# British Airways thinks all men are pedophiles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382 "2010-01-18T02:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/61 "2010-01-20T18:18:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There is a [Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_sex_discrimination_policy_controversy) about this that refers prior incidents of men being told to sit elsewhere dating back to 2001. According to the story, in one instance the future Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was asked to move. > > And Quantas and Air New Zealand allegedly have similar policies. Looking at the cites in that article, whoever wrote it was a little dishonest too. BA are only talking about _unaccompanied_ children in all their responses to the accusations - most of the links are just accusations, fwiw - and they say it’s a guideline, not a rule, and that it was at the request of the parents. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/62 "2010-01-20T18:20:27Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > We’re not leaving until a man gets off now. I thought that’s what they were trying to prevent. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/63 "2010-01-20T18:25:43Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > According to the story, the kid’s parents were on the plane too, seated elsewhere, so he wasn’t ‘unaccompanied’, he was seated separately for some reason. > > Maybe the kid’s a little prick, and the parents had him put at the opposite end of the plane to give themselves a break. Or perhaps he was one of those airplane boy whores I’ve heard so much about. 😛 Could have been. 🙂 More likely it had to do with the weird booking procedures airlines use. The last time I flew with my children, none of us were together.\* My youngest ended up being in front of the plane (not first class) and I was all the way in the back. My husband was directly behind me, but I don’t even remember where the other kids were. My youngest was 10 or 11 at that time, I do hope no man traveling alone was forced to move due to her presence. \*Flights were scheduled and paid for by the military so we had no real choice. If we had purchased our own tickets there is a possibility, but not a guarantee that we could have chosen our own seats or at least made sure we were together. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/64 "2010-01-20T18:26:23Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Looking at the cites in that article, whoever wrote it was a little dishonest too. BA are only talking about _unaccompanied_ children in all their responses to the accusations - most of the links are just accusations, fwiw - and they say it’s a guideline, not a rule, and that it was at the request of the parents. From a policy POV, it really doesn’t matter if they are unaccompanied or sitting separately for their parents. Besides you didn’t read far enough – the second noted incident specifically says the child’s parents were elsewhere on the plane. “A little dishonest”? WTF If it’s a guideline or a policy, so what? Either way it’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/65 "2010-01-20T18:32:49Z")
[Here is an article](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3634055/Come-off-it-folks-how-many-paedophiles-can-there-be.html) by Boris Johnson about his and other incidents. He quotes the stewardess as saying, > [@](#): > > We have very strict rules. This was a few mements before she realized they were his own children. I don’t think there is any question whatsoever that there is, or perhaps was, such a rule. And perhaps if there was a rule that has been rescinded, word has not yet reach all the aircrew. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/66 "2010-01-20T18:51:03Z")
Here is another story about an incident [The Times](http://www.vaeter-aktuell.de/english/British_Airways_-_Men_cannot_sit_with_lone_children_2001.pdf) in 2001. From this story, it is a guideline and not a rule, because it can’t always be enforced. For instance, the airline would not refuse to sell a ticket to a man if the only remaining seat was next to a child. This suggests BA is not willing to inconvenience other passengers to the extent of playng musical chairs amongst several passengers to make sure the rule is followed. BTW, according to this story, this guideline info comes directly from a BA spokesperson, though no name is given. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/67 "2010-01-20T19:56:33Z")
Seriously, **Boyo Jim** , you’re reading Boris’s own account of the incident and taking that as truth? That half-witted fop couldn’t tell the truth by accident. If such a policy exists, which I heartily doubt, I fully approve of it if it means that my child will be saved from having to sit next to Boris Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/68 "2010-01-20T20:11:47Z")
So you’re simply going to discount all the other cites, including the one from the Tmes in which an airline spokesperson confirms the practice. Well, okay then. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/69 "2010-01-20T20:51:01Z")
Did I discount all other accounts? I said that I personally doubt that such a policy exists, but offered no evidence or cite other than my own doubt; clearly I’m not really entering into this debate. An airline spokesperson may have confirmed that they had a \*guideline \*that men couldn’t just move from their assigned seat in an apparently deliberate effort to be nearer to unaccompanied children. 9 years ago. Good cite. But I don’t really care about this policy or guideline or hysterical warlock-hunt, so I’m not going to go searching for counters to it. The only account I actually discounted was Boris Johnson’s, and if you lived in London and had to put up with the cuntery he performs, you would too. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/70 "2010-01-20T20:51:05Z")
The vast majority of child molesters victimize members of their family or close family friends. Therefore, I submit that BA should have a policy forbidding fathers, step-fathers, and family friends from sitting with their own children. They are statistically far safer with a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/71 "2010-01-20T21:24:33Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > But it has some great pictures. Like this one of [Gordon Brown](http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2009/05/daily-mail-scraperboard-of-truth.html) (second picture) > [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > But as you see it’s been Photo-shopped - something the _Mail_ is well known for, and sometimes not very successfully. > > [Example 1](http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/03/daily-mail-dont-do-brown-acid.html)[Example 2](http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-fail-what-is-your-major.html) [Example 3](http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/category/photoshop-disaster/) Oh my God, thank you both! That’s my new favorite site. I just hope nothing of mine every turns up on there. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/72 "2010-01-20T21:32:15Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > So in retrospect, it was worth enduring a bit of under-the-blanket ball tickling! Ummm… yea. but without the blanket, or the tickles. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/73 "2010-01-20T21:45:59Z")
All I can say is I wish a policy like this had been in place when I flew sitting next that that 8 or 9 year old girl who was ‘practicing’ the recorder on a flight. Not to mention that kid who threw up on my shoes as we landed… OTOH, I wouldn’t have sat next to that sweet and generous little girl who gave me one of her favourite stickers (I still have it BTW). ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382/74 "2010-01-21T13:04:37Z")
Backing up **Boyo Jim** , a male colleague of mine travelled with BA over Christmas and was asked to move from his assigned seat as there was an unaccompanied child next to him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-airways-thinks-all-men-are-pedophiles/525382.md?page=3)