Canada does not oblige its airlines to ensure young children are seated with their parents.

Canada does not oblige its airlines to ensure young children are seated with their parents.
Photo Credit: CBC

Minister asks airlines to seat kids with parents

Canada’s transport minister quietly wrote to major airlines in March to ask them to ensure parents are seated with their young children wherever possible. A copy of the letter and briefing note were obtained by the news agency Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act.

Seat-selection is a money-making tool

There are no government rules requiring parents to be seated next to their children under the age of 12 and they are sometimes separated. This may occur because some airlines require passengers to pay for seat-selection on lower-fare tickets. Sometimes passengers don’t pay the fee and instead, hope to pick their seats when they check in.

The airlines say where families are separated, crew members look for open seats and ask other passengers to voluntarily relocate to accommodate them.

Government favoured voluntary change

An accompanying briefing note to airline heads suggested the letter was not intended to signal that the government was about to legislate an end to the practice, but to promote “an industry-led solution to avoid such situations.”

The Conservative government had a general policy of having industries police themselves rather than having regulatory agencies do it. There will be an election to choose a new government on October 19th.

One parent interviewed by the public broadcaster, CBC, wondered how government could allow parents to be separated from young children on airplanes and said he is concerned about safety in the event of an emergency.

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