a waiver allowing their child to sit next to that adult and not holding the airline responsible.
Although they may have a valid point with their policy, they certainly have no etiquette as how to go about this. In this case the man had every right to sit next to his pregnant wife and they should have moved the boy. I’m surprised he did not put his foot down to that request. unless he did and we’re not told so. The steward he dealt with should lose his job and I hope this mr fisher wins. I always loved travelling with BA but lately they’ve become very nasty to their passengers and i’m saying this from personal experience. any complaints usually go unanswered.
Although it seems from the report that the steward could have handled the situation with a bit more finesse, I don’t see why a policy that’s put in place to protect children from potential predators (even if its one in a million…why take a chance ESPECIALLY in cramped quarters).
The guy was sitting in his assigned seat he should’ve insisted that the boy is reseated. However had he not complied, they would have dragged him off the plane in a heartbeat.
If an airline has a policy like that, they should disclose it in advance, I hope this guy gets a lot of money.
sorry but i have NO problem with this policy. i send my young girls as unaccompanied minors from LA to NY for camp each summer and dont think i dont think about this and was actually hoping this policy would happen. men stop borching. these children cant protect themselves. you can. get over it.
The British have gone absolutely insane. Next they will request all females to wear burkas to avoid offending Muslims.
You want the Britts to have common sense? Unheard of!
Again people just whining and whining. If they would think for just half a minute you would see that the airline is 100% correct. The airline is in a very awkward position. They are darned if they do and darned if they don’t.
How often do we go on the plane and ask that a male or female passenger be reseated because we don’t want to sit on a long trip strapped in next to a member of the opposite gender. It happens daily hundreds of times. If the airlines say sorry we can’t do that, they are nazi’s, have no feelings, don’t respect us, what’s the big deal. If they ask the person to move, aha, they have no right, they have seats, inconsiderate etc. etc.
We have become a bunch of whining yentas. Remember you can’t satisfy all the peple all the time.
I don’t understand why he couldn’t just switch seats with his wife? he’d be near his wife and far from the boy.
Very simple. If BA continues to implement this “policy,” don’t fly on BA. The silence from your pocketbooks will surely resonate better than kvetching and hoping they would use common sense. And, where were this child’s parents? The above does not tell us.
Part of the problem here is that the flight attendants have a mandate from above that says they are GOD & all frequent flyers have to worship them at every opportunity.
What happened to the days when they were actually pleasant?? Oh, that was gone on 9/11 with those farshultina muslims yemach sh’mom v’zichrom.
Treating people as criminals before a crime has been committed is a hallmark of a police state. For a corporation to do so to prevent lawsuits from private citizens is the hallmark of a society without responsibility.
I once flew from israel to NY with a baby and begged to sit in the row with the bassinets since the couple that was already sitting there did not have a child with them.
The lflight attendants refused my request claiming that once passengers were seated it was forbidden to ask them to move. So I had to hold my shrieking baby who wouldve shut up the second she would have been placed horizentally and fallen asleep, had all the pple around me glaring at me cuz that was the rule….
Whether you realize it or not, the same policy is followed by many airlines (including el al) although most will do so in a more subtle way and try not to separate another couple travelling together. If you don’t like it, don’t fly. The airlines can set whatever silly rules they want and you must either obey or get off the plane. when you board, you accept their rules.
The airline assigned the seating’s. Let them move the child next to the stewardess. I hope he wins BIG. They excepted the child traveling without parents, let them babysit him.
Anyone else see the irony or humor in this situation? Our safety is jeopardized every day because it is politically incorrect to use ethnic or national profiling, yet the airline can profile based on gender?
they now have body scanners in the airports.
Why dont they do brain scans to check the brain to see if the passengers are that way inclined?
Also, as far as I aware the seats are designated with a computer. Perhaps if they would have a human doing this, they can seat kids with whoever they think is harmless.
By the way, why are men any mor under suspicion than women?
The airline should maybe think of making a creche, seating all kids together, and then no1 will be insulted by being asked to move.
The airlines should have a designated area where unnaccompanied children should sit.
BA has the worst seating policy..You can NOT assign a seat only on line 24hours b4 the flight leaves and most of the time families can NOT sit together only if they pay x-tra $60.00 for their choice of seat…Just do what i did last week..Fly Continental or AA,Delta and United….BA has always been anti semitic and very unfriendly….No wonder they are loosing hundreds of millions every year…