Ah! Joy Of A Large Airplane Seat…
I feel uncomfortable/cramped in the economy class seats while travelling by air. I have always wondered how those who enjoy a larger girth than mine manage to squeeze into the narrow seats.
So it is heartening to hear that the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada. More here…
The case has been going on in other courts for the past few months. For an earlier report please click here…
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Wow. That picture is just…wow. I'm not sure two seats would be enough…
I have also wondered the same. I work with someone quite large that sometimes travels, but of course I never asked him how he does it.
Hmm… I wonder how they are going to determine who is “large enough of girth” to warrant two seats for the price of one. I can imagine some who are somewhat husky might try to take advantage of the system. Are there going to do something similar to carry-on luggage measurements:
“If you can fit in this box, you only get one seat. Sorry”
I have no idea how someone can have a “right” to multiple seats for free. If they use more space they should pay for more space if the airline sees fit to charge. The court is overstepping it's bounds here.
I want two seats for one. I'm starting my new french fry and ice cream diet now….
I sat next to someone once who took up 2/3 of both seats with the arm rest up, on a nonstop flight to Florida (I was crammed in by the window).
At the time I would have been quite happy if he had been charged for 2 seats or at least 1 1/3 and my rate reduced by a third. It was quite hot and I couldn't move for the entire 2 1/2 hours.
I agree, I think this is ridiculous. So overweight people have more rights than us thin folk? Hey, I would like two seats for the price of one too, that would make fligths quite comfy.
Oh, great. Now we have a “skinny tax”.
Airlines have costs to cover and, quite frankly, flying weight (luggage or human) requires fuel, which requires money. So if the airlines want to cover their costs (and they can't do it by charging for extra seats for large people) then the skinny tax is the extra money everyone else has to pay so the airlines can give free seats to large people.
My initial reaction was similar to most of the comments here. However, I can see the other side of the story. We do this often in other places in our society. In movie theaters there is a spot set aside for wheel-chair access. It takes up room that could otherwise be used for seats, and more often than not those spots end up empty anyway. So the movie theater is losing money to accommodate the disabled. But its arguable whether the obese should be put into the same category as the disabled, but its a similar concept. Should we charge disabled people more to go to the movies?
Also, if we take the logic of show of you to its logical conclusion, we should weight people before they board the plane and charge them relatively, since heavy people use more fuel to transport. It is the nature of doing business that you might make more money off some people than others. So airlines might lose money because they have to give obese people two seats. So what? They are under no obligation to make sure they profit off of each person equally.
Thirdly, if it makes the rest of us a bit more comfortable, I have no problem paying a bit extra to subsidize the large people, if the other option is having them buy one seat which makes them and everyone else uncomfortable. The fat people didn't decide how big to make the seats: that was airlines decision. If they decided to only make them big enough for 98% of the people who need to fly, then perhaps they should make accommodations for the people they chose to exclude.
My main issue is how to implement it. Do you have a weight cutoff, or do you have a big box as I jokingly alluded to earlier? How do you prevent it being abused?
Well, I understand both sides. I am plus sized and scared to death to fly just because I dont know if I will fit in the seat. My daughter thinks I am looney, but this is a traumatic fear that keeps me from visiting family. my butt fits in stadium and movie theater seats but quite honestly I am broad shouldered. This may seem funny to some but it truly is life hindering for me