A long-haul flight is tough at the best of times.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Now imagine doing one that lasts 29 hours — with a child screaming almost the entire way.
That’s exactly what musician Balu Brigada experienced on a journey to Berlin, and after sharing the ordeal on TikTok, social media users are now clamouring for airlines to introduce adult-only flights.
The clip, sarcastically titled “Hey babe, how was your flight?”, documents what he described as a 29-hour nightmare in the air.
It begins with a shot of Balu settling in at the start of the trip. Within seconds, a child can be heard screaming at full volume. His eye twitches nervously as the reality sets in.
Overlaying the video, he writes: “Rate my 29-hour flight to Berlin,” before adding: “Strong start. The kid’s got some lungs. Great projection.”
As the journey continues, so does the noise.
Each new shriek is met with increasingly dry commentary from the exhausted passenger.
“A nice long one here,” he writes during one particularly sustained scream. By the time the plane is preparing to land, the child is still going.
“Bring it on home now,” Balu captions the final stretch, before delivering his closing verdict: “Stellar performance, incredible stamina, 10/10.”
Since being uploaded, the video has racked up more than 10.8 million views on TikTok — and thousands of comments.
Many viewers sympathised immediately.
“Honestly there should be kid-free flights and kid flights,” one person wrote.
Another added: “I would pay EXTRA for kids free flights.”
Some even argued for stricter limits, with one comment reading: “They shouldn’t let kids on flights longer than 4 hours.”
Others turned their frustration toward the parents.
“I’m not even angry at the kids, I’m so mad at the parents, how are they not able to control their own children? There are so many ways smh,” one user wrote.
Another parent admitted: “As a parent: that’s why I don’t want to travel with my kid, I will just wait a couple of years.”
For some, the clip was enough to put them off parenthood entirely.
“I think my tubes just tied themselves,” one person joked, with another writing: “Best birth control ever,” while a third added: “My uterus just walked out! Bye.”
But not everyone was calling for child-free skies.
Some commenters pointed out that flying can be distressing for young children — particularly during takeoff and landing when cabin pressure changes.
One person who had been through something similar shared: “Had a kid on my 14h flight right behind me and it not only screamed the whole flight it also kicked my seat without a break.”
Another TikTok user bashed those calling for the flights, arguing that most people WOULDN’T pay the premium and that adults are very often worse than children when it comes to behaviour on flights.
Meanwhile, others defended the struggling parents.
“Trust me when I say this.. no one is having a worst time than those parents!” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “If I have my hands free, I always offer to help if I see a parent struggling. Don’t for a moment think the parent is having a fun time.”
And someone else suggested there may have been a reason for the noise, saying: “I feel for the mother as I say she’s doing everything to help her child relax and cause the kids ears could be popping or else the kid is bored.”
The viral debate has reignited a long-running question around whether airlines should offer designated adult-only flights — similar to quiet carriages on trains.
For now, though, passengers remain at the mercy of their seating plan. And as Balu Brigada’s 29-hour journey proves, sometimes endurance isn’t just for the athletes.
Featured image credit: World Manual (Created with AI to help illustrate this story)
