I WAS on MAS’ flight MH181 coming back from Chennai on March 8.

I witnessed an incident on the flight that has me pondering whether MAS staff practise double standards on their flights.

There was a young mother flying with her toddler son and a 6-month-old infant.

She was checked in earlier and given the front two seats on the side with facilities for a bassinet. After most of the passengers were seated, a man walked in and went to her seat and demanded that she vacate it because it was allocated to him.

A senior steward was told about the seat mix-up and told the toddler to move, separating him from his mother.

Luckily, another passenger moved and allowed his mother to sit next to him.

But this arrangement denied the mother the use of the bassinet as there was no facilities in front of her seat.

Throughout the 31/2-hour flight, the infant was restless and the mother was not able to have her meal or use the toilet.

My question is, why didn’t the steward ask the gentleman to move since she was already seated and the mother had valid tickets for herself and her son?

Is it because he was a foreigner and the mother didn’t appear so educated?

ESTEE, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – March 14, 2008