Virgin Australia Seating Policy Under Review After Man Claims He Felt Like a Pedophile

A man complained about a Virgin Australia policy claiming it made him feel like a pedophile. The policy states that it does not allow male passengers to sit next to kids that are flying alone.

John McGirr,33, a firefighter said in a blogpost, "Because I am a man I am presumed to be a predator."

He added, "The irony of the situation is that I am an emergency service worker and if the children were in trouble I would be given the responsibility of protecting them. Men are policemen, doctors, social workers, teachers...people who are entrusted to the care of children but according to Virgin once you step on one of their planes you are a pedophile or a potential pedophile."

McGirr's complaints incited angry comments which called the airline sexist and on Friday Virgin Australia announced the policy was under review. They said in a statement, "We understand the concerns raised around our policy for children travelling alone, a long standing policy initially based on customer feedback. Our intention is certainly not to discriminate in any way."

The incident occurred because when McGirr boarded the plane he was allocated the window seat but when he came on the plane, two boys were sitting in the middle and window so he just took the aisle.

A flight attendant then came up to him prior to takeoff and said that he would have to move because he was a male and was not allowed to be seated next to two unaccompanied minors. As he moved seats, he claimed to have felt embarrassed as people were looking over wondering why he had been moved. He said on his blog, "As I collected my things from the seat pocket I could see people looking at me and wondering why I was being moved. I was red from embarrassment. I felt like I was being judged and found guilty of a crime I hadn't committed."

McGirr emailed the flight after he departed and complained. He stated that the airline returned his email with this company policy, ": "Unaccompanied children will have spare seats allocated next to them when they are flying. In the case of a full plane then a female will be sat next to the children."

Other airlines don't always have this policy however. US Airways has no formal policy on this and neither does American Airlines. American Airlines places kinds in an aisle seat near the front so cabin crew can keep an eye on them.