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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reposting because quoting got messed up

Its rude, you take two seats next to each other. No one wants to sit in the middle of your conversation, you handing things back and forth, etc. I have no issue with a middle seat but I don't want you touching me nor do I want to hear your conversations or stuff being passed back and forth.


+1

the fat ones could've at least gotten the window and the middle seat but no they knew if they sat next to each other they couldn't move. They didn't care about giving no room to the middle seat person long as they didn't have to pay. Can't believe the fat one is a nurse too.

No way. You all are ridiculous. Fat or skinny, if I book my flight with enough advance notice and have the option, my DH and I will always book window/aisle. Traveling is awful and you make the best of it - window and aisle seats are the better choice. why should I take the less optimal choice just because I'm traveling with someone? You don't want to be in the middle of my conversation? you don't want to be in the middle of us handing stuff back and forth? Then book your trip early enough and PICK YOUR OWN AISLE OR WINDOW SEAT. Don't expect me to suffer just to make your life better.

I would tell you to switch if you were having conversations around me and passing stuff. Sometimes you do book early enough. If I'm alone I don't care where I sit so I'm not spending extra money to avoid nasty people like you. If you want to be next to your spouse, book tickets accordingly and not annoy the middle passenger. If you cannot sit in a middle seat, maybe you should learn something from this thread... try some salad.

Clearly, you're having some trouble reading.
1. I don't want to sit next to my spouse. I want us to be one seat apart (see? aisle.....window)
2. I never said I "can't" sit in the middle - I said it's less optimal and I'd rather not - so I book early and pick my seats.
3. I said "fat or skinny" I happen to be able to fit very comfortably in an airline seat. I just hate it when strangers are telling me my DH and I HAVE to move because your fragile personality can't handle sitting between 2 people that know each other.

You can "tell me" to switch all you want. I have my seat, which I specifically selected, and don't plan on moving.

And BTW, I'm a huge introvert. During flights, DH and I rarely talk, or hand things back and forth - I always read on flights. But it really pisses me off that you have the gall to think that I should sit in a middle seat just because I'm part of a couple.

Get a divorce. Simple. You should sit with your spouse. Or, he can sit in the middle.

NP but now you're just being dumb. There is NO RULE ANYWHERE, real or etiquette wise, that says you have to choose a seat you don't like because your spouse is next to it. Maybe it would be better for PP to book aisle/aisle, but she is under no obligation to sit next to her spouse in a seat she hates.

NP here and she’s under the obligation of normal social etiquette. It’s F’in rude! I was stuck between a couple once on SW, where it was announced that all seats would be taken. These jerks passed stuff across me and spoke over me. It was unbelievably obtuse, given they didn’t book those seats since it’s SW and clearly knew someone would be between them. Like, just don’t interact then if you insist on sitting apart. I was in my twenties and didn’t speak up but should have.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. It's still a you problem. and besides, that poster was clear that she doesn't really interact with her spouse. So she's really not under an obligation or annoying you.

You're on an airplane. Not the quiet car of the Amtrak. yes. People should be polite and not constantly all the time reach over and talk. But it's that they don't, it is absolutely fine for them to set apart for whatever reason

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reposting because quoting got messed up

Its rude, you take two seats next to each other. No one wants to sit in the middle of your conversation, you handing things back and forth, etc. I have no issue with a middle seat but I don't want you touching me nor do I want to hear your conversations or stuff being passed back and forth.


+1

the fat ones could've at least gotten the window and the middle seat but no they knew if they sat next to each other they couldn't move. They didn't care about giving no room to the middle seat person long as they didn't have to pay. Can't believe the fat one is a nurse too.

No way. You all are ridiculous. Fat or skinny, if I book my flight with enough advance notice and have the option, my DH and I will always book window/aisle. Traveling is awful and you make the best of it - window and aisle seats are the better choice. why should I take the less optimal choice just because I'm traveling with someone? You don't want to be in the middle of my conversation? you don't want to be in the middle of us handing stuff back and forth? Then book your trip early enough and PICK YOUR OWN AISLE OR WINDOW SEAT. Don't expect me to suffer just to make your life better.

I would tell you to switch if you were having conversations around me and passing stuff. Sometimes you do book early enough. If I'm alone I don't care where I sit so I'm not spending extra money to avoid nasty people like you. If you want to be next to your spouse, book tickets accordingly and not annoy the middle passenger. If you cannot sit in a middle seat, maybe you should learn something from this thread... try some salad.

