Screaming 2-Year-Old Kicked Off Southwest Flight

In a move that might make the Supernanny proud, Southwest Airlines sent a two-year-old (and his mother) to a time out, kicking them off of a flight from Amarillo to San Jose last week. It seems that the rowdy toddler was making such a ruckus that the rest of the passengers could not hear the preflight safety announcements. The kid's mother says that she was sure his screams of "Go plane go!" and "I want Daddy!" would have subsided once they were in the air, but the flight crew were not as confidant and ended up taxiing the plane back to the gate and booting the twosome off the plane.

Though Southwest has since apologized and issued a refund and $300 voucher, the incident stirred up quite a bit of emotion surrounding cranky kids on flights. According to an MSNBC poll, a full 76% of people take Southwest’s side in the matter, applauding the removal of the offending toddler. The consensus on the Southwest side is that kids his age probably should not fly, and that perhaps the mother was not parenting well enough. On the families’ side, many parents chimed in with words like compassion and understanding. There was also talk of an “adults only” airline. Now that sounds promising, in a variety of ways.