Can't really fault the airlines if they do. I've been on a few flights where I wish the person next to me had been given two seats so that they wouldn't crowd into me.

First time they double charge a guy with a hereditary glandular problem he will sue....and win. That said, and while I hate sitting next to the big fella on any flight, I have been much more annoyed by various other things passengers do and would love to have some compensation for those things. How about the Korean woman who repeatedly delayed takeoff by leaving the seat where the attendant put her? How about the Italian guy who decides he really needs to munch on his home-brought and sulphur smelling hard boiled egg as we just reach cruising altitude? How about the American guy with the ill-behaved child who keeps kicking the seat in front of him? Much more annoying things on airplanes these days than the overweight passenger!

All these annoyances would be far less annoying if the airlines would just feed us all a couple free cocktails around take-off time.

quote:

Originally posted by sdirks:
All these annoyances would be far less annoying if the airlines would just feed us all a couple free cocktails around take-off time.

I agree. There is no reason the pilots should get all the fun!

quote:

All these annoyances would be far less annoying if the airlines would just feed us all a couple free cocktails around take-off time

Damn skippy, but only for the fit passengers... you wouldn't want any fat and drunk passengers.. ;-)

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:
First time they double charge a guy with a hereditary glandular problem he will sue....and win. That said, and while I hate sitting next to the big fella on any flight, I have been much more annoyed by various other things passengers do and would love to have some compensation for those things. How about the Korean woman who repeatedly delayed takeoff by leaving the seat where the attendant put her? How about the Italian guy who decides he really needs to munch on his home-brought and sulphur smelling hard boiled egg as we just reach cruising altitude? How about the American guy with the ill-behaved child who keeps kicking the seat in front of him? Much more annoying things on airplanes these days than the overweight passenger!

Tendrams:

Why would that person win? The airlines didn't cause the gland problem and they don't have to accomodate him/her with two seats.

Ever been on a flight with a person with a medical attendant? I flew to Europe once with a guy on a stretcher - they took out three seats for his stretcher. He had a medical attendent sitting next to me. Do you think the airline didn't charge him for that???

If a person does not fit into one seat then they should be charged for two seats. I'll be damned if they are entitled to part of my seat. Flying is not a right.

I flew to Kazhakstan last year on BMI (British Midlands) and was shocked at the good service. First, the stewardess came back and told me if I wouldn't mind moving back a row, I could have all 3 seats. Then, when serving cocktails, she asked what I preferred. Didn't have any Dewar's, so I settled for a double Johnny Walker Red - no charge. She refilled that twice, gave me a pillow and blanket and said goodnight.

60 years old, fat, bald and ugly and a guy can still luck out once in a great while!

I don't give a crap what the reason is, if you cant keep 100% of your body between the arm guards you should have to pay for two seats! I have had a guts full of having the people next to me overflowing in to my seat. I am 6'3" 225. I am not small but I absolutely fit in my own seat. I paid for it I do not plan on sharing it. Period.

What cracks me up is when we do a tour at our company of our system and we have someone come down to see if a passenger on the tour will fit in our Bell 212 If your ass does not fit in a 212 then you have bigger problems… like life expectancy.

As a form of protest, I personally have gained two pounds this month!

Rich
DRSS

I weigh too much, but my butt fits just fine in a coach seat... but my arms and shoulders (where the fat isn't) will often contact the passenger next to me. At 6'3" and 225 lbs, I'll bet that yours do too. Fact is, airline seats are made for midgets.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Lottfan:
I don't give a crap what the reason is, if you cant keep 100% of your body between the arm guards you should have to pay for two seats! I have had a guts full of having the people next to me overflowing in to my seat. I am 6'3" 225. I am not small but I absolutely fit in my own seat. I paid for it I do not plan on sharing it. Period.

What cracks me up is when we do a tour at our company of our system and we have someone come down to see if a passenger on the tour will fit in our Bell 212 If your ass does not fit in a 212 then you have bigger problems… like life expectancy.

Hell, have to agree with judgeg: I am 5'9" and weigh about 175 and I still rub shoulders with people sitting next to me.

