Unsure if you should give up your seat on an airplane to accommodate large families? Well, JetBlue decided for you.
The airline has introduced a “formal family seating guarantee,” a new policy that promises children ages 13 and under will be sitting next to an adult traveling with them on the same reservation, according to a press release.
JetBlue’s plan will include a brand-new process that proactively identifies flight reservations that have children and adults traveling together without prior seating assignments and will ensure a young child traveling will be assigned a seat next to at least one adult on their trip “when seats are available.”
“We know traveling with young children can add challenges, and we want to do everything we can to put parents and families at ease by providing a smooth trip each time they choose JetBlue,” Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer at JetBlue, said in a statement.
“This enhanced family seating policy reflects our commitment to continue to meet the needs of our customers and provide exceptional service.”
The policy applies to all JetBlue customers, including those who book for JetBlue’s Blue Basic fare. It will even apply to families who book trips just 24 hours prior, however, seats might need to be manually reassigned by a crew member.
Regardless, the airline still encourages travelers to choose their seats in advance to allow for a smooth booking and traveling process.
JetBlue said the initiative is part of their commitment to “enhance the travel experience” and provide a comfortable and stress-free flight.
The policy enactment comes amid a growing number of complaints from people who are asked to switch seats to let parents sit with children, which has led to lots of debate on social media.
One woman, Tammy Nelson, was traveling for work and found a woman sitting in her seat with her two children next to her.
“I said, ‘as long as it’s the window seat I’m happy to switch,’” Nelson posted on TikTok. However, the mom then pointed to the middle seat in the row behind her — which Nelson said was an immediate no.
In another case, a passenger on Virgin Australia Airlines started a debate over airplane etiquette after a man said no to swapping seats so he could sit next to his wife.
Another traveler shared their frustrations in a resurfaced Reddit post over a woman who had “the audacity” to request a seat swap so she could sit next to her kid. The unidentified traveler was on a trans-Pacific flight from Japan — sitting in a window seat — while the toddler was in the middle seat.
Even TikTok star Audrey Peters shared her dismay at being asked to move to a middle seat in order for a family to sit together.
