Well, I have to say that I agree with you here, too. We might agree on just about everything except where the "blame" lies.
To me it works like this: Once that passenger is actually ON the plane he has entered into a contract with the airlines just like all the other passengers and so should be accommodated just like all the other passengers. That puts the "blame" on the airlines if they don't live up to it.
The lawsuit angle is very true in this day and age and IMHO (IANAL) the airlines need to man up and charge all passengers in such a way that they actually make a profit for a change.
They need to either provide larger seating (which it sounds like they actually did in this case) or charge more or decline the passenger.Since the feds control this all the PC stuff intrudes and keeps logic and sanity from prevailing except by accident.
I still maintain, having said that I basically agree with all your points, that taking it out on the large passenger is actually a human, social failing and Conservatives should go back to respecting the privacy of people's lives EVEN IF they are inconvenienced at times. But then maybe I am a throwback to another era... my father's or grandfathers's perhaps.Or maybe we ought to try to "forgive" people for not being cookie-cutter perfect in size and shape?
But what can the airline do? They can’t tell him to go away, it’ll general bad press or possibly lawsuits. They can’t charge him extra, it’ll generate bad press or possibly lawsuits. They can’t make all the seats big enough for this guy, it’ll cut their seat count in half, and seatbelts don’t work that well when the seat is much larger than you, you start sliding around sideways and stuff. so they have, literally, NOTHING they can do about the situation. They CANNOT be at fault, because to be at fault there needs to be something you can actually do.
Let’s keep in mind that YOUR the one that wanted to bring blame into the conversation. I don’t really give a crap if the guy is fat, so long as his fat isn’t in my seat on an airplane. But because YOU asked if the fat guy or the airline was to blame, and the airline can’t be at fault that leaves the fat guy. That’s the answer to the question you asked, outside of that question it’s another matter entirely, outside of the strictures of your question we get to the real world answer: change things so the airline actually CAN do something.