Posted on 10/21/2016 1:08:35 AM PDT by Cronos
Airlines want more money from heavy fliers, but some say it's a rights violation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity has more than doubled since 1980. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight, and over 600 million were obese. (WHO defines "overweight" as a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and "obese" as a BMI greater than or equal to 30.)
Last month, lawyer Giorgio Destro from Padua, Italy sued Emirates, claiming his flight was disrupted by an obese passenger seated next to him. According to reports, Destro was not able to comfortably sit in his assigned seat, and spent much of the nine-hour flight from Cape Town to Dubai standing or sitting in crew seats. His proof for the lawsuit? A selfie that includes his fellow passenger’s arm in his seat space.
...Many airlines have responded to the growing obesity epidemic by insisting passengers of size buy two seats to ensure safety and comfort. Sometimes the airline will offer a refund if there was at least one other empty seat on the flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
If a large person were blocked in on both sides by walls put up by other passengers, it might be nearly impossible for the large person to fit. Two solutions:
1) They could buy two seats next time.
2) They could be the ones pacing the aisles and trying to find a place to be comfortable (I never understand why average people are the one who end up fleeing and seeking relief while the big person stays put and flows over into more than one seat)
Trixie: Whoever said the Age of Chivalry is dead was right. ... on the bus there are just two empty seats. And who sits in those two empty seats?
Alice: Ralph?
Trixie: (nods her head)
“Put all the big and fat people together and let them work it out among themselves.”
I was thinking along those lines too, but it really wouldn’t work unless some changes were made. Airlines could possibly have a section for large people, but rather than have 3 seats across, only put 2 seats in the same space. Charge more for the oversized seats, but not like 1st class seating because there wouldn’t be the added service. Unfortunately, even though the airlines have most likely thought of this solution already, their legal teams have advised against it due to the inevitable discrimination lawsuits.
Passengers should pay by the pound. That’s pretty simple.
Us big people hate to fly. Damn tiny seats. And there is no amount of weight loss that will help for us people who are simply big.
If you ship a package, it costs more as the weight goes up. Why should shipping living carcasses be any different?
“Airlines should install a couple extra wide seat and a halfs throughout the plane. There should be an up charge for those seats.”
The only way it would work though, would be to mandate people over a certain size purchase those seats. Lawyers would have a field day, despite logic.
One possible way to avoid discrimination lawsuits may be to make all seats even smaller, so that very wide people cannot possibly fit into them, mandating that they buy two seats, just so they can fit.
The dirty little secret in the health insurance industry is that smokers are cheaper because they don't live as long.
But if that were common knowledge the state couldn't charge exorbitant taxes from tobacco "settlements."
I don't care if your BMI is perfect, if you are 6'6" you are going to spill over.
You know, I kind of like this idea. They could scale their seating based on size/price too. So a larger passenger would pay more but ultimately be more comfortable. A smaller one would have less room but be paying less. My husband is 6'4" and slim, but never has enough room for his legs so I think a guarantee of legroom would be appealing to him for an extra $20-$30 bucks.
Then again, there is such a thing as first class. Maybe people of a certain size and over should be required to fly first class.
Airlines should install a couple extra wide seat and a halfs throughout the plane. There should be an up charge for those seats.<<<
They do. It’s called First Class and it costs more. Sometimes the extra cost is unreasonable for example, when you’re only going to be on the plane for 2 hours and the seat costs $1700 while an economy seat costs $250.
That first class seat makes a whole lot more sense if you’re going to be on that plane for for several hours.
Despite the narrow seats on planes, even economy is infinitely more comfortable than the seats on a greyhound bus going cross country, and that bus doesn’t offer more comfortable accommodations.
There have been times when for one reason or another, my plane ticket was selected for a seat upgrade. An additional $40 and you have a first class seat! Now, I LIKE that idea and if I have that extra $40, I do grab it. Most American flights are relatively short anymore, and most of the time economy is just fine. If for some reason I’m offered an exit row seat, I’ll take it as I am willing to help in an emergency as long as I’m able. I’ve received the bonus of having my luggage stowed below, for free for that service. The less I have to carry from one terminal to another during my trip, the better I like it.
I’m a small person but obesity does differ from one person to the next. According to government formulas, I’ve never been obese, but according to MY body history, I have been even if it didn’t show. For example, if my normal adult weight is 125 and I’m weighing 150, for my height the 159 is good, not obese. But, for ME and my build, that’s WAY overweight!
As mentioned, muscular people tend to weigh more because muscle weighs more than fat. Weight and height is not necessarily an indicator of obesity.
I think width at the hips is a better indicator...though not necessarily the best indicator, and shoulder/arm width. If a person flows over, then they do need a wider space even for their own comfort. First class has wider seats, and it’s much quieter, closer to the rest rooms, faster meal/snack/drink service, easier to get on and off the plane. If you’re a large person, really, you should strongly consider flying first class. See what you can do to work a ticket deal.
As little as I am, I’ve been there pinned up against the window as the man next to me over flowed his seat. It’s NOT pleasant.
Fools! Just travel via Gulfstream IV (or larger) like hildabeast demands when she flys and you’ll have plenty of room!
I disagaree about “moving from the realm of safety to passenger comfort”
If someone can’t fit in an airline seat how do you expect them to fit through a emergency exit or if the whale jumps on the evacuation slide and breaks it. Tråpping a hundred or so people on a burning plane. Then what?
Some policies require you to pay more if you are a smoker, obese or into extreme sports.
Nope,wrong.There's not much that I know about this dog-eat-dog world of ours but having worked for 20+ years at one of the world's finest (and most famous) hospitals I know something about the medical biz.Long time smokers,once they hit their 50's (and almost all of them do) start developing "COPD" which is commonly referred to as "emphysema".
Once COPD is established these patients routinely develop pneumonia as well as "flares".These events usually involve a couple of days (or more) in the hospital.Add to that the frequent doctor visits,X-rays,portable O2,home visits,inhalers (which *ain't* cheap) and you find that these smokers cost,over their lifetimes (even though possibly shortened) huge,*huge* sums of $$$.
I certainly don’t have much experience or knowledge on the subject. What you describe sounds horrible!
But here are some sources for my comments.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199710093371506
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-04-08-fda-tobacco-costs_N.htm
“Vanderbilt University economist Kip Viscusi studied the net costs of smoking-related spending and savings and found that for every pack of cigarettes smoked, the country reaps a net cost savings of 32 cents.”
The frame is big, not sure if my bones are thicker than normal but would not suprise me. From the bony part on the outside of one shoulder to the other is too wide. If my arms were sawed off I would fit...but I kinda am adverse to doing that...instead I rotate my shoulders forward if between other passengers. Thank God I don’t have to fly much. I hate having to tell people I got the seat next to them. And prefer to be next to people smaller than me...though I can’t really complain...
The problem is that first class includes a bunch of other stuff along with more room and is priced accordingly.
It would be nice if they would allow you to pick a larger seat and not have to pay for the lounge, free alcoholic drinks or fancy meals.
what about stinky people?...what about people that use the br several times?....I think that should cost more too....
and the small people that you work with should be paid less because they can't do as many things as the large people...
it could go on and on.....
I’d rather drive anywhere and we have....but we have a wedding to go to in December and we must fly....I refuse to pay $80 extra per seat per flight so I can have 5 extra inches...
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