Business class dad blasted for allowing Singapore cabin crew to spoon-feed son

It was amazing! Rutherford's son was spoon-fed on the SIA plane. Something other travellers found unpalatable. Photo / Instagram; michaelrutherfordonline

A father travelling with his 5-year-old son has been blasted for allowing cabin crew to feed his child.

Michael Rutherford, from Nevada, wanted to share his experience on the Singapore Airlines plane from Los Angeles to Tokyo to praise the above-and-beyond service during the business class flight. He cut the candid moment into an Instagram reel. However, he was not expecting people to find it so unpalatable.

With 20 million views at time of writing, most comments are divided on whether it reflects well on SIA or really poorly on the travelling dad.

Rutherford, who was travelling to Japan on December 4, was also sharing the cabin with a friend and his daughter. However, it was his 5-year-old son whose treatment served up such controversy.

Sitting in the row behind, across from Rutherford, a flight attendant was shown feeding his child with a spoon from a surgical-gloved hand.

“What would you do if this happened to you? We’re having the greatest flight ever and this just made it even more perfect,” he captioned the divisive dinner video.

As magical as the inflight moment was, comments were agreed that flight attendants have more important things to be doing than spoon-feeding minors who are travelling with their parents.

“His parent should be feeding him, the flight attendant has enough work to do.”

“He looks old enough to feed himself,” read another comment on the viral post.

However, some took the view that they could not fault the cabin crew or the child for “living his best life”.

The travelling dad and entrepreneur told Business Insider that he did not ask for the cabin crew member to feed his son, instead they had offered the service.

“The flight attendant asked if she could help him and showed him so much kindness, holding his hand, talking to him, and even feeding him a few bites,” he told the website, adding that the 13 seconds of video didn’t do justice to the excellent service on the 12-hour flight.

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A post shared by Michael Rutherford (@michaelrutherfordonline)

A spokesperson for Singapore International Airlines said that they were delighted to hear the feedback from Rutherford and his family.

“Our cabin crew undergo extensive training on how to cater to different customer groups, including children, the elderly, and mobility-challenged individuals,” they told the US publication.

Parents travelling with children are exposed to hefty judgment online, that goes double in premium economy classes.

Last August an Australian mum says she has learned to live with the judgment of fellow travellers for leaving her child in economy, while she flies business class.

The travel blogger said it was not bad parenting but good economics, and the perks were worth it.