Fat butts on planes

[Kya_Jean]

The discussion should not be why people are overweight...but...should anyone be allowed to use a portion of your airline seat you paid for?

No they should not, no matter what size they are!

That is the million dollar post.

Airlines have made smaller seats. We all know this. They have to take some accountability for this issue.

I am not a small woman, but I can fit in an airline seat just as uncomfortably as the next person and the seat beat fits around me and I don't take up room in the next person's seat, but I pay extra for the extra space in a first class seat or in a front row seat for charters because the airline seat are just too small.

Those who are obese and choose to fly [flying is a privilege] should pay for a second seat. It only makes sense especially when you need an extended seatbelt to fit your waist line. That is obese and there is no way you are fitting in single seat. You have to pay extra.


Others should not be generalizing those who are over-weight as lazy ass slobs who eat to much and don't exercise because that is not always the case. There is different degrees of over-weight to hugely obese and for many different reasons. While some may be due to laziness and over-eating, there are many who have medical conditions that cause the weight gain, some reason are hormonal. It all varies. To lump all those who have extra weight into one category is like calling all the women here home-wreckers and all the men cheaters. It is simply not the case.

 

[kkelso]

Perhaps that is an acceptable solution:

All coach seating to feature a standardized length of seatbelt. If you cannot fit it around you then you pay for 2 seats of don't fly. It's easily quantifiable and enforcable.

 

[fuji]

Why should I be charged extra because I'm over 200 just so the airlines can jam extra seats on a plane and ram people in like sardines?

Why? Because you take up more space in the plane, and it takes more fuel to fly you around than other people. That's just a fact. Maybe you think it is unfair, but mother nature isn't always fair. For many things in life, like football, your size is an advantage--for flying it is a disadvantage.

There should be different classes of economy class seats and people above a certain size should be prohibited from purchasing seats that are too small for them.

Presumably once you get to "business class" and above there is already enough space in and around the seats that this is no longer an issue except for the most disgustingly obese people.

 

[fuji]

Someone used the example of a person smelling terribly, another, a baby crying, etc.

I for one agree: People who smell terribly should not be allowed onto an airplane. They should be directed to have a shower and change their clothes before being permitted to board the plane.

As for babies crying I do think that there should be a section of the plane reserved for babies, so that they do not disturb others. I have a lot of sympathy for people travelling with children but I also think we'd ALL be a lot happier if they were put together in one section, preferably a section with some sort of divider to keep the noise out of the rest of the plane.

To me, the space encroachment issue is more a product of the airlines reducing seat size and cramming the seats too close together.

Why shouldn't they cram seats together? For non-fat people the result is a remarkable savings in ticket prices: You can fly to Asia for under $900 now if you are willing to fly in economy class. So long as you're not fat, and the person next to you is not fat, it's a great deal!

Why should the rest of the world give up on those ultra cheap tickets, just because some individuals are too fat to take advantage of them?

In my opinion those cheap fares should remain available to the majority of the population who are small and thin enough to take advantage of them. Those who are too large to take advantage of those fares can still fly business class or "economy plus" at the same rate as anybody else who wants to fly in those classes.

I do not think that fat people should be asked to pay more per se, but rather some of the smaller seats should simply not be made available to them. The larger sized seats that they can fit comfortably in would be sold to them at the same price as to anybody else.