A 268 pound female weight loss blogger? Bwahahahahahaha. I'm sure she's a certified fitness instructor too.
For Chris Christie?
The question is whether she fit in the aisle.
Read this.
NO FAT CHICKS!
Support physical fitness ... Charge by the pound.
I feel sorry for this person but people have to stop pretending outrage at this common-sense rule. I know she wouldn’t fit in the regular seats at Fenway Park in Boston, so she would be able to get a special seat with others who cannot navigate the baseball park easily.
Don’t journalists have anything better to focus on? Oh, wait, Michelle Obama has this vendetta against obesity... better look good, you journalist minions.
It’s about width, not weight.
Airlines are selling space, and customers should have to buy however much they will use, like cellphone minutes.
I understand the need for the airlines to get as many passengers on board as possible, but honestly ... the seats are small. I’m 6’ and 165lbs and I find the seats to be narrow and legroom to be minimal at best. I can’t imagine being even slightly overweight and trying to sit comfortably on a plane.
She says she can fit in the seat.
Um, K ...
coach seat is 17 INCHES wide per normal.
Was she coach or first class?
Sure she can wedge in, but how much does she overlap into my ‘space’?
The arm rests MUST be down for take off and landing, so the fatties can’t try that angle anymore.
FWIW, I fly pretty much EVERY week. I have seen fat folks wedge themselves in a seat, and the effect is that of squeezing a water balloon — they can’t go bodily wide, so their posterior gets ‘squooze’ UP. They end up sitting really high in the seat, ‘cuz the compression of their posterior lifts their torso up. They sit oddly high in the seat and must one or TWO seat belt extensions.
I don’t mean to pick on them or ridicule them — just point out that their form factor DOES NOT readily conform to the standard coach environment in a SINGLE seat.
I can sympathize because I am tall and broad-shouldered. My knees go up against the seat in front, and my shoulders don’t fit left to right in the allotted 17 or so inches. I sit on the aisle in coach, or first class. (Yes, I am one of THOSE multi-million milers, spoiled, pampered flying snobs ... but I help travel noob on a weekly basis)
Travel tip for the wide — an upgrade to domestic business class on leisure airlines like AirTran costs LESS than buying two seats, is more comfy, better served, and less embarrassing.
It was rude and wrong. Since that airline only flies 737s with 3-3 seating configuration, they should have been allowed to split 3 seats between the two of them instead of being forced to buy 2 seats each.
She’s too fat to fly even with 2 seats!!!
Put on a burka and go hide from public!
I hate sitting next to obese, super-sized strangers on a flight.
Even if they can “fit” (read: squeeze) into the seat, the spillover means HOURS of constant, miserable contact with their blubbery body and excess body heat. What about my right to protection from the uncomfortable, sweaty, icky intimacy of a complete stranger?
Buy two seats or stay home, I say.
They probably should consider an initial “weight allowance” for each ticket, then charge extra for every pound by which the initial allowance is exceeded.
But that doesn’t help with seating. Need a charge for extra large “butt prints,” too.
Part of the problem that I see with this is the inconsistent enforcement or application of this policy by the SWA gate agents. I'm guessing that Kenlie has flown SWA before this incident, but this was the first time she was told to purchase another seat.
I saw her in a TV interview and mostly found her to be rather whiney and unsympathetic. Also, looking at her, I have a hard time believing her claim that she could fit in the 17” between the armrests, though she is clearly getting much closer than she once was to that goal.
I did think she made one good point, at the end of the interview I saw. She stated that 30% of Americans were obese and that many won’t fly because of this problem, and instead take long car trips that can cost more than flying, and that it would be good business to set aside a few rows with wider seats to accomodate heavy passengers. She also stated that it would make everyone happier. The heavy passengers would have room to sit and wouldn’t have to deal with the embarassment and the thinner passengers wouldn’t have heavy ones spilling over into their seats.
I would think that if an airline or two offered a small number of seats that were a few inches wider at a moderate premium (say 30%) it could create a competitive advantage, and be a financial success, while making passengers, both great and small, happier.
I don’t think the government should mandate anything like this, but I do think the airlines would be smart to respond to the market demand for wider seats for wider travelers.
Wide aisle, wide sofa seating, buffet meals...