A dad says he was left with “no choice” but to shelter his two young children inside an airport breastfeeding pod after a day of delays ended with an overnight wait.
Zachary Burns, 34, a member of the US military, had been travelling home with his children, Benjamin, eight, and Riley, four, when their Delta journey descended into chaos.
The family’s flight from Atlanta to Baton Rouge was repeatedly delayed before eventually being cancelled and replaced with a service to nearby Lafayette – which then suffered hours of further delays.
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By the time the departure was pushed back until the following morning, Zachary, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he was left wondering where his family could safely spend the night.
Zachary said: “I asked the employee at the gate, ‘What am I supposed to do with my kids? Sleep in the terminal?’.
“He responded with, ‘I ain’t telling you to do nothing.’
“I stood in line for customer service for over an hour and was told Delta didn’t owe us a hotel voucher because the flight was delayed rather than cancelled.”
Instead, Zachary made the unusual decision to use an empty lactation pod inside the airport, as reported by Whats The Jam.
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He said the airport was largely deserted by around 1am and, after weighing up the logistics of leaving for a hotel with two young children before returning just a few hours later, decided it made little sense.
“I ended up in the lactation pod because after doing the maths, the timing didn’t make sense,” he said.
“I’d have to shuttle or Uber with kids and no car seats, get checked into a hotel, then check out a couple of hours later and go back through security.
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“I would maybe get three hours in the hotel room.”
The family remained in the pod for around two hours before moving to benches near their departure gate after Benjamin complained it was uncomfortable.
Zachary insisted the pod was empty throughout their stay and said he would have immediately left had a mother needed to use it.
“The pod had an app that allowed users to check in and see a queue,” he said.
“There was nobody waiting and I didn’t see any feeding mothers.
“It was a safe alternative to keep my kids protected and secure.
“My children were surprisingly resilient.
“My four-year-old didn’t really understand what was happening, but my eight-year-old was worried about safety.
“He was nervous about sleeping out in the open.”
Zachary said he understood that weather disruption was outside the airline’s control but claimed passengers were also given conflicting explanations, including suggestions that the aircraft was waiting for a co-pilot.
“We were strung along all day just to be let down at the end,” he said.
“There was one employee saying the flight was definitely going to take off, then another laughed and said it wasn’t.
“It felt like a game.”
Despite the ordeal, Zachary said his only priority was keeping his children safe.
“At the end of the day, my kids are safe,” he said.
“I didn’t sleep a single minute because they were scared something would happen.
“Was my solution the best idea? Probably not.
“But I wasn’t trying to take a woman’s space just because.
“I was protecting my children and would have gladly left the pod if it needed to be used.”
Zachary’s video was viewed 1.4m times, with 77,400 likes and 994 comments.
One user said: “I’m a breastfeeding mom and I’d flash someone my t*tty feeding right outside the pod if it meant a mom and her kids got some safe sleep. Ignore the ugly comments.”
Another person said: “I actually think for safety reasons this is so smart.”
A user was critical of Zachary’s situation, saying: “How inconsiderate.”
One person added: “I nursed and pumped for three babies and if you and I got to the pod at the same time, I would 100% give you the pod and ask if you needed anything. There are plenty of other places to pump and feed, not very many places to rest in your situation.”
Another person criticised Zachary, saying: “Let me tell you how often I need the lactation pods to pump and when I get there it’s occupied by someone not lactating.”
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