Airline to show where babies are sitting on flights when passengers book tickets: ‘This should be mandatory’

Seat mapping tool lets travellers avoid screaming toddlers

An airline has launched a tool showing passengers where babies will be situated on flights when they come to select their seats.

Japan Airlines offers a seat mapper that clearly shows where babies and toddlers are booked in already, using a child icon to indicate their position.

“Passengers travelling with children between eight days and two years old who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen,” the carrier says on its website. “This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there.”

The idea was praised by entrepreneur Rahat Ahmed, who noticed the tool for the first time when booking flights with the airline this week.

He tweeted: “Thank you, @JAL_Official_jp for warning me about where babies plan to scream and yell during a 13 hour trip. This really ought to be mandatory across the board.”

He added that, on a recent trip from New York to Doha with Qatar Airways, he had “three screaming babies next to me”.

Twitter users were mixed in their response. Some were all for the idea, with one commenter writing: “This would be awesome, especially on long haul flights!”

However, others, particularly those who were parents themselves, argued for more patience from other passengers.

“They are babies as we all once were,” reads one response. “We need to learn tolerance or will soon start needing a map of seat locations for mouth breathers, droolers, farters, drunks, and perhaps a lot more things in life. What ever happened to life’s surprises?”

The airline has warned that the tool is not failsafe.

If tickets aren’t booked directly with the airline but through a third party, the child icon is unlikely to be displayed.

The icon also won’t appear if there’s a last minute change of aircraft.