To fat to fly??

[ogreenlee]

How about "overweight"? Just another option that some might consider less hurtful..

240lbs for a man would be "overweight".
400lbs for a man is "morbidly obese".

I'd have a hard time describing someone 400lbs as overweight. I wouldn't call them "morbidly obese" to their face, but I also wouldn't call them "overweight" to their face.


He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

 

[FergieTCat]

My question has always been: why isn't everyone who would make a passenger next to him/her uncomfortable required to buy two seats?

What if it's a long flight and there's a screaming baby in the next seat? What if the person behind you has long legs and constantly kicks your seat? What if the person next to you has body odor?

There are many ways to inconvenience the passenger right next to you without necessarily being overweight. It seems to me that the airline is only addressing one issue.

As for luggage, what if I weigh 50 pounds more than another person, but she has 50 pounds more in luggage than I do? Will airlines start tallying up total weight per passenger? Probably not, but where does it begin and end?

 

[chisnpeke]

My question has always been: why isn't everyone who would make a passenger next to him/her uncomfortable required to buy two seats?

What if it's a long flight and there's a screaming baby in the next seat? What if the person behind you has long legs and constantly kicks your seat? What if the person next to you has body odor?

There are many ways to inconvenience the passenger right next to you without necessarily being overweight. It seems to me that the airline is only addressing one issue.

As for luggage, what if I weigh 50 pounds more than another person, but she has 50 pounds more in luggage than I do? Will airlines start tallying up total weight per passenger? Probably not, but where does it begin and end?

Because their body is taking up space that they paid for. Body odor would be annoying but it isn't taking up someone else's space.

 

[rgf207]

My question has always been: why isn't everyone who would make a passenger next to him/her uncomfortable required to buy two seats?

What if it's a long flight and there's a screaming baby in the next seat? What if the person behind you has long legs and constantly kicks your seat? What if the person next to you has body odor?

There are many ways to inconvenience the passenger right next to you without necessarily being overweight. It seems to me that the airline is only addressing one issue.

As for luggage, what if I weigh 50 pounds more than another person, but she has 50 pounds more in luggage than I do? Will airlines start tallying up total weight per passenger? Probably not, but where does it begin and end?

You are comparing apples to oranges. Customers pay for a seat. if you take up more than 1 seat you are required to purchase an extra seat. A screaming baby or someone with B.O. does not have an ounce of effect on the seat that was purchased therefore why would someone be required to pay for an extra seat in that situation.

Also regarding luggage, you are allowed 1 bag on most airlines (southwest is the exception). That bag has a 50lb limit. If you are over the 50lb limit, you are required to pay extra. So the person with more luggage has paid more.

 

[crashbb]

However, should we be required to buy an extra seat if we have our child with us and our in a row with 3 seats and therefore only using 3 seats?

Although I totally see your logic, because the airline cannot (and will not) guarantee that the three of you will be sitting together, you cannot go with the "but I'll just share my child's seat" argument.

 

[jenm2878]

Why because it horribly embrassing for this man, I have been in his postion not in the plane thing, in amusment parks being told to get out that I was to big to fit. It would seem like it would better to come up with a way to accomdate all passanger then alienate them. Once you embrass a someone it really hard for them to go back

While I understand what you are saying, what to you suggest for the person sitting next to a person of size that is unable to use their entire seat that was paid for?

I am a relatively small person, and have spent a flight next to an extremely overweight person that used up 1/2 of my seat. I spent the entire flight having to have one leg thrown over my husband's just so I could fit. My DH, in turn was squished against the window, and I ended up with a back ache for a few days from sitting cockeyed for the entire flight. How is that right?

 

[C&G'sMama]

Although I totally see your logic, because the airline cannot (and will not) guarantee that the three of you will be sitting together, you cannot go with the "but I'll just share my child's seat" argument.

That shows how much I've flown in recent years. Back in the day you could pick your seats ahead of time.

 

[crashbb]

That shows how much I've flown in recent years. Back in the day you could pick your seats ahead of time.

For most airlines you still can (though some charge). However, it is never guaranteed. Things happen - flight change/equipment change/etc. You usually fly in the seat you've chosen, but it is not a guarantee.

 

[rgf207]

That shows how much I've flown in recent years. Back in the day you could pick your seats ahead of time.

you can still pick your seats ahead of time, with the exception of southwest, but you are not guaranteed them. The airline can, and many times does, change seat assignments. Your ticket guarantees you a seat on the plane but not necessarily the seat of your choice.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

I do not want to pay more so that fat people can be comfortable/have more room!
What is wrong with the fat guy purchasing 2 seats - problem solved.

We have a winner!

I have a pretty low fuse for people who impose upon my personal space bubble. If you flow over into my seat on a plane, I am not going to be very nice about it.

Flying is a luxury. There are other methods of travel is someone absolutely can not pay for the extra seat they require to not impose upon someone else.

 

[bookgirl]

I was just reading an article where a 400 pound man was not allowed to fly because they said he had to buy two tickets for himself because of his size, and the flight was booked. He missed his uncles funeral because of it.

