As a big guy myself, it seems I am frequently seated next to another large person. Especially on 2 + 2 configurations.
Posted on 12/20/2006 10:07:53 AM PST by Aggie Dad
PARIS (Reuters) - An overweight passenger has sued Air France after being told he was too fat and had to pay for a second seat to accommodate his bulk.
Jean-Jacques Jauffret, a French scriptwriter, told Reuters Wednesday he had felt humiliated by Air France staff who had measured his waist in public at New Dehli airport in 2005 and decided he was too big for a single seat.
A lawyer representing Air France told a court Tuesday the company had a clear policy of asking obese passengers to pay for two seats.
"Let's be objective. This man is fat," lawyer Fernand Gamault told the court in Bobigny, according to Le Parisien newspaper. "He barely fits on the courtroom chair. How could he sit in an airplane?"
Gamault was not available for comment but Jauffret confirmed the lawyer's comments and said he was denounced as "fat" and "enormous" on countless occasions during the hearing.
"I felt shocked and humiliated by what he said," Jauffret added.
Jauffret said he weighed more than 160 kilos (352.7 lb) and said he had flown numerous times, including on other Air France flights, without ever being asked to pay more.
Air France's website urges overweight passengers to reserve a second seat, adding that failure to do so might mean they are refused access to an aircraft if it is fully booked.
Jauffret has asked for 8,000 euros ($10,580) in damages and 500 euros reimbursement for the cost of the additional ticket.
A verdict in the case is due on February 20.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
LOL! Frank talk from a Frank.
How you going to argue with logic like that? Case closed.
To paraphrase, if his butt won't fit, you must acquit.
Air France will also have to widen the restroom, and provide toilet paper wrapped 'round a stick long enough for future fat bastards to reach around!
I'm willing to bet that two of them may have been tourists.
And I ALWAYS get stuck next to someone like this! On a full plane.
The sweat alone is enough to gross you out.
as he ordered his fourth burger.
This thread is priceless without photos.
LOL. Funny story, but being the engineer that I am, the innumeracy of the average "journalist" is what always catches my eye. In this case, it's the conversion of a weight with two or, at most, three significant digits (160 kilograms) to a four significant digit weight in pounds (352.7). Don't these writers remember anything they were taught in HS math?
OTOH, I suppose it's very important to this story to get the weight precision down to the tenth of a pound.
More the pity for the person who sat next to you. Nothing like a plane ride with a 350 pounder spilling over into your seat.
If you take up more than one seat, you should pay for more than one seat. The space on my side of the armrest is MY seat, and I already paid for it.
As a big guy myself, it seems I am frequently seated next to another large person. Especially on 2 + 2 configurations.
Haha! A french writer who won't tip a waiter, but will easily tip AN AIRPLANE.
(a clip on the Howie Carr show)
FMCDH(BITS)
You ever been stuck on a crowded Metro line in France?
The size of the person has no correlation to the possibility of foul odors.
These seats arent big enough for regular sized people.
Ummmm, Europe regular or America regular?
It's a must! I once had an individual so squished between
one who needed 2 seats and the person on his right we had
to move him, but there were no seats to be had.
Once he was up and out of the row, it was obvious
the obese person took up a full half of the middle
seat, in addition to the seat he purchased.
No one knows what happened to the camera man after his last picture, only the camera was found amongst the ruins of a shattered chair.
I'm not arguing the fact that Air France made the correct decision but I'm 6 feet 7 inches tall and weigh almost 300 pounds. Will I get charged for extra leg room when I fly?? Will I get charged for an extra seat as did the fat frog did?? I have noticed in the recent past years, that seats are more made to fit the skinny (near death) model on magazine covers, not for the person who is 5'10" coming in a 180 to 200 lbs never mind my size.
By the way, I hate to fly. I'd rather drive 3 days than fly for 6 hours. But it's impossible in all situations.
They standardize seat belt lengths to fit around the largest sized person that can fit into a single seat (maybe 48" waist?). Then charge for seat belt extensions at one half the cost of the seat. Sit the fatties next to each other and block open the seat in between.
But I guess that would be too easy.
Coach airline seats are cramped for MOST people weighing over about 135.
