Baby Born on Plane Gets Free Airfare for Life

A baby boy who surprised everyone–not the least being his mother–by being born 35,000 feet in the air in the middle of an airplane trip has been rewarded with a pretty fantastic perk, because the airline gave him free travel for life as a birthday present.

The baby’s mother was flying on a Jet Airways flight from Dubai to Kochi, in southwest India, on Sunday, when she went into labor prematurely. It was only supposed to be a five-hour flight, but once labor started the flight was diverted to Mumbai to make a quicker landing. Still, the baby apparently decided he was not going to wait for anything, and Mashable reports that he was born while the plane was still at 35,000 feet.

Fortunately one of the other passengers was a paramedic, who was able to help the airplane’s crew members deliver the baby safely. Upon landing, the mother and baby were promptly sent to the hospital, and the airline says they’re both doing fine.

Jet Airways told the story in a press release and sounded as excited as a new grandparent when it said that since the little boy was the first baby ever to be born on a Jet Airways flight, they would be giving him a free travel pass for life.

That’s actually a pretty sweet deal. The baby’s mother must have been horrified to go into premature labor while on an airplane, but now that it’s turned out well for both her and the baby, that kid is probably going to be very happy to have that pass when he’s older. Not only is he now known as the baby born on plane, but he’s got a pretty sweet gift, too!

That little boy might be the first baby ever born on a Jet Airways flight, but he’s not even the first baby born on a plane this year. Back in April a baby girl named Kadiju was born on a Turkish Airways flight to Burkina Faso. It does not sound like she gets free travel for life the way the Jet Airways baby did, but her birth certificate says that she was “born in international waters,” which is pretty cool and sounds like the origin story of a spy or superhero.

(Image: Wikimedia / Adam Pingstone)