A mum who flew her two children to Barcelona on holiday has claimed her family were made to endure the flight from hell – but people have sided with other passengers
A woman chronicled her Ryanair flight experience (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
We all hope we win the lottery when it comes to scoring a peaceful plane journey, but some of us aren’t that lucky.
Travelling by plane in the early hours of the morning is never anyone’s idea of fun, especially when you know you have several hours of travel ahead of you in a cramped seat. That’s before you’ve even considered the possibility of external factors making your flight even more miserable – such as being lumped with a middle seat, having babies on board that won’t stop crying, or sitting next to someone who insists on not using headphones while scrolling social media videos.
But one mum who recently took her two children to Barcelona on holiday has claimed that her flight from hell wasn’t caused by one inconsiderate passenger, as multiple passengers did something she could have never anticipated.
Megan Fitzpatrick shared a video on TikTok which showed her sitting on a Ryanair flight to Barcelona, where the passengers behind her, who were not on camera, could be heard blasting loud music and singing along.
In her caption, she claimed that this took place at 5:40 am, had been going on for three hours already, and was happening while her children were trying to sleep. Megan did not indicate whether the flight attendants had tried to get the passengers to stop their disruptive antics, as the 11-second clip featured only the singing.
But commenters on the post were largely on the side of the other passengers. Some pointed out that it was “Off Week” in Barcelona when Megan was travelling, which is an annual celebration of electronic music that attracts ravers and music fans from across the globe, and blamed the mum for not doing her research before flying.
One person said: “You’ve travelled to Barcelona during Off Week, what did you expect?” Another added: “Can’t believe people book family holidays to Barca when Off Week is on.”
A third wrote: “Well, maybe if you do research before your holibobs, you would’ve known that it’s Off Week in Barca.”
Others also tried to insinuate that it was “karma” for the mum and her kids, saying her frustration is how other people feel when children “scream” during flights.
Someone commented: “This is how we feel when your kids are screaming the whole flight.”
But many people responded to that commenter, claiming their words were unfair, saying one child being disregulated on a flight is “often a lot less annoying than this behaviour”.
Megan later uploaded a response video in which she said she wasn’t actually as upset about the party-goers as commenters seemed to assume. She was just tired, and while she did find the singing and the music “a bit inconsiderate”, she was mostly just shocked to learn that you’re allowed to make so much noise on a plane.
She explained: “It’s not that deep. It was a wee daft video of me saying that was where I was at with the travel. Like, a f*** my life moment. Noisy plane, five in the morning, kids tired, that’s all I was doing. I wasn’t at all saying ‘How f****** dare they be so noisy?’, that’s not what I was saying at all.
“I didn’t realise that you were allowed to blare speakers on a plane. I didn’t realise that. I’ve seen people be told to turn music off on a train, so that’s what I meant by I was surprised.”
The mum also said that she believes that if she went on a plane and started blaring metal music, people likely wouldn’t be so quick to defend her, so she does believe that no matter what genre of music it is, it is “inconsiderate” to blare it out of speakers on a plane when not everyone on the flight is going to the festival.
Can you play music through a speaker on a plane?
While it is generally considered polite to use headphones to listen to music while on any form of public transport, there is no law or rule that says you have to.
According to Muzen Audio, speakers can be used on planes except during takeoff and landing, when all electronic devices must be turned off or switched to airplane mode. The website does state you should always consider the feelings of others around you by asking for permission before you start playing your music out loud.
For Megan’s specific flight, the Ryanair terms and conditions do not state that headphones or earphones must be used to listen to music or videos, but they do state that if you behave in a way that could “anger, upset, offend, intimidate, frighten or injure any passenger or crew member”, then they can take measures to deal with the situation, including removing you from the flight.
Ryanair has been contacted for comment.
