Fat butts on planes

[Inferno]

Maybe they should just charge by the pound?

Totally agree. Airlines should sell off their flights BY THE POUND, not by the seat.

Under this system, you and your luggage would be weighed prior to boarding, with the final fare determined at that time.

Despite the initial outrage that such a system would likely elicit, it really does seem like the most efficient, egalitarian approach.

Thin people, kids, and travellers with light luggage all require less fuel to transport, so it makes sense that they should pay less to fly.

 

[Carrie Moon]

As a fat ass I have to agree we should pay more for airline seating. But I don't need a whole other seat or even a half. Maybe a larger seat on the window for a premium price with 2 discounted smaller seats for skinny people or kids in the same row. Also if they raised the middle seat in a row it would allow more shoulder room. Until I loose my excess baggage I don't mind paying more for a larger seat but I am not paying 3 times a coach fare to sit in first class.

As someone who finds most airline seats uncomfortable for leg-room as well as changing positions on lengthy flights.. I would pay for a larger seat as well so I can squirm appropriately to get a variety of positioning.

I travelled on Jet Blue when in Tucson heading to NYC on a redeye flight and loved it! Each set had it's own private tv with satellite. Not sure what other airlines have it but it was a very comfortable flight with larger seats.

 

[oldjones]

Agreed. It's different than a guy who is 6'7" but a normal weight. I've been on flights where the crew asked someone in a bulkhead seat to move so that a really tall guy could sit there. The person moved "under protest" but the tall dude really couldn't sit down.

Maybe the REALLY big folks could go as cargo...

Y'know there are 'fat' people who got that way same as Mr. Big 'n' Tall. Genetics and hormones. Just like Fatty, he made someone else move for his comfort. The real problem is the airlines having squished seat pitch to the max and running close to 100% load ratios, they've finally realized they have to seat people intelligently. Maybe actually commit to published seat dimenions spacing?

Charging double didn't work. They'll have to do better. Maybe seating by total weight per row is next—Mr 350+Mrs Mom at 110 +a kid at 60lbs makes a row. Sorry Dad, you sit elsewhere. When you think about it, it's flat out absurd they never ask what the passengers weigh. It is sorta relevant to getting airborne.

I had a friend who couldn't get a refund for a ticket his wife wasn't able to use. The airline refused to let him 'own' the empty seat, and parked someone in it part way thru the flight. Seems a propos somehow.

 

[dj1470]

I weigh 230 and am 6'3".
I barely fit in an airline economy seat especially the legroom.
I am quite uncomfortable all the time on airplanes.
Would the airlines consider me obese because I barely fit in the seat due to my body size?

 

[punter]

The airlines are at fault for trying to squeeze averaged size people into unreaonably small spaces in order to make more money. I'm only 5'7 and 150, which is smaller than average for a man but about average for a woman and I don't have enough leg room and am always bumping shoulders with the passengers to my left and right. I feel sorry for guys over 6' and 200 lb.

 

[a 1 player]

Being a larger man myself, I always ask for an aisle seat so I do not feel as squished, and feel less like a squisher.

 

[Anynym]

There are some who are obese from genetic causes, but there are many who simply do not control what they consume. I'm overweight (200 lbs, should be about 180) because I enjoy too much food and exercise too little.

I would rather be offered a variety of seating at a variety of prices, than the "downscale" and "upscale" model the airlines currently use. If I can be charged more for a bigger seat in the Business / First Class Section (and get better service), why can't there be a range of seating options within Economy? So many seats available with a certain advertised seat width, a certain amount of legroom, etc. You want to be comfortable, you pay more. You're willing to be treated like a sardine, you get to pay less.

Who in the airline industry decided that how long in advance you're booking should be the market factor for pricing? If you're going to a concert you'll pay more for a better seat, as well as for the popularity of the show. Why not pay more for a better seat on an airplane as well?

And yes, the armrests should have a barrier which comes down when the armrest is down, preventing anyone from encroaching into the next seat if the seat is occupied.

