A US flight attendant has gone viral after intervening when ‘all hell broke loose’ with a crying baby.
Whitney Poyntz and her husband Geoff boarded a flight with their dozing four-month-old from Florida to their native Calgary.
Writing on Facebook, Poyntz said “Our daughter was asleep when we boarded so we figured it would be an easy peasy flight, man were we wrong....” The infant was sleeping peacefully until the pilot spoke through the intercom, waking her.
The crying baby was able to be nursed back to sleep and the couple were able to breathe a sigh of release...momentarily. “About 30 mins later all hell broke loose. Not sure if it was gas or maybe pressure but we did not have a happy baby, unfortunately those seats aren't made for rocking or trying to put a baby back to sleep.”
Poyntz described the anxiety that many mum feel as they try to comfort their baby, and unfairly become the cause of scorn amongst fellow passengers: “Eyes glaring, sweat dripping down our foreheads trying to get her back to sleep.”
Thankfully, in came ‘the hero of the day’, a WestJet flight attendant named Ashley.
“Ashley came up to us and asked if she could take her and walk up and down the isle (sic)... first thought in my head was 'umm a stranger wants to walk my screaming child up and down the isle?!?!'” Poyntz wrote on the WestJet Facebook page.
She took a leap of faith and let Ashley walk her up and down the aisle, while soothing the screaming baby. “She got her calmed down. Now it may not seem like a lot but the experience was amazing.”
She took time to express her gratitude to Ashley and the airline for her unexpected act of kindness: “Never would I ever think someone would ever do that, volunteer to take your screaming child, but she did. I would like to thank you for the over and above customer service (baby whispering) that you gave, truly the greatest airline.”
The post has gone viral, with 101k reactions and over 8k shares. Commenters are praising Ashley’s tenderness with the child, with one woman even writing, “I recognize this woman... she was very caring toward our baby on a recent westjet flight. Love her!”
Given the recent stories of US flight attendants clashing with passengers, including mums, it’s nice to see that some still value customer service.
