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The Human Rights
Commission has become involved in a row over airline seating policies in
which men aren't allowed to sit next to unaccompanied children on flights. Now the policy's
legality looks set to be tested. When Mark Worsley
checked in for a Qantas flight he was allocated a seat next to a young boy
but half an hour later he was moved. "She told me it
was regulations that no male passenger should be sitting next to
unaccompanied children," he says. "I was shocked and
really embarrassed being broiled out on a public flight and then later on the
flight I just got angry." A father himself,
Worsley is still furious he was seen as a potential danger. "It was a public
flight, what was I going to do or anybody going to do on a public flight and
the stewardess was keeping an eye out for this child," Worsley says. Qantas says its policy
just reflects parents' concerns that unaccompanied minors not be seated next
to adult males, emergency exits or in some cases window seats. The Children's
Commissioner has commended the policy for trying to keep children safe and
doesn't believe it was intended to discriminate against men. But the Human Rights
Commission says there are grounds to investigate. The policy has annoyed
some men so much they're considering a boycott. Richard Aston runs a
mentoring service which helps boys who don't have male role models. "I'm deeply
offended that Qantas or Air New Zealand could see every man that comes onto a
plane as a potential child molester," Aston says. But Qantas isn't alone.
Other airlines One News spoke to have similar guidelines. They say it's to
protect male passengers from potential allegations as much as the children. But it does seem the
policy is restricted to airlines. Intercity buses tries
to seat children within the first four rows so they can be seen by the driver
but it doesn't prevent them sitting next to men.
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