This thread will probably be a lot of fun for people who like fat jokes, and others will seriously raise the issue of weight capacity on airplanes, but if the woman quoted above is telling the truth, then the airline involved may have a problem.
If the airline has no published weight restrictions for passengers and they are basing their decisions regarding who is 'too fat to fly' solely on the personal opinion of whomever happens to be working the boarding gate, then they might find themselves in a bit of legal trouble. Did they ask her how much she weighed when they contracted with her, via a ticket purchase, to fly her from one city to another?
I am in 100% agreement that having to sit in 'coach' next to person who is, quite literally, flowing over and around the confines of their own seat makes for a miserable time for everyone involved. I think it is in the best interest of the airlines and their passengers to develop a solution. However, if the airlines want to refuse to allow people above a certain weight to fly, or perhaps require super-heavy people to buy two tickets, then they need to adopt actual standards and then uniformly enforce it.
“If the airline has no published weight restrictions for passengers and they are basing their decisions regarding who is ‘too fat to fly’ solely on the personal opinion of whomever happens to be working the boarding gate...”
It’s not the weight. So a weight limit would not make sense. It’s the ability to fit into a single seat with the armrests down. I’d bet that the only people singled out are those who, by observation, can not fit by a WIDE margin.
it’s not based on weight. It’s based on size
Perhaps what they need is something like they have for carry on. If your rear end can fit in this box.....
I’ve had to sit next to too many of these people. Butt!!! To strand them on a stop-over between flights? Uh uh! That really is nasty of the airline!