 

[Sasha Jones]

I'm sorry but I don't really care why you are fat, if you are sitting half in my seat because you can't keep your ass in your own seat then you need to pay me for half my seat or get yourself a bigger/extra seat.
Your weight is not my problem and I shouldn't be subjected to being squished into the wall or other passengers because of it.

Plain and simple.
It may be cruel to those who cannot control their weight but why should I (or others) suffer the consequences no matter what the reason for your obesity.

I am 5'8" and 145lbs, fairly slim, and even I am uncomfortable in some airline seats, having said that though, even in the smallest seats I can curl up in a ball and have a nap without encroaching on my neighbour.
I understand the guys who are worried about this who are over 6" and big built, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the people who are tipping the scales at 280-300, just downright obese, not just big built.

 

[tboy]

Is it really reasonable to expect that I should give up a portion of MY SEAT that I PAID FOR so that someone who can't fit in their own damn seat can encroach on half of mine?

How is that reasonable?

Maybe they could compromise and sit two fat people in a row of 3 seats and make them each pay for 1.5 seats.
Either way it isn't reasonable to expect that those of us who can control ourselves at the dinner table should give up part of our seat to accommodate those of us who can't, and if it is that should mean that we can now only pay for 3/4 of our seat if we fall below certain weight limits.
It goes both ways ya know

common sense NEVER prevails in a situation like this. I mean seriously, if you take up 2 seats, you pay for two seats. As stated by others, I too have been subjected to a "plus" sized person encroaching on my space and I'm sorry, I have as much right to all of my seat, as you do and they have NO right to encroach on my space.

If you want to talk embarrassing, I was on a flight from Seattle to NYC and there was a portly gentleman 2 rows up and 2 seats over..... When asked to do up his seatbelt he told the flight attendant that it was too small, so she got him an extender.....it was STILL too small so they got him another. Believe it or not it was STILL too small and they'd used up all the extenders. The flight was held up while they located one inside the terminal because a flight couldn't take off without all passengers being belted in.

There was a big kerfuffle when the FA told him that he'd have to get off the plane if they couldn't locate one shortly.

BTW: I have NO problem charging airfare based on weight. That includes baggage. I know this would never happen but logically it is the way to go as the plane burns x amount of fuel to carry x amount of weight. The more weight it has to carry the more it costs the airline. For eg: a child or a very lean person. It costs the airline quite a bit less to carry them than a larger person.

 

[elmo]

So did you get to invoice for wasted time while the airline ran around trying to find the fat fuck an extra seatbelt? You should be able to charge him $$ LOL

 

[squash500]

Maybe they should just charge by the pound?
I'm reasonably healthy - and not overwieght by much but I have the damnedest time fitting in airplane seats - my shoulders are wide and find it uncomfortable.
Then again last several times I flew I flew business class so I dealt with the problem all on my own....

Could you imagine all the human rights lawsuits these passenger airline weigh-ins would cause? .

Or on the other hand you could have passengers taking off all their clothes just before weigh-in in order to register a lower weight on the airline scales---lol. After all the less you weigh the less you will pay!

 

[Quest4Less]

I've heard about this great diet out there - it's called:

SHUT YOUR F*CKING MOUTH AND STOP EATING TOO MUCH!

 

[squash500]

I've heard about this great diet out there - it's called:

SHUT YOUR F*CKING MOUTH AND STOP EATING TOO MUCH!

Does Jenny Craig endorse it ?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

They should use bucket seating like they have in movie theatres or baseball games or whatever. I find the bucket seats in newer movie theatres to be very comfortable and very wide. I'm 5'11" and usually between 185 -190.

Just arrive at a nice bucket seat design that would work in a plane and if a person is "Plus sized" the person selling the tickets can reccommend that they purchase an extra wide seat for more $$.

Yesterday by coincidence I was at the Rogers Centre for a baseball game and I was struck by the obvious physical discomfort an older lady (@58 yrs or so) was in in front of me because she was just way too obese to fit into her seat.

I would guess she was about 260 pounds and 5'3". She dissappeared after the second inning. Probably went home because she didn't realize her ass wouldn't fit into the seat she bought. She was only able to put her ass down on the first 3 inches of the seat because the fixed armrests wouldn't let her squeeze into the back part of the seat.

