New York Family Law Blog
A number of airlines in Europe and Asia have stopped seating unaccompanied minors next to adults after several allegations of sexual abuse. Airline pilots and safety experts believe that is not the best idea, however, since it may have left children open to severe injury.
Millions of children fly alone each year, especially as more and more people travel by air. Families, split by divorce, often live miles apart. New York Family Lawyers have noticed many lawsuits arising from seating problems, especially in the United States, but the airline industry has yet to come to a consensus on the matter. As one example, two children on a domestic Air France flight were unable to reach their oxygen masks when the plane cabin suddenly depressurized, New York Family Lawyers have learned.
The children, an 8-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, were sobbing, seated in separate window seats of the plane and the aisle seats were empty. A flight attendant eventually helped the children and the plane landed safely in Paris 30 minutes later.
A spokeswoman told New York Family Lawyers that Air France had changed its seating policy about a year ago, due to complaints of “inappropriate touching” of children on some long flights. She would not state the number of these incidents, only saying that it was a “very, very small number” of the approximately 400,000 unaccompanied minors that flew that airline every year.
Airlines in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have made similar changes. They had to modify their law which required children to sit next to an adult female after men complained they were being sexually discriminated against.
The safety and wellbeing of children is vital to everyone. A New York Family Attorney can be an important part in providing that safety. Children have the right to be protected and a New York Family Attorney can assist you in making certain your children are made the highest priority in legal matters.
The firm of Stephen Bilkis & Associates with convenient locations thorughout the Metropolitan Area, including servicing Saint Albans, N.Y., can be of invaluable assistance to you if you find yourself a party to a case. Facing the Court without professional representation could lead to disastrous results.