101 high school students kicked off flight

[mrsukyankee]

Definitely under-chaperoned...we have to have one chaperone per 10 kids minimally. We also have students who fly often (we're an international school) so we wouldn't have to worry about this. And if we knew there was a group who was a bit less mature, then we would definitely make them sit next to us. I'm with team flight crew - if the kids I was chaperoning were acting like idiots, not sitting down and not putting their phones away, I'd take them off the flight myself, call their parents and let them know that they weren't going on the trip any longer, so come pick them up - or at the least, go take their phones, watch them put on their seatbelts and sit down right next to the loudest. This is a chaperone issue as much as a student issue.

[sushi]

Jun 5, 2013 1:49:45 GMT -5 ttt said:

Here's the other thing: flight attendants do not start getting paid until the aircraft door is closed. All that time boarding, helping people put their bags away, etc. is completely unpaid. You get the captain involved, everyone gets off the plane, it takes hours to get the situation resolves - all that is time that you're working for free. Nobody wants to do that just for funsies. It's in the FAs personal best interest to just get everyone on board quickly, get that door shut and get the plane up in the air.

It's possible that the crew overreacted, but they didn't just do it for the fun of it. They literally paid for it, personally.

I think pilots are in the same boat. 

I do have a question ttt. If doors are closed b/c you're ready to push off, but there's a mechanical issue that delays you, is that part of the delay paid? I ask b/c my trip back from Sydney we sat waiting for a part to be fabricated (seriously) for at least 3 hours. Doors were closed, they kept telling us 30 minutes. I was thinking the whole time that these poor flight attendants were not paid, but they kept bringing us drinks (again, poor FAs now dealing with the drunks), and they still had a 14 hour flight ahead of them.

[Deleted]

Our chaperone rule when we fly to dc is no more than 12 kids per adult. We generally take 7 adults for about 80 kids.

[rugbywife]

Kids have this pack mentality when they go on trips. Even the best behaved children can suddenly change, especially when they think they aren't being treated fairly, they started sticking up for each other, and yelling...and they have no ability to 'see the big picture' because they are kids. So their bag being checked is the end of the world, they don't 'get' that there are other passengers on the plane that they are holding up.

I am team airline and frankly, if the part about the excess hand luggage is true it pisses me off. My number one issue with students today is when they think the rules don't apply to them, because they do and they should. If you get one bag, you get one bag. You aren't a special snowflake who gets two, because if there 100 special snowflakes there is going to be a problem.

[auntie]

I'm Team Air Tran until I see video evidence to the contrary.

Kids in larger groups can be assholes and do things they never do alone or in a small group setting.

As I understand it, the teachers at such religious schools are not necessarily college educated and could have been only a year or so older than their charges. They may not have been especially effective or identifiable as adults in this situation.

Our district charters the planes they use for the annual WDW senior trip so they don't inconvenience other travelers. The ratio of chaparones is something like 12:1 not including RNs and adminstrators. Parents and kids are told that the parents will be called to get their child if there is any violation of the school's code of conduct. And every year they do.

For the elite group trips for the arts, music and language groups, they fly commercially and break the groups up if over 25 kids. They never roll without an administrator and RN and at least a 12:1 coverage. District performance and culture experience tours are open to parents, families and community members. When DS went with the band to Argentina, they took 120 kids- two principals, one RN and 10 teachers along with enough parents and sibs to be 212 travelers. They broke the group into 3 flight groups.