Clearly, you're having some trouble reading.
1. I don't want to sit next to my spouse. I want us to be one seat apart (see? aisle.....window)
2. I never said I "can't" sit in the middle - I said it's less optimal and I'd rather not - so I book early and pick my seats.
3. I said "fat or skinny" I happen to be able to fit very comfortably in an airline seat. I just hate it when strangers are telling me my DH and I HAVE to move because your fragile personality can't handle sitting between 2 people that know each other.

You can "tell me" to switch all you want. I have my seat, which I specifically selected, and don't plan on moving.

And BTW, I'm a huge introvert. During flights, DH and I rarely talk, or hand things back and forth - I always read on flights. But it really pisses me off that you have the gall to think that I should sit in a middle seat just because I'm part of a couple.

Get a divorce. Simple. You should sit with your spouse. Or, he can sit in the middle.

NP but now you're just being dumb. There is NO RULE ANYWHERE, real or etiquette wise, that says you have to choose a seat you don't like because your spouse is next to it. Maybe it would be better for PP to book aisle/aisle, but she is under no obligation to sit next to her spouse in a seat she hates.

NP here and she’s under the obligation of normal social etiquette. It’s F’in rude! I was stuck between a couple once on SW, where it was announced that all seats would be taken. These jerks passed stuff across me and spoke over me. It was unbelievably obtuse, given they didn’t book those seats since it’s SW and clearly knew someone would be between them. Like, just don’t interact then if you insist on sitting apart. I was in my twenties and didn’t speak up but should have.

The normal social etiquette of putting her headphones in and closing her eyes? Because that's what she's reported doing. Just because she happens to know the person two seats over doesn't mean she has to sit next to him. Am I obligated to sit next to my coworker every time we fly? Hell no. You're weird.

[Anonymous]

The issue I have with this is: if you KNOW ahead of time that you are going to be in situation where you are likely to inconvenience other passengers, why not do EVERYthing you can to be proactive AHEAD of time?? Most flights these days are full or nearly so. I don’t see this as much different from the threads about parents/children being separated. We’ve booked flights on shorter notice and had trouble getting seats together based on the seat map a few times- so I call the airline ahead of time and explain the situation and ask to at least get 2 seats together so one of us can sit with our youngest at least. They usually
Keep the back 2 rows blocked off for things like this. Has worked the few times I’ve needed to do it. Otherwise, arrive early and proactively speak to the gate agent and explain the problem. Rather than just boarding the plane and hoping for the best ...which will often not turn out well, and ends up inconveniencing other passengers. I get that obese people may feel embarrassed etc but wouldn’t it be better to call ahead, check in early etc and explain the problem- and at least TRY to get ahead of the problem!? There isn’t much the flight crew can do after everyone had boarded, in many cases. Why not give them a chance to help find a solution!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue I have with this is: if you KNOW ahead of time that you are going to be in situation where you are likely to inconvenience other passengers, why not do EVERYthing you can to be proactive AHEAD of time?? Most flights these days are full or nearly so. I don’t see this as much different from the threads about parents/children being separated. We’ve booked flights on shorter notice and had trouble getting seats together based on the seat map a few times- so I call the airline ahead of time and explain the situation and ask to at least get 2 seats together so one of us can sit with our youngest at least. They usually
Keep the back 2 rows blocked off for things like this. Has worked the few times I’ve needed to do it. Otherwise, arrive early and proactively speak to the gate agent and explain the problem. Rather than just boarding the plane and hoping for the best ...which will often not turn out well, and ends up inconveniencing other passengers. I get that obese people may feel embarrassed etc but wouldn’t it be better to call ahead, check in early etc and explain the problem- and at least TRY to get ahead of the problem!? There isn’t much the flight crew can do after everyone had boarded, in many cases. Why not give them a chance to help find a solution!?

The problem in this case is that the obese people didn't feel that there was a "problem" remaining that they had to find a "solution" for. They had solved their problem, or so they thought - they squeezed into the chairs while putting another seat between them where they betted that someone a lot thinner would end up being assigned to sit. So they made their size someone else's problem, and that was absolutely fine with them.

So that's what happened - someone else was assigned to sit there. That was fine with the obese people. They had no problem whatsoever with the lady being forced to squeeze in there. It was only the woman herself who had a problem with it, that's why she was so frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am overweight! I had my third child a few months ago and it was a difficult pregnancy and I still weigh over 200 pounds! And I still fit comfortably in a plane seat. Those people do not fit comfortably in a seat without affecting the people next to them and they should need to pay for another seat. It’s just logic. When your size starts becoming other people’s problem, it becomes other people’s business.

