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.
I thought that’s what they were trying to prevent.
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.
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.
Here is an article by Boris Johnson about his and other incidents. He quotes the stewardess as saying,
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 And perhaps if there was a rule that has been rescinded, word has not yet reach all the aircrew.
Here is another story about an incident The Times 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Oh my God, thank you both! That’s my new favorite site. I just hope nothing of mine every turns up on there.
Ummm… yea. but without the blanket, or the tickles. :rolleyes:
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).
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.