This woman seated between two obese people is awful but so are they for not buying the extra seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff needs to delete this thread

you can report it and let him decide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that you can expect airlines, buses, amusement parks, clothing, car and bike manufacturers, etc to accommodate the extreme. In fact, I wouldn't want to drive a car that was designed to be driven by a 450 pound person.

I'm not skinny. In fact, there are chairs out there that I can't sit on for fear of breaking them (150 pound limit). There are clothing brands that I can't fit into (size 14+). There are bicycles that are designed for lighter weight people than me that I can't ride (again 150 pound limit). And I'm not huge although I could afford to lose some weight.

People way outside the norm are going to have less options and they are going to pay more for the options they do have.
They will special order clothes, they will have to buy bigger more expensive vehicles because they can't fit into a regular size car, they will pay more for sturdy furniture that won't break under their weight, they will pay more for food if they intend to maintain their weights (or gain even more weight). A standard airline seat is not designed for them. If they want to fly they'll need to buy 2 or 3 seats.

but you saw the earlier comments from posters who said that when people buy the extra seat for space - the airline sometimes takes it away (with refund) because they overbooked the flight. so not sure what the answer is

The FAA issues regulations that DO NOT ALLOW airlines to take these empty seats from paying overweight customers. It's a super easy rulemaking.

But the airline lobbyists don't want that. WHY? Because the airline wants to resell the seat to a last minute, higher paying customer.

The problem is unregulated capitalism. It is a failure.

[Anonymous]

Airlines need to police who is taking the two out of three seats, and act accordingly - it is the airlines' airplane, not the snowflakes' airplane. The snowflakes' attitude is worthless.

[Anonymous]

People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

The only way airlines will do this is if the FAA passes a regulation. Otherwise, they will sell your 2nd seat to the highest bidder or give it away to an Elite who wants to catch an earlier flight. Because, capitalism.

Seriously, the FAA needs to regulate all of this stuff. This is a political issue that requires a political solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

The only way airlines will do this is if the FAA passes a regulation. Otherwise, they will sell your 2nd seat to the highest bidder or give it away to an Elite who wants to catch an earlier flight. Because, capitalism.

Seriously, the FAA needs to regulate all of this stuff. This is a political issue that requires a political solution.

Which airline(s) are engaging in this sort of 2nd seat selling though? All of them? Some of them or one or two of them? I can't imagine that they all are so cavalier about taking back a reserved and paid for seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

The only way airlines will do this is if the FAA passes a regulation. Otherwise, they will sell your 2nd seat to the highest bidder or give it away to an Elite who wants to catch an earlier flight. Because, capitalism.

Seriously, the FAA needs to regulate all of this stuff. This is a political issue that requires a political solution.

Which airline(s) are engaging in this sort of 2nd seat selling though? All of them? Some of them or one or two of them? I can't imagine that they all are so cavalier about taking back a reserved and paid for seat.

All that I know of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

Agree completely- Lady handled it very poorly (and is paying for it now as she is probably one of the most recognized people on social media....) but no one should be squished into a seat that they paid for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think that you can expect airlines, buses, amusement parks, clothing, car and bike manufacturers, etc to accommodate the extreme. In fact, I wouldn't want to drive a car that was designed to be driven by a 450 pound person.

I'm not skinny. In fact, there are chairs out there that I can't sit on for fear of breaking them (150 pound limit). There are clothing brands that I can't fit into (size 14+). There are bicycles that are designed for lighter weight people than me that I can't ride (again 150 pound limit). And I'm not huge although I could afford to lose some weight.

People way outside the norm are going to have less options and they are going to pay more for the options they do have.
They will special order clothes, they will have to buy bigger more expensive vehicles because they can't fit into a regular size car, they will pay more for sturdy furniture that won't break under their weight, they will pay more for food if they intend to maintain their weights (or gain even more weight). A standard airline seat is not designed for them. If they want to fly they'll need to buy 2 or 3 seats.

but you saw the earlier comments from posters who said that when people buy the extra seat for space - the airline sometimes takes it away (with refund) because they overbooked the flight. so not sure what the answer is

If the airlines are taking those extra seats away then it is up to the airline to handle it. The obese passenger has done their part. Honestly, I would just book first class.

