‘Cranky’ 3-Year-Old Kicked Off Alaskan Airlines Flight Thanks To Wussy Dad

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about a 1-year-old girl named Riyanna who was kicked off a JetBlue flight after airline officials discovered she was on their “no-fly” list. Now Alaskan Airlines is continuing the whole flying-with-children-is-a-fucking-nightmare trend. Earlier this week, 3-year-old Daniel Yanchak was booted off a flight headed for Seattle because he refused to fasten his seat belt. Huh?!

It’s regulation that every passenger be seated with their seat belt fastened for takeoff and landing. And so I don’t blame airline officials one bit for insisting that he comply (it’s for his own safety, after all). But what completely blows my mind is that this kid is 3 could nobody have just insisted? Could they not have said, “Look, buddy, do up your seat belt you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

Of course, I believe that this type of discipline falls on the parents (and not airline officials). Daniel’s dad, Mark Yanchak, says his boy was “antsy” before take-off but that the on-board crew was way too harsh. “I started putting him in his seat. I put his seat belt on. Be he was being cranky, trying to be close to me, so he wasn’t fully fastened yet,” he explained. Next thing you know, the family was booted off the plane with zero explanation.

Alaskan Airlines officials, on the other hand, say they spoke with Mark repeatedly but that nothing was being done to control the situation (in fact, they claim Daniel was lying across his seat with his seat belt up near his neck).

Mark’s wife, Svetlana, was very wisely sitting 20 rows away, in first class, with the couple’s other child. She heard the commotion and came by with a pacifier and some water, but it wasn’t enough for the flight’s captain, who at that point had returned the plane to the gate and bid the little terror child adieu.

The airline offered to put the family on another flight, but they declined.

I must say, when I first read the headlines that a 3-year-old was kicked off a flight for being cranky I thought, “What the hell is wrong with people?” (For the record, I was referring to the flight crew.) But then I let it sit with me for a while and I realized, Wait a minute here, what is wrong with this father that he can’t control his child? Unless this kid has a serious behavioral issue that’s not being reported which could very well be the case this dad should have been on top of it. I know it sounds judgmental but hey, it’s how I feel.

Trust me, flying with my own 3-year-old is no easy task. When he was 2, we had a similar situation. He refused to sit still and had a major meltdown when we buckled him up. It was pretty horrifying I think I actually had to physically restrain his arms during take-off so that he would stop messing with the seat belt. My neighbors shot me dirty looks and the flight attendants were clearly annoyed (I don’t blame them, by the way). But you do what you have to do. Needless to say, we all survived.

I feel badly for this family that they had to ensure so much drama and humiliation but, c’mon, a 3-year-old should not be running the show anywhere especially not on a busy airport runway.