Mild blue yonder

Abipartisan group of House members is trying to force airlines to make their flights safer for children -- not by improving air traffic control or demanding cleaner air in the cabin but by keeping violent movies and television shows off the planes’ retractable screens.

Introduced by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), the proposal would require airlines to designate a section of their planes as a “child-safe viewing area.” Any unaccompanied passengers younger than 13 would have to be seated in the section, and adults traveling with young children would have to be offered a seat there. The bill would also limit the movies and TV shows displayed on screens within 10 rows of the kids’ section, except on monitors built into headrests. Only movies rated G and PG and TV shows not flagged for violent content would be permitted.

Shuler’s bill avoids the pitfalls of other attempts to regulate suggestive or violent programming. For starters, it relies on voluntary ratings determined by movie and television industry panels, not government appointees. The viewers it tries to protect have no realistic way to avoid the objectionable programs -- passengers on a plane are the epitome of a captive audience. And the restrictions aren’t likely to have a chilling effect on programming aimed at adults; it’s hard to imagine a studio canceling production of a violent movie because it didn’t fit the guidelines for being shown to kids on planes.

Nevertheless, there’s no reason for government to intervene when market forces can provide a solution. The airline business is fiercely competitive, and carriers aren’t likely to let their choice of movies drive customers to their rivals -- particularly no-frills airlines that don’t offer any in-flight entertainment. Besides, with airlines striving to operate their flights at or near capacity, they’re not likely to make seat assignments even more complex by creating a “child-safe viewing area.” Instead, if Shuler’s bill became law, they’d probably drop all the PG-13 fare and treat the entire coach cabin as a kids zone. That’s often the unintended consequence when the government steps in: Programming gets restricted to the youngest common denominator.

Which is not to belittle the concerns of Shuler and his dozen co-sponsors. Movies in general are more intense and graphic than they were a decade ago, and so are the ones shown in the air. The airlines are screening some of the summer’s biggest hits now, including “Spider-Man 3” and the latest installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” both of which are too much for many grade-schoolers. The airlines need to consider carefully what they show on communal screens. They should also speed up their switch to the headrest-mounted displays common on international flights, which cost more to install but provide an extra source of revenue. Otherwise, they’ll invite Congress to pick their in-flight entertainment for them.