A Tik Tok user posted a video to the platform recently, asking why adult-only flights were not readily available for consumers to choose from, after she had to endure a three-hour flight with a small child crying the whole way through.
“I would pay SO much money,” Lee said. “I have noise-cancelling headphones. The child was well over five years old and sat directly behind me while kicking my chair as the mother slept.”
The clip quickly went viral, amassing 25 000 comments and 880 000 views in two weeks. Many agreed with Lee, asking why the option to buy tickets with the promise of a child-free trip was not offered by any airlines.
The premise of adult-only flights is simply unviable. “Maybe it could work in the realm of special charters, but not on a scheduled flight,” Linden Birns, aviation expert and MD of Plane Talking, told Travel News.
“Why would an airline want to deter families from travelling? You would be denying revenue, and fobbing off flyers whom you would hope would become loyal returning customers.”
Commercial viability, or non-viability, is at the heart of why Tik Tok users are unlikely to be able to live this particular dream.
“Adult-only flights is an interesting concept. But beyond the commercial viability, this type of offering would not be in line with our inclusive philosophy at LIFT,” Jonathan Ayache, Co-Founder and CEO of LIFT, said. “A more viable option may be to have a section of the aircraft that is reserved for families with children, similar to the way we manage our flights with small dogs on board.”
Those who want to avoid ‘family travellers’ (ie noisy children) should try to book their journeys very early in the morning or during peak travel hours.
“Families don’t generally travel at peak hours, which tend to be more attractive for people travelling for work,” Birns says. “And you know if you get on a plane very early, it would typically be for business travel and not really for families with young children.”