It's funny the things you think about at a baseball game; but, anyway I spent more time during the first 2 innings wondering how she was going to solve the problem she found herself in than I did thinking about the game. I could think of not one easy solution to her vexing problem of not being able to get her ass into her seat. Then she and her 2 friends just discretely dissappeared.
She was quiet and wasn't making a big fuss over her situation; but, I could plainly see she was in a lot of physical discomfort due to her seat size.

 

[fuji]

Maybe they should just charge by the pound?

Exactly.

 

[The Cunning Linguist]

I am absolutely appalled by some of the hatred you people are spewing.

You've just proved to me that that the last socially approved "ism" is "size-ism".

You would never dare say anything like the crap you are espousing if it had to do with the person's race, colour, religion, age,etc. You people have absolutely no compassion. Weight gain creeps up on you, and it is very hard to lose it. I've been up and down in weight all my life, and let me tell you, the old joke "I may be fat, but I can lose weight, but you'll always be cruel and stupid" is amply demonstrated by some of the posters in this thread.

The airlines are to blame for this. They have reduced the width of the seats, and the pitch, and have crammed all of us in like cattle. Seats 30 years ago, even in economy, seats had a width of 22", and a pitch of 35". First class back then was 26" width, and a pitch of up 54". Today, economy is 17-18" width, and 28" pitch.

As a large person, I often pay for and fly first class just to avoid assholes like you all, who can only afford to fly economy. What the airlines should do is offer more seats like in first class/business, but without the free drinks and slightly better meal. Offer comfort, and you'll get my business.

 

[tboy]

Actually CL: if someone is born with a disability, or is handicapped, or is old and needs a wheelchair, then yeah, I totally agree, they should get preferential treatment and be first on first off etc.

Yes weight gain "creeps up on you" but no one is forcing ANYONE to overeat/drink/consume. No one anywhere is coerced or forcefed food. It just doesn't happen. Yes, some people are more prone to weight gain than others but again one cannot gain weight unless they have calorie intake.

Sure, the seats in first class are larger and maybe the airlines have reduced seat width to maximize profits. That's life, deal with it. Most airlines run on a shoestring budget and they need to pack as many people into the planes to make money.

Now you say you pay extra for the wide seats. How would YOU feel if someone sat down next to YOU and took up half that extra wide seat you paid extra for? Would you voluntarily get up, give them YOUR seat and take a seat in coach?

Funny though, in just about every other walk of life, if someone uses more they pay more yet when it comes to airline seats, it is suddenly bad bad bad....Sorry, I don't feel it is right for me to have to give up half my seat to someone who takes up two. If you take up two? You pay for two. If you eat two? You pay for two........if you use two? you pay for two. I mean really, by your mentality if I order a steak in a restaurant, I pay for it cuz I can only eat one. If someone goes into a restaurant and can eat two shouldn't they pay for two?

 

[Dick Starbuck]

You people have absolutely no compassion. Weight gain creeps up on you, and it is very hard to lose it.

Did mathematics creep up on you in school, too? Calories in, calories out, plain and simple. Sure, people have different metabolisms, and some people have health issues that can affect their weight. However, that doesn't change the fact that 2 calories in and 1 calorie burned = weight gain. If you're gaining weight, you're eating too much, can't make it any easier to understand... Either eat less, or burn more!

 

[KBear]

... I mean really, by your mentality if I order a steak in a restaurant, I pay for it cuz I can only eat one. If someone goes into a restaurant and can eat two shouldn't they pay for two?

Nope, they should get to eat their steak, then site right down at your table and eat half of your steak. That is what has been happening on the airlines.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Nope, they should get to eat their steak, then site right down at your table and eat half of your steak. That is what has been happening on the airlines.

And that is what this thread is all about.
The fat man in a restaurant after eating his dinner, should not be allowed to walk over to your table, elbow you out of the way and start eating the dinner you paid for. But the airlines allow this to happen the way things are.
Most obesity is the result of moral degeneracy. Fat people I've noticed are not jolly like Santa Claus. They tend to be mean and nasty and cranky and very unpleasant to have to spend time with. eg Rush Limbaugh.