Virgin Australia has been accused of treating male passengers like paedophiles

[whatmeworry]

Virgin Australia | Man Asked To Move Due to Paedophile Fears

 

[anat0l]

BA, QF and NZ..... this is deja vu.

 

[coyote25]

Virgin Australia | Man Asked To Move Due to Paedophile Fears

Personally I'm happy not to be seated next to children at all but I understand why someone would get angry.

Surely on a dom flight its easy enough to keep an eye on the minors by the attendants. Also other passengers would probably notice something. Short day flights would make it almost impossible to get away with anything, I'd think the minors are safer on a plane then most places.

I could imagine an innocent male being forced to swap to a worse seat just because their sex.

Seems illogical to me but as I said I would be happy not to sit next to minors as I'd feel like I'd have to help out if something happened to upset them when all I want to do is chill.

 

[casanovawa]

We've become easy targets because of the actions of a few...

 

[TerryW]

Crew must have went to the same school as the head of Bravehearts;Hetty Johnstone, According to her as well all single males are Paedophiles!!!!!

 

[AaronBradford]

Crew must have went to the same school as the head of Bravehearts;Hetty Johnstone, According to her as well all single males are Paedophiles!!!!!

Eh, it's no fault of the crew, they were just enforcing company policy. From what I read, though, it could have been handled better and with more discretion.

 

[markis10]

Eh, it's no fault of the crew, they were just enforcing company policy. From what I read, though, it could have been handled better and with more discretion.

Its Company policy for many airlines, however with the others its automatically sorted out before boarding with smart seat allocation, this is just another example of poor seat allocation/gate agent games we hear time and time again with DJ.

 

[coyote25]

Its Company policy for many airlines, however with the others its automatically sorted out before boarding with smart seat allocation, this is just another example of poor seat allocation/gate agent games we hear time and time again with DJ.

Agreed if you are going to do this you don't do it on the plane with others listening in 'sir you need to move company policy we are worried you might do something to the kids' everyone stare at the bad man

 

[simongr]

Issue with automated allocation - if I choose 4A and then somehow the parent of kid travelling alone picks 4B - do I get automatically moved or is that seat not selectable?

 

[markis10]

Issue with automated allocation - if I choose 4A and then somehow the parent of kid travelling alone picks 4B - do I get automatically moved or is that seat not selectable?

UMs dont get to select a seat or do web checkin AFAIK - just like any special service passenger.

 

[simongr]

Ahh - ok - it might be a while before I am allowed to let boygr board the flight to Cyprus by himself...

 

[here2go]

It's very normal not to put men next to kids. While this case was perhaps overzealous, women do get lumbered with the children/parents with children if the flight is full. Systems however are not perfect. If my wife and I fly on different PNRs we can usually wangle seats together even if she has an infant attached to her booking.

 

[simongr]

Hmm - wondering if the policy is covered in the conditions of carriage. I know that the conditions allow them to move you however they want but I feel this is a different situation.

 

[Taezar]

I have no problem with this policy or the fact that DJ asked him to move.
What I have a problem with is how each time he tells his story it gets more sensational and worse for DJ.
My "favourite" part was how he suggested to DJ that men not be allowed to sit next to women because most rapists are men, thereby following DJ's logic.

 

[whatmeworry]

Statistically men are responsible for more homicides, sexual assaults, aggravated assaults etc etc etc.

Does that mean we herd all men into one corner of the plane... No.

Does this policy that assume no women are capable of paedophilia? Probably Yes.

IMO this policy made a poor guy to feel like some low life creep.

 

[anat0l]

Poll: Is it fair to move male passengers away from unaccompanied children?

Yes, most pedophiles are men, and Virgin's policy makes children's protection a priority

8%
No, Virgin's policy is sexist and suggests all men are potential pedophiles

87%
Undecided

5%

Total votes: 39263.

Disclaimer:

These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.

Geez, no **** these aren't scientific, NoNews. For one, you make an awful excuse for a question-and-answer-set writer!

Apparently the number of comments inflowing on this article has been so great that the comments section has been closed pending the publishing of the backlog.

 

[mannej]

I have no problem with this policy or the fact that DJ asked him to move.
What I have a problem with is how each time he tells his story it gets more sensational and worse for DJ.
My "favourite" part was how he suggested to DJ that men not be allowed to sit next to women because most rapists are men, thereby following DJ's logic.

Sorry, but in this day and age of sex discrimination, the policy is archaeic. I am aware that most airlines do have a similar policy, still doesn't make it right.

It is a double standard, considering the fact that you do hear about females (there are some in positions of power [i.e teachers]) commit similar crimes.

His analogy may be over the top, but the point is there. If the airlines were serious about a policy such as this, why did it get to the stage where it had to be changed on the plane, and how can it be handled better should the seating allocation software fail. Being discrete is the key here, and obviously big fail here.

What tops it off is the fact that there are some airlines who enforce it inconsistantly. There is anecdoctal evidence on here that some male members on here don't get asked to move by the crew.

 

[Moody]

Jeez guys - have a beer and get over it. The only downside to this policy is that if seat allocations are mishandled (like in this case) then one male and one female passenger will be required to swap seats and one or both of them will be dissatisfied with the new deal.

But it really shouldn't be hard for the system to cope with a UM and block the adjacent seat from male pax, should it?

 

[AaronBradford]

But it really shouldn't be hard for the system to cope with a UM and block the adjacent seat from male pax, should it?

Well, it is Navitaire we're talking about

 

[moa999]

Understand the policy -- it is simple risk minimisation.

But the implementation sucks.
I would also be offended if ask to move publicly.
If the UM seats are manually allocated then crew should be able to see where there are vacant seats next to a female and allocate that way, or at worse force a change so pax get red beeped and recarded "operational reasons" on boarding.
Too do it on board is poor.