I remember, years ago, a few companies started inventing strollers that could fold up and fit in the overhead compartment as carry-on. There was one that was even hailed by the Guinness World Records™ as being the most compact stroller in the market.
Those super tiny folding strollers sound great for travelers, but the vast majority of people who travel with very young children just bring their regular stroller. Of course, if you’re traveling with a baby or toddler, keeping your stroller with you for as long as possible is a huge help. It lets you keep kid and their “stuff” all in one place so you don’t have to physically carry them through the airport, down the jet way, etc.
Airlines are aware of this and generally allow you to gate check the stroller, the same as wheelchairs. That way you can keep it all the up to the end of the jet way, before walking onto the plane. The stroller then gets folded up and the baggage handlers puts it in with the checked luggage (well, maybe unless you’re on this flight). Then, when you’ve landed, the strollers (and wheelchairs) are unloaded first, so the owners can claim them as soon as they’ve disembarked from the plane.
There are SO MANY brands of strollers out there. Baby Jogger. Bumbleride. Chicco. Graco. Joovy. Maclaren. And each one of them have a bajillion different styles of strollers. But baggage handlers doitheir job day in and day out, and bunches of them probably have kids, so they eventually learn most of the strollers out there and how to fold them, if the stroller owners themselves haven’t already folded them at the gate check (they’re usually requested to). Most have a handle that you have to push, either with your hand or your foot, and then secure with a latch.
Operative word: MOST.
And then there’ll be the occasional stroller that none of the baggage handlers can figure out how to fold up. It almost sounds like a riddle: How many baggage handlers does it take to fold a stroller?
Apparently, in this case, the answer was 7. And 1 supervisor who leaned on a cone and watched.
@gabriel_cavadini
This was posted on Gabriel Cavadini’s (@gabriel_cavadini) TikTok back in February and the comments are as funny as the clowns trying to fold the dang stroller:
- Thats why they instruct moms to fold it AT the gate BEFORE handing it cause workers don’t know how and moms will get mad if they break it! — No-Ja
- Meanwhile the mom can break that down with one hand, while having a baby strapped to her back, holding one on her hip and holding a venti soy latte — jennilocke541
- I need to know if everyone applauded after they finally figured it out!! 😂 — Keri Renee
- This actually happened to me once and they actually got me off the plane to close it! — p.l.u.t.o.9.5
- the guy with the radio calling for help 😅😂😅😂😅 — magivaldes
- the guy in the back looks like he might know how to do it but has already been told “We got this” one too many times. — Angela Clark
- *This is your Captain speaking…. We are going to be delayed for up to 3 hours unless we can get a mom or an aunt to the runway. NOW* — BuckeyeGirl419
- All the dads trying to figure out the stroller when mom takes out the baby — OfficerArsenault
- I literally had to FT my DIL one day to talk me through folding my grandkids stroller. It wasn’t this complicated in my day 😂 — Kristi Cates
- I’ve been waiting the whole time for a woman to come and fold the thing up with one hand — MissMandy
- The guy is like am not embarrassing my self too😂😂😂 — pricelessrashida
- I would have googled that on my phone by then 😂 — Shelby Reyes
- was a furniture mover for 25 years, I know this struggle personally — mayjohn999
- Not me dying with all of the hands touching my baby’s stroller and how much I now have to wipe down 😂 — Pure Hands
- it’s still sitting on the tarmac today — C
- I don’t blame them I have one and still don’t understand everything to this day and my son is 2 and a half 😂🤷🏼♀️ — petitenectarine4
- I helped an airline guy last week, he was so lost and when I pressed the one button he was shocked 😂 — Chrissy Bell
Enjoy your weekend, travel friends!
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1 comment
These are getting more and more complicated.