Japan Airlines introduces tool to allow passengers to avoid babies on flights

We can see this proving pretty popular.

Much like passengers who immediately recline their seats after sitting down and passengers who are standing ready to exit practically before the plane even lands, encountering crying babies is an accepted part of the flying experience. And while there will always be crying babies on flights, Japan Airlines is attempting to make it easier for passengers to avoid them by introducing a seat map that enables passengers to see where babies will be seated on a flight when booking their seats. Passengers travelling with children between eight days and two years old who select their seats on the Japan Airlines website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen, informing other passengers that a child may be sitting there. While it’s no guarantee that a passenger will not hear a crying baby during a flight, Japan Airlines has been keen to stress, it at least allows passengers the option of giving them as wide a berth as possible while on board. The only stipulations for this option are that seats must be booked on the Japan Airlines website rather than through a third-party, it does not apply to seats booked as part of a tour or using award tickets and child icons may not be displayed correctly if there is a change in aircraft. As it turns out, the seat map - offered as part of the airline’s Smile Support Travel Service for passengers with infant children - is not new, but came to global attention after a tweet posted earlier this week complimenting the option went viral. https://twitter.com/dequinix/status/1176494097588084737 Japan Airlines isn’t even the only Japanese airline option to offer such a service; it has been a feature provided by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for some time. The option for passengers to avoid babies on flights has caused quite a stir online, with some hailing it as a godsend and others pointing out that babies are, quite often, far from the worst passengers to share a plane with, something the man who posted the original tweet has acknowledged after finding himself at the centre of the debate in recent days. https://twitter.com/dequinix/status/1177335593954611207 https://twitter.com/dequinix/status/1177350791797137408 https://twitter.com/dequinix/status/1177351473618989058