I agree with JudgeG. Shoulders are a different issue. Not the same as rubbing on a leg the size of both mine or sweaty flab that completely obscures the arm rest. On the other side of that coin I have had a few opportunities to sit next to a few very attractive women that were very pleasant to talk to. That is always a nice bonus

quote:

Originally posted by 458Lottfan:
I don't give a crap what the reason is, if you cant keep 100% of your body between the arm guards you should have to pay for two seats! I have had a guts full of having the people next to me overflowing in to my seat. I am 6'3" 225. I am not small but I absolutely fit in my own seat. I paid for it I do not plan on sharing it. Period.

What cracks me up is when we do a tour at our company of our system and we have someone come down to see if a passenger on the tour will fit in our Bell 212 If your ass does not fit in a 212 then you have bigger problems… like life expectancy.

Will, if you give me a tour, I promise I will fit into the seat and I promise not to puke on any equipment.

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Nganga:

quote:

Originally posted by 458Lottfan:
I don't give a crap what the reason is, if you cant keep 100% of your body between the arm guards you should have to pay for two seats! I have had a guts full of having the people next to me overflowing in to my seat. I am 6'3" 225. I am not small but I absolutely fit in my own seat. I paid for it I do not plan on sharing it. Period.

What cracks me up is when we do a tour at our company of our system and we have someone come down to see if a passenger on the tour will fit in our Bell 212 If your ass does not fit in a 212 then you have bigger problems… like life expectancy.

Will, if you give me a tour, I promise I will fit into the seat and I promise not to puke on any equipment.

Steve

Steve,

What do you weigh while training in season?

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

Why would that person win? The airlines didn't cause the gland problem and they don't have to accomodate him/her with two seats.

And small businesses don't cause paralysis either but actually they are still legally required to "reasonably accommodate" paralyzed employees, job applicants, and I presume customers under the ADA...often by physically altering their buildings or grounds.

I am not a lawyer and would be interested to see some input on this from an attorney (or JudgeG) if possible. If obesity as a result of a glandular problem counts as a disability (and I can't imagine why it would not), then I can't see blindly charging the obese customer double as a "reasonable accommodation". I would say re-arranging the passengers so the disabled person could have two seats would count as such an accommodation as would giving the passenger at least the option of being re-routed on a different flight that was not full and enabled a re-shuffling so they might have two seats.

In short, if I were a lawyer and the jury box happened to be filled with the average sized American, I would not want to be arguing in favor of charging a disabled obese passenger twice without putting forth some serious effort and giving the passenger some very good options before being charged double. I might be up in the night here and am interested to hear what JudgeG has to say about this.


EDIT

Apparently, according to an online article regarding film director Kevin Smith, "interstate airline travel is specifically excluded from Title II of the ADA by Section 12141(2). Airline travel is instead covered by the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C. 1374(c) and the regulations implementing the act issued by the Department of Transportation as 14 CFR Part 382.

The ACAA precedes the ADA, and Congress excluded air carriers and other air transportation services from the scope of ADA. As regulated under 14 CFR §382.38, Seating accommodations (i), “Carriers are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the passenger has purchased."

Even so....seems like a PR disaster waiting to happen as apparently many airlines are already being sued over this.

AT 6'3' 195lbs, the problem is related to the absence of any realistic place to put my legs,
Ambien helps on an 18 hour flight with no deplaning at the fueling stop, but that opens another can of worms.
I remind myself of what I could shoot for the cost of upgrade to business class. Translated into trphy fees, I can (and have been) pretty miserable for a few hours.

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:
First time they double charge a guy with a hereditary glandular problem he will sue....and win. That said, and while I hate sitting next to the big fella on any flight, I have been much more annoyed by various other things passengers do and would love to have some compensation for those things. How about the Korean woman who repeatedly delayed takeoff by leaving the seat where the attendant put her? How about the Italian guy who decides he really needs to munch on his home-brought and sulphur smelling hard boiled egg as we just reach cruising altitude? How about the American guy with the ill-behaved child who keeps kicking the seat in front of him? Much more annoying things on airplanes these days than the overweight passenger!

speaking as a physician, the only glandular problem most morbidly obese people have is over active salivary glands from chewing TOO MUCH FOOD!!! pituitary/ thyroid gland dysfunction accounts for a very small percentage of morbid obesity. however I wholeheartedly agree with extra charges to the parent whose little bastard kicks the back of my seat for hours. the last time that happened I told the kid and his father that if it continued, I would deal directly with the father when we deplaned. problem solved.

Im down to 235 now. still have leg room issues so I simply use miles to upgrade when i can. Just makes it easier and seems to make the hunts more enjoyable!!!