If you take up space paid for by another person, should you not have to pay for it?
Sure, you earn enough to afford to fly. LOL.
>SARCASM ALERT< What if a fat person does purchase two seats but the airlines screw up and have him/her sitting in different sections of the plane. What kind of resolution can be made for this problem?? >Sarcasm<
Oddly, no. My wife (who speaks very good French BTW) once spent a summer in France. I cannot get her to go back.
She was raised on a farm -- and she is still grossed out, just thinking about it, all these years later.
I have not shared with her the joys of travel in Korea from many years ago. Canada, however, is a joy for travelers. The jury is still out on Alaska.
Ah, merde!! It's Monsieur Creosote!!!
If smokers have to suffer on flights, then the obese should have to make concessions as well. Their vice has more real effects on others than the cooked up secondhand smoke madness.
Well, I'm overweight and I don't enjoy making other people uncomfortable any more than I enjoy being uncomfortable myself. But I don't need two seats. I wouldn't mind paying extra to sit in a section of the plane where the seats are a bit roomier, but the difference between coach and first class is usually forbidding.
Since the airlines exist to serve public, it's a wonder they can't figure out a way to offer more options. Air travel has been around for a long time now, but the airlines can't seem to get past the idea that if what they offer doesn't work, it's the fault of the paying customer.
"I visited France about ten years ago, and I saw perhaps three *grossly* overweight people my entire trip.
I'm willing to bet that two of them may have been tourists."
I've noticed that abroad too. I've been to several European countries and New Zealand in recent years. Very few overweight people and almost none of the giants you see over here. And when you do see a truly huge person there is a better than even chance that he/she is an American. We really do live in an unhealthy society and our tremendous and obscene obesity rate testifies to that. Heck just a few years ago it was rare to see a gigantic elementary student. Now it isn't uncommon at all to see a hugely fat six or seven year old. That isn't healthy!
But what do you expect when people sit around all day playing video games and watching TV? What do you expect with the huge portions we eat and the fact that people drive almost everywhere?
On a recent flight, I had the displeasure of being seated next to a person large enough that our armrest could not be lowered to the down position. Suffice it to say that I shared some of my seat with this woman, and was very uncomfortable the entire trip.
I do feel very sorry for others like this woman. The humiliation must be among the worst kind of pain, but something clearly needs to be established at the airlines. Suing them is not an answer.
Tell me about it!
I'm 6'2" and weigh in at 275 pounds. I can sit in the seat with the arm rests down and buckle the belt without an extender (I used to not be able to do either, but have lost nearly 100 pounds over the past year). I don't have long legs -- my torso is longer than average, hence my head nearly hits the ceiling above me (if I'm put in a window seat) ... close enough that a good bump can do it. I don't take up anyone else's seat space, but do I qualify as being "too big" due to height or other factors? It makes one wonder.
"These seats arent big enough for regular sized people."
"Ummmm, Europe regular or America regular?"
I always seem to get this seat:
http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/seat29e.asp
I'll never forget the look of HORROR on my visiting Spanish aunt's face when she saw the serving sizes at Chili's.
Hell, I'm horrified whenever I see fat little troll children chugging their 32 oz. cups of Coke.
They really ought to give you guys a break on the first class price.
I always make a reservation for the emergency door exit for the extra room and arrive at the gate just before boarding. Almost always they've given away my seat and assign me one that is impossible for me to fit in and when that is pointed out to the airline personnel, I get upgraded to either business or 1'st class at least 80% of the time.
Hey! careful there. ;)
I am 6'2" 270 (down from 295). I was a 46" waist now a 44" Even at 46" I did not need an extender and was always very careful to situate myself so as not to touch the person next to me.
Part of what encouraged me to lose weight was that I was getting close to needing an extender. I do think the airlines could be a little more careful on seat assignments. They do "code" people who have created problems in the past (rudeness for example), why not code people as "Large framed, try to keep seat open"). Really that is all that is required.
--Since the airlines exist to serve public, it's a wonder they can't figure out a way to offer more options. Air travel has been around for a long time now, but the airlines can't seem to get past the idea that if what they offer doesn't work, it's the fault of the paying customer.--
I used to try to get the exit seats as they were roomier but the 'larger' people do also.
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