Airline introduces baby seat map to help passengers avoid sitting next to infants

Most airlines already give passengers a variety of options when it comes to what seat they want to choose when booking a flight, but now Japan Airlines (JAL) is giving its customers the option of selecting who they can sit next to – or not – with what’s being described as a baby seat map, of sorts.

According to its website, JAL passengers travelling with children between 8 days and 2 years old who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen.

“This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there,” the company said.

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And for those travelling with 2 children between 8 days and 2 years old, who desire adjacent seats, the option “Preferred Seats for Passengers with 2 Children” is the recommended selection.

All JAL customers can select their seats up until 15 minutes before your flight’s scheduled departure time, giving people the chance to check out just who they’ll be seated beside once in the air.

Of course, there are some seats on the plane where it’s pretty much guaranteed you won’t have to worry about be seated next to a crying child.

For example, passengers traveling with children between 8 days and 2 years old cannot sit in the exit rows for safety reasons, the airline noted.

Still, passengers are advised that there are still some situations where child icons are not displayed when flights are being booked.

This includes:

• Seats booked as part of a tour or using award tickets;
• Seats selected through means other than the JAL website
• Eligible seats that may be restricted to certain fare types.

In addition, the airline states that “child icons may not be displayed correctly if there is a change in aircraft,” and “aircraft types are subject to change without prior notice.”

Japan Airlines

Still if the opportunity exists to knowingly make your flight just a little bit more peaceful, this might be the perfect way to go about doing it.