I just CANNOT with people throwing this out left and right. DH and I make 250k a year and live in a lower COL area. We cannot afford to fly first class. I mean maybe once if we saved up we could do it like once a year or something. But absolutely not on an even semi regular basis could we pay for first class. First class is EXTREMELY expensive.

This is what airlines could do. Maybe have some seats that can be occupied by larger customers that they sell at a premium. Have something in the booking process that allows these individuals to identify their issue. NEVER remove a purchased second seat from a customer. Ensure that overweight people can select seats during the selection process for no fee (because it benefits EVERY passenger for them to have the seats ensured to be together). Have clear guidelines about what necessitates a second seat and have gate agents follow the policy discreetly and kindly.

Frankly I would be happy if they made all the seats larger even if it was FOR fat people because sitting on a plane feels like sitting in a sardine can and I'm only 5'4 so basically EVERYONE is extremely uncomfortable.

This is what airlines have done, make you care MORE about their bottom line than you and your fellow passenger's dignity and comfort.

[Anonymous]

I think we can all finally agree on a solution. People who cannot fit into one seat must purchase two tickets (at regular prices - other passengers should not need to pay the bill for their choices). Those seats must stay together as a tightly coupled pair. Mandated by the FAA as such if necessary. While they’re at it, they should mandate that a family traveling together with kids under 10 yo also be a tightly coupled group that cannot be bumped or separated on the flight.

If someone is too big to fit into two seats then they should be prohibited from traveling commercial since they are a hazard in an emergency.

Any objections?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we can all finally agree on a solution. People who cannot fit into one seat must purchase two tickets (at regular prices - other passengers should not need to pay the bill for their choices). Those seats must stay together as a tightly coupled pair. Mandated by the FAA as such if necessary. While they’re at it, they should mandate that a family traveling together with kids under 10 yo also be a tightly coupled group that cannot be bumped or separated on the flight.

If someone is too big to fit into two seats then they should be prohibited from traveling commercial since they are a hazard in an emergency.

Any objections?

I'm fine with this. But airlines will fight this tooth & nail because they want more money or flexibility.

Hence why we need the FAA to deal with this via a rulemaking to hardwire it into regulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who can't fit into 1 seat should have to buy 2. It's ridiculous to expect others to be squashed into a seat.

Airlines should not be able to give away the second seat, just like they shouldn't be able to give away a seat purchased for an infant (which sometimes happens). If you paid for the seat, you get to keep it.

I totally agree. It would be like reserving a vacation house with 4 bedrooms only to arrive and discover that your family had been "bumped" into a one bedroom, one bath house. Ridiculous.

The only way airlines will do this is if the FAA passes a regulation. Otherwise, they will sell your 2nd seat to the highest bidder or give it away to an Elite who wants to catch an earlier flight. Because, capitalism.

Seriously, the FAA needs to regulate all of this stuff. This is a political issue that requires a political solution.

Which airline(s) are engaging in this sort of 2nd seat selling though? All of them? Some of them or one or two of them? I can't imagine that they all are so cavalier about taking back a reserved and paid for seat.

All that I know of.

+1 Almost all airlines engage in the practice of overbooking. There’s no law against it and they all have it as a possibility when you buy your seat.

I don’t know of any who would be cavalier about taking back a seat that an obese person has purchased as “the other half of their seat”, but then again, airlines split small children from their parents all the time on flights so I can’t say it would surprise me much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff needs to delete this thread

you can report it and let him decide

I reported it once for a clean up and he didn't do it. I just don't understand this thread is VILE. I keep posting so if there are overweight or obese people reading this they know that plenty of people don't feel like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we can all finally agree on a solution. People who cannot fit into one seat must purchase two tickets (at regular prices - other passengers should not need to pay the bill for their choices). Those seats must stay together as a tightly coupled pair. Mandated by the FAA as such if necessary. While they’re at it, they should mandate that a family traveling together with kids under 10 yo also be a tightly coupled group that cannot be bumped or separated on the flight.

If someone is too big to fit into two seats then they should be prohibited from traveling commercial since they are a hazard in an emergency.

Any objections?

I'm fine with this. But airlines will fight this tooth & nail because they want more money or flexibility.

Hence why we need the FAA to deal with this via a rulemaking to hardwire it into regulation.

Not sure how the airlines would lose money in this deal. People still need to purchase the seats they need.

But yes, the FAA would need to specify the “tightly coupled seats” policies.