08-07-2025
Mum is left horrified by Virgin passenger's 'inappropriate' five-word request to three-year-old daughter as they boarded flight
A Virgin airlines customer has revealed the shocking moment a stranger tapped her three-year-old daughter on the shoulder and delivered a chilling warning.
Emma Darrouzet and her family were traveling from Brisbane to Port Douglas when her daughter was approached by a fellow Virgin Australia passenger.
The mum and her daughter, Odette, were 'at the airport, about to get on a plane for a family holiday' when the incident took place.
'As I was standing to check my bag in, a lady tapped my three-year-old daughter on the shoulder and said, 'Hello, I hope you know you need to be quiet on the airplane',' she said in a TikTok.
In the video, Ms Darrouzet asks Odette if she was approached by a 'silly lady', to which the little girl nods her head.
The artist told Yahoo Lifestyle she was 'taken aback' by the exchange and her daughter had been left frightened.
She told the woman her daughter has flown before and 'knows what to do on a plane'.
Ms Darrouzet went through security and met up with her husband and two other children, but was later shocked to see the woman queuing up for the same plane.
@
Ummm… can we talk about airport etiquette for a second? 😡 Today at the bag drop, a random woman actually walked up and touched my kid, bent down low, and said right to her face that she needed to be quiet on the plane. First of all, WHO touches a stranger's child? Second, Odie is literally the dream flyer, headphones on, iPad, chilling. She wasn't even making a sound at the time. I was honestly SHOOK. The woman knew she crossed a line too because she bolted before I could even say anything. Like… what would you have said? Because I'm still ready to rehearse my clapback in the shower tonight. 😂 Is it controversial to say: Don't. Touch. Other. People's. Kids. Ever. #airport #donttouch #travelgram
♬ original sound - Emma Darrouzet Art
'It was completely out of line,' the mum and artist said.
The incident divided viewers with some insisting airlines consider child-free flights, while others declared that those who travel without children have the 'right to a peaceful' journey.
'I would never say it out loud, but that's all we're hoping for, a tantrum free flight,' one commented.
'There needs to be a section on all airplanes where all the children and their parents sit with sound proof walls so the rest of us can enjoy a peaceful flight,' another shared.
'No this woman is not a silly lady because we all have the right to a peaceful, quiet flight,' a third said.
However, others were horrified at the female passenger approached a three-year-old regardless of her intention.
'I'm a childless adult, so I do enjoy my quiet. However, having some random approach a child and make veiled threats is 100 per cent unacceptable and would be a serious issue for me,' one argued.
'She's going to be quiet or what? What are you doing to do if she's not quiet?'
'Regardless of what she said, a stranger touching my child and/or telling them what to do is a hard no from me,' another agreed.
Someone else wrote: 'She walked up to a completely silent child, touched a random kid she doesn't know, and told them to be quiet on the plane.
'All while said child is standing there quietly. I'd knock her out.'
Australian airlines do not offer child-free options for flights, but it's been over 10 years since Asian carriers Scoot and AirAsia introduced child-free cabins.
The 'ScootinSilence' seats are located towards the front of the aircraft, giving passengers the option to book a seat in a child-free area where travellers under the age of 12 are banned.
AirAsia offers a child-free zone, located in the first seven rows of economy class, on some of its flights to China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia and Nepal.
