Are all men potential molesters of kids? Apparently so, according to Qantas and Air New Zealand.

Two airlines "down under" are under fire after acknowledging their policy of not allowing an unaccompanied child passenger to sit next to a man.

The policy emerged when a New Zealand man said he was asked by airline staff to move because an unaccompanied minor had been assigned the seat next to him.

Mark Worsley was told to swap seats with a woman sitting nearby, who then moved into the seat next to the boy, about eight years old, for the 80-minute flight.

"I was pretty shocked -- I think most people would be," the 37-year-old shipping manager and father of two said Tuesday.

"I complied straight away and moved seats. But as I sat on the plane during the flight I got more and more angry about it."

Part of the problem, Worsley said, was that the plane was full. When the flight attendant arranged the seat swap, "certainly there was enough disruption that people in the immediate vicinity would have heard what was going on. I felt totally embarrassed."

He had later confronted the airline staff, who confirmed the company policy.

Now given what we know about child abuse, especially from certain recent cases, it can come from either sex. To demand a man move simply because of his gender is absurd. Not only that, it is intolerable.

Unfortunately, some don’t see it that way – and they are in charge of enforcing laws against sex discrimination.

The airlines did win support from one quarter. Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro, a government appointee, commended Qantas and Air New Zealand for their efforts to keep child passengers safe.

Kiro said she doubted the policy was meant as a slur against men.

It may not have been meant as a slur against men, but it certainly was a slur against men. This ding-dong needs to be pursued out of office by a mob lobbing rotten vegetables.

Oh, yeah -- and the authorities down-under need to correct thsi offense against the dignity of men.

Posted by: Greg at 01:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 352 words, total size 2 kb.