Thoughts?

Hey, as a person who does fit in a seat, but is on the heavy side. I can totally understand why they require two seats. I know it was an emergency but I doubt that there was only one flight available. Unless he started looking only one day before the funeral he should have had a couple of days and a couple of airlines to find a flight with two seats.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

i'm not my ideal healthy weight, as Wii likes to remind me, but i still have a little room on both sides of my seat on an airplane. I recently had to sit next to a rather large man who spilled onto my side. I wasn't grossed out by his fat, but I didn't want my body rubbing up against some man's body on an airplane. I had to lean over into the aisle for 2.5 hours.

Fat is fat. I'm about 30lbs overweight, and that 30lbs is fat.

Me too.

 

[DizBelle]

In this case I would consider it a safety issue. If you don't fit properly on a ride, and the sealtbelt of lap bar doesn't hold you in, you could get hurt.

If the man in question doesn't fit into his seat, then he needed to get another one if it was available. If not, then he shouldn't ride.

I remember the days of the lap bar on TOT and I always seem to get seated next to folks much larger than me and there was about 6 inches of space between my lap and the bar. Made for a thrilling ride. It might have been terrifying for others and maybe unsafe too.

 

[legalsea]

Years ago I sat next to a man that was so overweight that not only could he not fold down his lunch table for the food service, I could not bring my table down either. I was literally crushed to one side of my seat.

The gentleman did apologize to me. I replied "no problem" (in a rather gasping voice). However, I saw no reason to be rude to him.

Our old movie theaters here in Fort Worth used to have double-sized seats. They were for 'lovers' to cuddle, as well for the corpulent.

Many airplanes with the three-seat configurations do have, in the back few rows, two-seat configurations (due to the restrooms, etc). I think at least one or two of those two-seat rows could be made special overlarge seats for the morbidly obese.

Let us face it: with the growing obese population, this problem will only worsen with the years.

 

[DizBelle]

ok, I weigh 240 lbs. currently, I will admit it, I am FAT, not severely fat, but I am FAT, ok,

I'm glad I'm not really really fat and if I was, I would be seeking more extreme ways to make myself less so. Why not call it what it is? It's not a derogatory term, it's called factual, or do you prefer the term obese???

The derogatory-ness of a word isn't about the word at all but about the intent of the person saying it and the perception of the person to which it was said.

Over time, a word that is not considered derogatory now can become considered derogatory simply by increased use in a derogatory manner.

 

[Magic Mom]

If the can do it in first class they can do it in coach.

An obese person can buy a first class ticket if they want a large seat, or they can buy two coach seats. Its very simple.

 

[DizBelle]

That's just being the word police. There are also short people who want to be called vertically challenged, bald people who want to be called follicly challenged, and disabled people who want to be called differently abled.

There is a difference between the factual statement that someone is fat in a context that their weight matters (like in this article) and walking up to someone in the street for no reason and pointing at them while laughing and calling them fat. In this article the weight matters so it isn't an unnecessary observation.

Words are just words and the value you put on them are up to you and shouldn't be projected onto everyone else. I'm short and don't care if someone calls me short. I don't base my self worth or self value on what others think of me, I base it on what I think of myself. Because I am not ashamed of who or what I am the word has zero effect on me. It is just a factual statement, no more and no less.

You're kind of brash. And I'm kind of jealous. And I'm kind of annoyed. But I'm guessing you don't really care that I'm annoyed. And that's cool too. And something else that makes me jealous. I wish I didn't care so much about what other people think.

 

[legalsea]

An obese person can buy a first class ticket if they want a large seat, or they can buy two coach seats. Its very simple.

Further, I believe that, on most flights, two coach tickets would be much cheaper than one first-class.

 

[DizBelle]

Years ago I sat next to a man that was so overweight that not only could he not fold down his lunch table for the food service, I could not bring my table down either. I was literally crushed to one side of my seat.

The gentleman did apologize to me. I replied "no problem" (in a rather gasping voice). However, I saw no reason to be rude to him.

Our old movie theaters here in Fort Worth used to have double-sized seats. They were for 'lovers' to cuddle, as well for the corpulent.

Many airplanes with the three-seat configurations do have, in the back few rows, two-seat configurations (due to the restrooms, etc). I think at least one or two of those two-seat rows could be made special overlarge seats for the morbidly obese.

Let us face it: with the growing obese population, this problem will only worsen with the years.

I think the obese have bigger problems that fitting in an airplane seat. Like the shorter life expectancy.

 

[FireDancer]

You're kind of brash. And I'm kind of jealous. And I'm kind of annoyed. But I'm guessing you don't really care that I'm annoyed. And that's cool too. And something else that makes me jealous. I wish I didn't care so much about what other people think.

That made me laugh, then made me confused. I don't know if it is an insult or a compliment, but either would be fine with me.

Now, if the fat person poked the purse of the person next to them and then asked their name I think we can all agree they shouldn't be allowed to fly...or they should be allowed to fly...now I'm confused again.