First, currently, the longest flight in the world is 18 hours and 40 minutes. Second, if a child screams for 29 hours non-stop, they need to see a doctor, ASAP.
For real. I know 2 hours of screaming feels like 29 hours… but I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a child that could scream more than 2 hours without passing out.
While I dig the fact checking and such I do need to point out a few things.
Firstly, you can currently find comercial flight durations listed for New Zealand to Germany in excess of 24 hours.
Secondly, the current longest flight only has bearing if the event occurred at a time that current flight schedules were in effect.
Thirdly, regardless of average or listed flight time, actual time can vary dramatically. I once took a domestic flight of approximately 600 miles with an average time of 1.5 hours and which landed six hours after takeoff. We were in air the entire time save for a period where after holding at the destination airport we were re routed to a neighboring state and had to refuel. While fueling we were all left in our seats. While that was not time in flight, it is counted as flight time when we call the flight time total time from boarding terminal to end terminal. In our case a confluence of weather delays, shunts from other airports and landing priority, and…
.. the need to refuel/inability to refuel nearer the destination all contributed. After refueling we also could not land at the original airport and so had to travel additional Distance to an airport hours away from the original destination. Other things that can change actual flight time asides take off, landing, and taxi delays are weather and changes to route. The exact route followed between two points by a plane is not always the same, there are circumstances where a plane must take a different path which can alter actual times from estimates.
Lastly- there is likely some hyperbole at play. I doubt the flight was a round 29 hours even if it were close, few flights take off and land in round numbers of hours, not impossible but more likely there is rounding or an error.
Secondly, I find it dubious the baby cried literally the entire flight. There are documented and even video recorded cases of children crying and fussing near constantly or for a majority of flights, most of which being shorter than the supposed 29 hours, but as long or longer than 8 hours.
At some point at least for a short time in 29 hours a baby would sleep. While I can’t say it is medically impossible for a baby to cry more than 2 hours, I can say that babies or even adults would eventually become exhausted from non stop crying and babies (depending on age in part) can suffer from low oxygen from prolonged crying. Such fits can also cause babies to throw up, which might lead to subsequent crying but would likely stop any audible crying for at least..
.. as long as the most intense peak of their vomiting lasted. So usually when someone says a baby “cried the whole (flight)(movie)(etc.)” it is a touch hyperbolic and the baby likely cried the majority or through the duration off and on with at least some moments where there was not crying.
Mixed feelings. Parents are people and kids are sort of important to society. That said, firstly there is a sort of common sense/common decency thing. The dark side of freedom- that some people see freedom as permission vs. a responsibility. Your baby won’t remember any of it. Any trip or sights or experiences. In fact below a certain age it likely won’t even help shape their development better- in fact from trauma and stress and with potential dangers it may be WORSE than keeping them home and doing bonding and play around there.
You probably shouldn’t travel with a baby frivolously. Examples-
Necessary: the baby needs life saving or affirming medical care and a flight is the only practical way.
Quasi necessary: You are moving far away and need to fly
Not necessary but arguably humanitarian: your elderly and/or sick relatives want to meet the baby but cannot travel and so you, with reasonable suspicion they may likely die or become mentally incapable in the next few years,
go to them.
Not necessarily but VERY debatably humanitarian and arguably frivolous: guardians need or want a trip and can’t practically or emotionally bring themselves to leave the baby.
Clearly frivolous: guardians want the baby to see Disney/Paris/etc.
So it would be nice if we could assume people followed some sort of self enforced system like this. Babies would still travel and still cry, but we could all jeer the people complaining because that kid wouldn’t be on that plane if there wasn’t a compelling reason. We do not live in that world. We live in a world where people think that because it means something to them, it’s ok to force you into a situation.
So maybe that baby is moving or getting a transplant, or maybe its parents just wanted cute photos with Mickey Mouse or to be able to keep up brags to their friends or what not.
