At a glance
Kooshy Kids won People's Choice, Product at the AusMumpreneur Awards.It started with one long-haul flight
I founded Kooshy Kids in 2017 after a long-haul flight with my two children. I designed an inflatable cushion that fills the footwell and turns an economy seat into a flat bed for a child, and built the business from scratch into a brand that reached more than 350,000 families in over 40 countries.
A year after I started, Qantas banned inflatable sleep devices on board.
I was one year in, and the biggest airline in the country had said no. I could have walked away. But I didn't believe the answer was right for families, and I believed these products could be used safely. So I set out to prove it.
The work most customers never saw
I stayed in regular contact with Qantas, and attended IATA's annual cabin safety conference every year, travelling to a different host country each time to sit in the rooms where cabin safety standards are discussed.
I also redesigned my products to be as safe as I could make them, including adding an air safety release valve so that air from within the inflatable is automatically expelled when there are sudden changes to cabin pressure, alongside a rapid release valve so it can be deflated in seconds.
Every change I made came from listening to customer feedback and from what safety teams expressed concerns about. I wanted to take away every reason to say no.
Both Qantas and Jetstar now require a quick-release valve on any inflatable cube used on board, and the two airlines now join more than 60 airlines worldwide that accept the inflatable sleepers I designed.
The personal cost
For years, my routine barely changed: drop my children at school at 7.30am, drive to the warehouse, and work until anywhere from 10pm to 3am.
I missed a lot. Dinners, bedtimes, weekends. I ran on very little sleep for a very long time. I did it because I knew what this would mean for families, and I wasn't willing to let it go.
Too late for Kooshy Kids
In October 2024, I was advised that Qantas intended to change its policy and allow the product category. Knowing what that would mean for the business, I borrowed heavily to buy stock ahead of the change. I was given timeframes, but they kept passing. Without the sales that stock was bought for, the business couldn't carry the weight, and Kooshy Kids went into liquidation in 2026. I made a big bet on something I'd spent years working towards, and I backed it with everything I had.
Watching the business I built slip slowly out of my hands, and then go into liquidation, took a heavy toll on my mental health. The year also played out in public. A lot of what was written about me and the business wasn't true, and some of it was very hard to read.
"I watched Louisa give everything to this for the five years I worked for her. She was still at the warehouse long after the rest of us had gone home. She was fair, she was generous, and whenever any of us had something going on personally, she was the first to tell us to put ourselves first. Everything she worked so hard on was for the benefit of families who would get to use the products she created. The person I worked with is not the person some articles have tried to paint her as, and I know I'm not the only one on the team who'd say that."
Kaitlin Byrne-Jameson
Kooshy Kids General Manager, 2021–2026
A win for Australian families
Hearing that both Qantas and Jetstar have changed their policies so families can travel in comfort was music to my ears. After all the struggle, I now know it wasn't for nothing. Australian families finally get a win, and I couldn't be happier for them.
Qantas has long had the reputation of being the safest airline in the world, and Jetstar has just been ranked the world's second-safest low-cost airline. When airlines with that standing say yes, others take notice. I expect more airlines to follow.
This was never about one business. It was for every parent who has tried to get a child to sleep sitting upright for 14 hours.
What families need to know
Under the published Qantas and Jetstar guidelines, inflatable cubes must:
- Inflate and deflate manually. Battery-powered pumps and self-inflating devices can't be used on board.
- Have a quick-release valve or another way to deflate quickly.
- Allow the child's seatbelt to be fastened, unfastened and adjusted as normal.
- Fit within the space in front of the seat without affecting other passengers.
They can't be used in aisle seats, exit rows or bulkhead rows, and must be packed away whenever the seatbelt sign is on. Seat rules vary by aircraft, a maximum of two can be used per family or travelling group, and use is always subject to cabin crew approval on the day.