Video of Singapore Airlines flight attendant spoon-feeding child ‘old enough to feed himself’ sparks debate

Rutherford said he was on a business class flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo when the “amazing” moment happened.

How J.Y. Pillay helped Lee Kuan Yew turn Singapore Airlines into a global giant

Commending the flight attendant for going the extra mile, he said her impeccable service had made the flight “even more perfect”.

“I look behind me and my 5-year-old son is being spoon-fed his chicken by the flight attendant,” said the man, who also posted the video on a flight-related Facebook group.

“The entire crew has been incredible and the attention to each passenger is hard to imagine possible.”

The video gained over 18.2 million views on Rutherford’s Instagram account, garnering at least 430,000 likes and over 8,200 comments as of Monday.

Viewers were split on the interaction. While some thought that it was “sweet” of the stewardess to “let the parents sleep” and praised the “awesome” flight attendant, others felt that it was bad parenting and entitled behaviour, adding to the stewardess’ already hectic workload.

“That child is old enough to feed himself,” one top comment said, receiving 63,000 likes.

Another top comment said: “Those flight attendants are amazing, (but) his parents should be feeding him, the flight attendant has enough work to do.”

Many voiced that feeding a child is beyond a flight attendant’s job responsibility: “Flight attendants are not babysitters. They are there for the safety of the passengers.”

“He looks like he can’t be bothered to look away from his screen either… Sweet flight attendant, but this shouldn’t be her responsibility,” another user said.

However, some online users defended the father and son duo, relating the gesture to a way of expressing love and kindness in Asian culture.

“In Asian culture we love doing things for our kids even when they are able to do it themselves. Feeding a child is one such thing,” opined one online user.

Another commenter shared an anecdote: “Thai staff fed my 8-year-old ice cream while he watched a film many years ago. I woke up to see that and laughed.”

02:44

‘No-kid zones’: South Korean lawmaker combats facilities barring children

‘No-kid zones’: South Korean lawmaker combats facilities barring children

Other online users felt that the backlash was unjustified, since the flight attendant had done it out of her own good will.

One said: “Why are the comments full of hate for this kid? Leave the child alone if he is behaving well and not throwing a tantrum, it’s fine. Perhaps it was the decision of the flight attendant to spoon-feed him.”

In response to negative comments, Rutherford replied in the comments section that he was seated in front of his child and that the stewardess had “done it on her own desire”.

Speaking to 8world, he added: “It’s a shame that people turned such a positive thing into a negative. The flight attendants were really great and attentive, and we felt like we were the only passengers on board.”

‘Transporting idiots’: online anger over ‘trash-talking’ China flight attendant

In response to media enquiries, Singapore Airlines said that SIA cabin crew undergo training to anticipate and understand the needs of different customer groups, including children, the elderly and persons with reduced mobility.

“We are pleased that our cabin crew was able to anticipate and see to the needs of the customer on this occasion. We wish Michael and his family the very best, and look forward to welcoming them on board again soon,” an SIA spokesperson said.