Control os something you have very little with when a baby is concerned. It isn’t really practical to drug a baby, too many social and ethical and potential health issues. You can sedate an animal or fly it in a hold below decks so that others aren’t bothered. Babies- that probably won’t work for various reasons. It wouldn’t go over well for sure.
So you can’t control the baby, and you know that it is possible, likely even that it will cause trouble for others, but you’re ok with that as long as you get through it and get what you want out of it. Now, build a portable speaker that plays death metal at high volume and is programmed with a randomizer so that it can go off any time for unknown time and cannot be reliably stopped or muted. Program it to donate money to a noble cause every time it goes off- for the future and societal good. Now go out into the world. Go to movies and plays and fly on planes with it. See how that goes. Bring your dog that barks constantly and isn’t house or crate trained around. I’m these examples most people see an obvious problem. But change the description to baby and many people change tunes.
Not surprisingly it is a majority of people who have or have had or raised babies that are most understanding, and some who want babies or may want them. Your values are not everyone’s. Human beings have a nasty habit of value dismissal. We have great empathy for people who think like us but not those who don’t. “Your pet isn’t as important as my child.” “Your game isn’t as important as my plan.” “Your car isn’t as important as a new fridge..” well… maybe not to YOU, but who are you to tell people what’s important to them? News flash- your baby isn’t important to me. Your job isn’t important to me. Your kids, your parents, and what you want in life? Not important to me. I don’t know you. You’re no more important to me than any other of the billions of strangers in earth. I hope you have a great day but I probably won’t care if you don’t. While I’d wish you a good day, wouldn’t likely try to stop you from having one, might even do my little part with a smile or a small kindness to help-
I won’t give you $100 so you’ll have a good day. I won’t risk getting fired so you have a good day. I won’t give up my plans and drive you around so you’ll have a good day, and I would not lose sleep so you’d have a good day because I don’t know you like that. If I give up a nights sleep to facilitate your goals- and then the next day I do it or someone else… in a short time I’d literally die of sleep deprivation. So if I’m giving something up- why am I giving it to you? And shouldn’t I have the choice and not have you put me in a position where you’re taking it?
So what do we do? Adult only flights doesn’t sound like an answer. Asides cost and inconvenience and such, in this day and age and environmentalism that doesn’t seem wise. Maybe babies can only fly certain hours or on certain days? Doesn’t work really. What if you actually need to fly with a baby and it isn’t one of those days? What about people who just can’t ever get those days or times free? Not fair.
Baby laws. If a baby disrupts a flight, any passenger on that flight not legally associated with that baby and party or known as an associate is entitled to a reimbursement pro rated for length of time.
Do the airlines pay? No. Not fair to them. The parents? No. That’s the same as making them pay for a private plane to fly with a baby. Who? Baby travel insurance. To travel with a baby you must have baby travel Insurance or self insure with a listed bond that will cover the maximum occupancy of an aircraft. Problem solved. No special flights, no baby cages in the cargo hold or baby sedatives, no need to restrict access for parents and babies. A new lucrative industry is created and new jobs and if you get hosed by a baby you aren’t just stuck dealing with it. There is a cost to parents but not likely an unreasonable one, and it would encourage prudence and tact when deciding wether to travel with a baby.
Or… maybe get over it? Babies cry. Babies exist. In a just world you would never suffer for someone else’s weak pullout game- but- babies become children who become young adults who become adults, if they get that far. Babies are people, and let me tell you as someone who’s been dealing with people since I was a baby- people suck. Adults throw tantrums and are obnoxious. Teens, kids. They do dumb things and screw us over and get in our way. So wether it’s a baby or someone who smells like they bathed in scented products or didn’t bathe in their life or brought some food that smells worse than death or won’t shut up or keeps kicking your seat or whatever-
People suck and every day you have to get over it and live with it. Even on their best behavior most people manage to suck. So I mean- sorry for you. Accept reality. Nothing you do can stop the suck. Just spiral into it. Let it consume you. Tragically, babies crying doesn’t bother me at all. I’m missing that wiring. I Can let a baby cry all day. I also Can sleep through anything. If you want that second skill and don’t have it you’ll need to go through long periods of very unpleasant conditions to develop the skill of being able to sleep through an explosion but wake up instantly if someone moves too close to you, says your full name, or touches you. So I don’t have a dog in the fight. I don’t really care if your baby cries because it doesn’t impact me, so it’s easy for me to say wah wah get over it.
