I have been waiting for this day for so long I genuinely wasn't sure it would ever come.
QANTAS — our own national carrier, the airline I grew up flying, the one every Aussie family measures every other airline against — now allows Plane Pal onboard.
I built Plane Pal because I was sick of watching my own three kids fold themselves into economy seats like pretzels on long-haul flights. Every approval we've picked up along the way has meant something, but this one hits different. This is home turf. They have finally “got on board” (pun very much intended).
My own son, sound asleep on a Qantas flight with his Plane Pal the year before they banned all confort items.
What happened?
In July 2017, as the June /July school holidays and one of the businest travel periods began, Qantas announced a ban on all kids confort devices. They never reached out and simply ignored all attempts at contact. They listed our device as a dangerous item. We knew the device was safe, we'd had CASA certified engineers test it and at that same time some of the worlds biggest and most respected airlines where actively enorsing us. It was heart breaking..... our customers were furious. As a family we simply stopped flying Qantas....
We kept up a constant safty campaign and over the years bulit a list of over 60 approved airlines. Two years ago, we felt the tide was really turning when their sister carrier British Airlines, offically approved Plane Pal and NOW, FINALLY, QANTAS has dones the same.
What's actually changed
Qatar now allows SAFE children's in-flight comfort devices, like Plane Pal, in Economy and Premium Economy, as long as the device meets their guidelines. You can read their full policy here: qantas.com/en-au/travel-information/flying-infants-children.
The short version, straight from QANTAS:
- It has to inflate manually — no battery-powered pumps or self-inflating battery devices allowed onboard (that means you can't use our self inflating pump onbaord Qantas- but you can manually inflate)
- Must be fitted wiht quick-release valves
- Your child's seatbelt still needs to fasten, unfasten and tighten normally, at all times
- It has to sit within the footwell space in front of the seat
- It gets packed away (and possibly deflated) any time the seatbelt sign is on
- It's Economy and Premium Economy only — not exit rows or bulkhead rows — and which exact seats depend on the aircraft, so it's worth checking QANTAS's page for your specific plane before you fly!
The one catch — and it's a small one
Here's the bit I want every one of you to hear clearly: QANTAS won't let you use Plane Pal's self-inflating pump mode. That's a blanket rule for any device with a battery-powered pump, not anything specific to us. But it is specific to Qantas.
The good news? If you have the new Plane Pal Self infalting model, you can infalte it manually- and thus be complaint with QANTAS rules of use. You just inflate it by mouth instead of using the pump, and you're completely good to go. It takes a few breaths and you're done — genuinely no big deal. Now before you hyperventialte just thinking about blowing up a Plane Pal here's me doing exactly that, so you can see how quick and easy it is:
If you already own a Plane Pal
This is the part I really want to shout from the rooftops.
If you've got one of our original OG Plane Pals — the manual-inflation version — nothing changes for you at all. You were already doing exactly what QANTAS asks for, years before they made it official.
If you've got the newer Self-Inflating Plane Pal, you don't need to buy anything new either. Just use the manual (black and clear) valve instead of the pump when you're flying QANTAS, and you're set.
Either way — you were early. You believed in this before QANTAS made it official. Thank you for that.
Happy Travels
This is exactly why we do what we do — one flight, one airline, one family at a time, until “how are we going to survive this flight with the kids” stops being something parents have to dread.
Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
Happy Travels! 🌐
Sam
