Dad is criticized after flight attendant spoon-feeds kid in business class

• A business-class passenger posted a video of a flight attendant spoon-feeding his son. 
• Several people criticized Michael Rutherford for allowing his child to be spoon-fed.
• Rutherford told BI that the flight attendant offered to feed his son.

A video of a Singapore Airlines flight attendant spoon-feeding a passenger’s kid has gone viral — and not everyone has been happy about it.

Michael Rutherford, an entrepreneur from Las Vegas, told Business Insider the video was taken while he traveled business-class on a Singapore Airlines, or SIA, flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo on December 4. He said he traveled with a friend, his daughter, and his five-year-old son.

Rutherford shared a video on Instagram of a flight attendant spoon-feeding his son. The video had since garnered some 432,000 likes at the time of writing.

In the video, a flight attendant dressed in SIA’s blue batik uniform was shown crouching in front of Rutherford’s son, who was sitting in business class. The flight attendant, wearing a sanitary glove on one hand, was shown picking up some food and feeding the boy.

“What would you do if this happened to you? We’re having the greatest flight ever and this just made it even more perfect,” Rutherford wrote in the post. “It was amazing!!!!” he wrote in the video’s text.

Several people praised the flight attendant for providing great service but criticized Rutherford for allowing his son to be spoon-fed.

“Those flight attendants are amazing,” one user wrote in a comment that had garnered some 67,000 likes, adding: “His parent should be feeding him, the flight attendant has enough work to do.”

“Excellent service but totally unnecessary. Parents should be ashamed of themselves,” another user wrote.

Another person commented: “Flight attendants are not babysitters. They are there for the safety of the passengers.”

Other people defended Rutherford and said his son was entitled to enjoy the flight.

“So sweet. She probably rather feed him than allow him to make a mess feeding himself who knows. Let him have his moment,” one user commented.

“Little man is living his best life! Kudos to the awesome flight attendant!!” another person wrote.

Rutherford told BI that the flight attendant offered to spoon-feed his son and that he didn’t instruct her to do so.

“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,” Rutherford said in an email.

“He engaged with her, talked to her, said thank you and the 13-second clip was just one part of a 12-hour flight,” he continued.

A spokesperson for SIA told BI in an email that the airline was “heartened to see our cabin crew’s warm service to Michael 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,” the spokesperson said.

It’s not the first time that families flying in premium cabins have divided people online. In September, Instagram users criticized Chris Hemsworth after he shared a video of his daughter flying first-class with Emirates. In August, a traveling mom said she received looks of disapproval when she traveled in business class and left her daughter in economy.