I remember the time in my life, before I had a baby—back when I swore I never would. So many of the noises children make were deplorable. Then I had a baby. The noises are still deplorable, but you become desensitized. And while I understand that people without children haven’t gotten that desensitization, it’s part of life. Take a deep breath. I know it feels like 29 hours, but babies don’t actually have that much fortitude.
Comments
Firstly, you can currently find comercial flight durations listed for New Zealand to Germany in excess of 24 hours.
Secondly, the current longest flight only has bearing if the event occurred at a time that current flight schedules were in effect.
Thirdly, regardless of average or listed flight time, actual time can vary dramatically. I once took a domestic flight of approximately 600 miles with an average time of 1.5 hours and which landed six hours after takeoff. We were in air the entire time save for a period where after holding at the destination airport we were re routed to a neighboring state and had to refuel. While fueling we were all left in our seats. While that was not time in flight, it is counted as flight time when we call the flight time total time from boarding terminal to end terminal. In our case a confluence of weather delays, shunts from other airports and landing priority, and…
Secondly, I find it dubious the baby cried literally the entire flight. There are documented and even video recorded cases of children crying and fussing near constantly or for a majority of flights, most of which being shorter than the supposed 29 hours, but as long or longer than 8 hours.
At some point at least for a short time in 29 hours a baby would sleep. While I can’t say it is medically impossible for a baby to cry more than 2 hours, I can say that babies or even adults would eventually become exhausted from non stop crying and babies (depending on age in part) can suffer from low oxygen from prolonged crying. Such fits can also cause babies to throw up, which might lead to subsequent crying but would likely stop any audible crying for at least..
You probably shouldn’t travel with a baby frivolously. Examples-
Necessary: the baby needs life saving or affirming medical care and a flight is the only practical way.
Quasi necessary: You are moving far away and need to fly
Not necessary but arguably humanitarian: your elderly and/or sick relatives want to meet the baby but cannot travel and so you, with reasonable suspicion they may likely die or become mentally incapable in the next few years,
Not necessarily but VERY debatably humanitarian and arguably frivolous: guardians need or want a trip and can’t practically or emotionally bring themselves to leave the baby.
Clearly frivolous: guardians want the baby to see Disney/Paris/etc.
So it would be nice if we could assume people followed some sort of self enforced system like this. Babies would still travel and still cry, but we could all jeer the people complaining because that kid wouldn’t be on that plane if there wasn’t a compelling reason. We do not live in that world. We live in a world where people think that because it means something to them, it’s ok to force you into a situation.
Control os something you have very little with when a baby is concerned. It isn’t really practical to drug a baby, too many social and ethical and potential health issues. You can sedate an animal or fly it in a hold below decks so that others aren’t bothered. Babies- that probably won’t work for various reasons. It wouldn’t go over well for sure.
Do the airlines pay? No. Not fair to them. The parents? No. That’s the same as making them pay for a private plane to fly with a baby. Who? Baby travel insurance. To travel with a baby you must have baby travel Insurance or self insure with a listed bond that will cover the maximum occupancy of an aircraft. Problem solved. No special flights, no baby cages in the cargo hold or baby sedatives, no need to restrict access for parents and babies. A new lucrative industry is created and new jobs and if you get hosed by a baby you aren’t just stuck dealing with it. There is a cost to parents but not likely an unreasonable one, and it would encourage prudence and tact when deciding wether to travel with a baby.