Flying can be a chore. What more flying with kids. 12-year British Airways senior cabin crew member Justin Cox who is also a father of two shares some simple pointers of how travelling with kids need not be a daunting prospect.
- If you plan to take your own car seat for the flight, check with your airline before travelling to make sure the seat fits the airline’s criteria, as different airlines have different requirements.
- Before your child’s first flight in their own seat, sit them on the sofa at home with a cushion between you as the armrest, explaining how it’s going to be on board.
- Take a small compact travel pushchair for easy cabin stowage onboard – regular sized pushchairs or strollers will normally have to go as hold luggage.
- Pack their favourite teddy, pillow or comfort blanket – to help them get to sleep more easily and make it feel more like home.
- Sometimes waiting for take-off or leaving the aircraft can be boring for young children – a bag of treats can work well at this point as a distraction.
- While visiting the flight deck mid-flight is no longer allowed, if you ask the crew they are usually happy to arrange for children to see flight deck after landing.
- If you are flying somewhere with a big time difference try to allow yourselves two days when you get back to give your children time to get back into UK time and their normal routine, before they go back to nursery or school.
British Airways offers a special child friendly menu on long haul flights but be sure to book in advance. Entertainment packs are also given out to children on longhaul flights so that they are kept entertained. The in-flight entertainment system these days also provide a wide range of kids programmes, movies, music and online games.
Carley Lear, senior first officer with British Airways and mother of two shares “Many pilots, including myself, fell in love with flying at a very young age so we are usually pleased to share our enthusiasm with kids who want to learn more. Children of all ages are very welcome to come to the flight deck to meet the pilots. The best time is after landing when passengers are disembarking. We sometimes have stickers and postcards for children and will be more than happy to talk about flying and what all the controls and buttons on the flight deck do. Budding young pilots of the future can also ask their pilot to sign their junior flight log-book which they can get from the cabin crew for free during the flight.”
