O Canada! > Canadian > Canadian Chat > Man Seated Next to Unaccompanied Minors Forced Change Seats

Man Seated Next to Unaccompanied Minors Forced Change Seats

quote:

---

A man traveling from to Brisbane from Sydney was asked to change his seats so he would no longer be next to two unaccompanied minors on a Virgin Australia flight.

A flight attendant asked 33-year-old Sydney fireman Johnny McGirr to switch seats with a woman after he was seated next to two young boys on an April flight, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. McGirr, who wrote about his experience in a blog post titled "My Virgin experience as a Paedophile!" said he was seated next to two boys he estimated to be ten years old.

He said he was approached and told he had to move. When he asked why, he was told, "Well, because you are male, you can't be seated next to two unaccompanied minors." He said he thought the request was sexist and discriminatory, but was told it was the airline's policy.

"As I collected my things from the seat pocket I could see people looking at me and wondering why I was being moved. I was red from embarrassment. I felt like I was being judged and found guilty of a crime I hadn't committed. It was an uncomfortable situation and I felt ashamed which was a weird feeling because I hadn't done anything wrong."

McGirr wrote to the airline to complain.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Australia confirmed the policy to the paper and said while the airline did not want to offend male passengers, its priority was the safety of children. "In our experience, most guests thoroughly understand that the welfare of the child is our priority," she said.

The spokeswoman told the newspaper that staff usually tried to keep the seat empty but, when that was not possible, a woman was seated next to the child.

On the airline's blog and on Twitter, Virgin Australia said: "We understand the concerns raised around our policy for children traveling alone, a long standing policy initially based on customer feedback.

"In light of recent feedback, we're now reviewing this policy. Our intention is certainly not to discriminate in any way."

ABC News was unable to reach Virgin Australia directly for comment.

---

Just imagine if that was a minority being removed LOL

reply to Kitlope
Little did anyone know the woman who switched seats with Johnny McGirr was a suspended for sexual interference elementary school teacher and ended up getting both of the young boys into the mile high club before they landed.

Seriously where were all these nympho school teachers when I was a young lad going to school? Ok really seriously this time, this is wrong on so many levels, but welcome to the screwed up world we live in. Men are simply assumed evil, end of story.

Blake
--
Vendor: Author of Link Logger which is a traffic analysis and firewall logging tool

reply to Kitlope
And I have to say, as a woman, I wouldn't want to sit beside two unaccompanied minors on a flight. It would have been funny if they'd asked me to switch as I would have said 'no thanks'.

reply to Kitlope
Wow, thats seriously messed up on so many levels.

reply to Kitlope

reply to Kitlope
I hate sitting next to or in front of babies and minors on a flight. I would gladly change my seat to get as far away as possible.

reply to capdjq
No word of a lie, when I was young travelling to Central America with my brother, I would have been about 13 and him 11 (by ourselves) a girl fresh out reform school or some prison she was about 11` was put next to us. Wasnt before long she was asking if she could kiss me. Lets just say I was extremely uncomfortable. I suppose I should not complain considering how many unwanted aggressive moves males make on females. I was just a tad young of heart and mind at the time.
--
Ain't nuthin but the blues! "Albert Collins".
Leave your troubles at the door! "Pepe Peregil" De Sevilla. Just Don't Wifi without WPA, "Yul Brenner"

LlamaWorks Equipment

reply to capdjq

reply to Agreed

reply to Kitlope
It's the gladiator-movie loving pilot the children should be scared of.

reply to Anav

c-r-e-e-p-y!!

reply to Kitlope
.Funny, if it happened to me I'd have told them to upgrade me to first class or would have told them to get lost and move the minors instead of bugging me after settling into the seat.

Oooo! Gotta remember that one! It might work!

reply to Warez_Zealot

Result "B" could happen regardless of any T&C's. All they have to do is allege "interfering with flight crew" or something akin to that which technically, refusing to follow orders would constitute.

The reason that flying is such a trial is that planes are filled with members of the general population. Since many members of the general population are assholes -- apparently much more so than in the past -- you have a disturbingly high probability of either being seated close to one, or having to endure the consequences of rules made because of assholes.

I remember a particularly nice flight to New York many years ago, which was great because (a) we were in business class which (b) was almost empty, and (c) my son who was about 10 at the time was invited up to the cockpit where he sat for much of the flight, and was given various pilot-related souvenirs at the end. And this was Air Canada, unbelievably.

Try repeating that in today's terrorist-paranoid barricaded-cockpit asshole-infested world where, just for good measure, Air Canada has some of the worst service around.
--
"We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it."
― Wendell Berry

reply to capdjq