Posted on 06/29/2009 7:46:38 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
U.S. airlines, already trying to sell extra legroom and faster lines, are finding another innovation hard to push: second seats for overweight passengers.
It's a very hard sell: On airlines such as Southwest and United, people who can't fit into 17-inch economy seats with the armrests down and their seat belts fastened must buy a second seat or they don't fly. US Airways and American Airlines are likely to offer free second seats, but on a full flight they make extra-large passengers pay for them.
Fliers who have been compressed by their neighbors love the idea. "They should be required to pay for the extra space," said Scott Land, 54, of Seattle, who is thin.
Gargantuan people like Washington bookseller Gary Lewis, who is 6 feet 8 inches and weighs 400 pounds, hate being forced to buy second seats. "There should be wider seats for everyone," said Lewis.
Many passengers, even svelte ones, would agree. The problem is, Boeing set its 17-inch standard for economy-class seats in 1954. At that time, the average U.S. adult male weighed about 166 pounds and the average female weighed 140 pounds.
Today, the average U.S. male is 28 pounds heavier, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and the average female 24.5 pounds heavier. But Boeing's economy-class seats max out at about 17.25 inches, Airbus' at 18 and Brazilian-made Embraer's at 18.25. In comparison, widths for Boeing first-class seats for domestic flights typically range from 18 to 22 inches, depending on the airline, according to seatguru.com.
Touching puts it mildly. Eagerton believes — accurately — that the discomfort is "more common now than it was even five or ten years ago."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
OK - how about this - when you check in, they weigh your baggage and you. They have a weight limit for the combined total of passenger and luggage. That way - a large person packs light and they don’t have quite a big a penalty.
That being said - if they are going to charge for large people who’s “fat intrudes into your seat”, then they should also do something about folks who get on a plane with really poor personal hygiene. I can’t understand how anyone could be so inconsiderate as to fly in an enclosed cabin of an aircraft (or on a bus, or...) who smells like they have not bathed in a month. I have been on a flight where the person next to me smelled so bad, I was nearly sick every time I took a breath. Qualifies as the most miserable flight I have ever taken.
Another one is those who insist (male and female - though women are the worst offenders) on wearing the most loud and eye-watering perfume/cologne. This is, in some ways, worse than BO - for those with asthma - it can trigger an attack. For those like myself who’s sinuses and airway constrict (though not asthmatic), it is still rather uncomfortable.
And I really like peanuts on flights. So how about those with peanut allergies pay a premium for depriving fellow passengers their peanuts. Isn’t it awfully inconsiderate for those with peanut allergies to impose their “disability” on the rest of us?
OH - and what about the recovering alcoholic who gets seated right next to some lush who wants a beer or mixed dring every 30 seconds? Shouldn’t he have to pay extra for the stumbling block he/she puts in front of the recovering alcoholic? OR maybe vice-versa - like peanut allergies - if someone is recovering, they notify the check-in desk or the flight attendants and no alcohol is served on the flight out of “fairness” and to protect the “comfort” of the recovering alcoholic.
Where does it all end? Personall, if I ever get to the point (and I am a large man) that I cannot fit in an airline seat (assuming they don’t shrink them more), then I just won’t fly.
they do that with our baggage... what is the difference? pounds are pounds.... I don’t appreciate being squished by someone who is 2x their normal weight.... it isn’t fair to me to buy a ticket for a seat and have 1/4 of that seat taken over by someone who needed to buy 2 seats in order to fit their bottom?
You could have told her the other half of the seat comes into effect during the return trip. ;)
I like that idea ;-) I’ll suffer the discomfort of having fatty spill over into my space if I can get the reduction. In that case, (s)he doesn’t have to pay for another seat. (S)he can just reimburse me half of the cost of mine.
Hey, aren’t we all supposed to be “equal.” ;-)
“You could have told her the other half of the seat comes into effect during the return trip. ;)”
lol...
I’m 5’6” and weigh 112 pounds, and when I sit down in an airplane with my fellow passengers, I feel positively 2-dimensional.
It isn’t just fat people who have a problem. I was sitting next to a guy with wide shoulders - he wasn’t fat; he could easily buckle the seat belt. But he was in a middle seat, and his shoulders were too wide for the seat. He was trying to sit sideways, so I took sympathy - not enough to give up my aisle seat, but enough to let him rub shoulders. :-)
On behalf of David Letterman, let me apologize for his unfunny slutty flight attendant comment regarding Sarah Palin.
I know you are a trained professional who does a great job.
But if I’m going to be stuck someplace for hours, you’ll excuse me for wishing that all the flight attendants looked sluttly and were dressed as Hooters girls.
Just my fantasy/wish.
I also want a Ferrari convertible and wish all American libs would go to Cuba and stay there.
Neither will happen, but a man can dream can’t he? :-)
That one really is the fault of the greedy evil capitalists at that Giant Corporation called Big Airline who decided to maximize their profit by making the seats 17 inches wide.
It’s not the broad shouldered guys fault.
Let’s sue the Airlines. Class action suit anyone? Some greedy trial lawyer out there has to be willing to take the case.
Yes, we’re all supposed to be equal. So if I’m 100lbs. for the first 5 feet of height and, as a small-boned woman, 2lbs. for every inch over that, so should you be. Heck, take between 1 and 5lbs. per every inch over 5ft. depending on what your bone structure is like.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to the men.
Sounds like a plan to me, but I’m bias. ;-)
That was you? Sorry about that. My little boy felt bad about that afterwards. Although we had a lot of giggles listening to you whimpering in agony for the whole flight. He said "Daddy, that man sounds like he's crying, hee, hee. If I put the seat down more will he scream? That would be funny."
I think it’s pretty funny that we have so many people on this thread disclosing their vital statistics. And nice people, with temporarily inane arguments, volunteering to not fly anymore if they’re too big to fit.
I think there needs to be a little give and take. The person flying w/the 6 yr. old should instruct him to not recline his seat all the way back, regardless of how tall the person behind him is. Similarly w/other parameters. I wear perfume every day of my life, even if I’m putzing around my house in my sweats. I make 2 concessions for femininity and that is one of them, therefore I will not be renouncing it. But it’s faint, and I don’t refresh right before I get on a plane. And I despise it when people who haven’t showered or don’t wear anti-perspirant think to take their sweaters off in flight.
And this is a special just for you, GOP_Lady: How about those folks who fling the peanuts at their mouths? How about that visual?!
That would be unfair to Rachel Corrie.
I don't care who ya are: that's funny!!
“On behalf of David Letterman, let me apologize for his unfunny slutty flight attendant comment regarding Sarah Palin.”
I joined the rally in NYC..not in defense of flight attendants, but for Sarah!
“But if I’m going to be stuck someplace for hours, you’ll excuse me for wishing that all the flight attendants looked sluttly and were dressed as Hooters girls.”
LOL! Just like a guy...but for many years they (United) have been hiring the opposite...I can’t understand it.
“I also want a Ferrari convertible and wish all American libs would go to Cuba and stay there.”
Lol...dream on!
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