As many other people have said in this thread, this is the airlines fault. They don't have clear policies, they screw people over, and then they let the people scrap it out and turn on each other. No one acts well on an airplane in my experience. Well that is not true I have had a lot of people show compassion to me when I traveled with children, but people are usually just shuffling through mindlessly.

We should not accept obese people being put in this situation where they need to be publicly humiliated by a fellow passenger. Have a weight limit in the booking process, have it trigger the need to buy a second seat, have it anchored into the systems so it can't be changed. FORCE airlines to treat human beings with dignity.

How would the airline know when these people booked tickets, especially if it was online. The passenger should have handled it very differently but those to people should have sat next to each other or paid for a third seat.

Can you read? I'm saying airlines should bake this into the booking process so this can all be taken care of discreetly.

Not the PP, but how are you going to ensure that the airline gets correct information for people booking tickets online or through a travel agent or over the phone? If you ask someone to disclose their weight and tell them that everyone over XXX pounds will need to buy another seat, obviously the motivation for them to say they are XXX-5 pounds is pretty high. For that matter, how are you even going to standardize this question? What is the weight limit? What about a height limit? Will you ask everyone booking tickets to put their height and weight in when booking tickets? As for having it "anchored into the system", what about if a person loses (or gains) a significant amount of weight?

I get the general idea of your proposal, but there is no way to implement this that doesn't encourage people to lie or shame them.

There is shame in the entire thing. If we want to eliminate shame than allow people to self identify at a weight where they will automatically be placed in economy plus or something for no extra charge.

But I disagree that this would not work. No fat person wants to be publicly humiliated on an airplane. If there was a way to lay out the situation ahead of time and know that they wouldn't be embarrassed in the moment I would imagine a lot more people than you think would use that. Severely overweight people are cognizant of how they do not fit, they are stressed out about it. I know a person who, if she's meeting someone at a restaurant for a business meal or something, she will go drop in ahead of time to make sure she can fit on the chairs. These people don't want to be the center of attention.

And you pick a weight where -5 pounds doesn't matter. 250. Most people over 250 will need a second seat, most people under would be able to be as obtrusive as a tall person or a pregnant person or whatever. So it doesn't really matter when a 253-er lies. What matters is that all 275ers take the second seat.

I don't think it needs to be anchored into your profile, just something you need to enter when you're booking the ticket. You have to put it in every time just like all your other info.

Doing SOMETHING would be better than this.

I'm the woman who posted earlier about still being over 200lbs after my third pregnancy, and I would love to "self identify" with being x+1 lb so I could get a free upgrade to a bigger seat!! And you think those obese people were feeling shame about being so obese and causing those problems? The obese woman was literally eating the whole time, not apologetic in the slightest, and clearly didn't have a care in the world.

Seriously, why should everyone else need to pay extra (which is what you're suggesting, since money doesn't grow on trees and big business always gets theirs) so that morbidly obese people can fly in comfort for a low cost?

How about instead of seeing flying coach for a cheap price as an entitlement, you start seeing it as a privilege. You need to frame it like, "for the people who can comfortably cram into these sardine cans without touching or affecting your fellow sardines, we offer you the opportunity of getting to the other side of the world in several hours for the unbelievably cheap price of $YYY. For the rest of you, we offer a range of seating options that we hope would fit you and be comfortable, but we're in the mass market business so our service will not be appropriate or available for everyone."

And also, honestly, from the perspective of someone who has a lot of weight to lose and hopes to do so, having these types of things as incentives to lose weight is actually a good thing. The world shouldn't just adjust so big people can get bigger. That is really not helping anybody, despite what I know are your good intentions.

[Anonymous]

I sat next to morbidly obese woman last week on a flight. She put the arm rest up and was in my seat partially. It was annoying but it had to be really embarrassing for her. Most obese people have mental problems that cause them to be fat. It’s an eating disorder, like anorexia.

[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.

Exactly! I had my toddler's seat taken on a flight from here to LAX. I paid for him to have a seat because I did not want to hold a squirmy 1.5 year old for 6+ hours. Was I compensated for them taking it away? Yes, and very nicely, but that is not the point. And I did NOT have the option to decline when the flight attendant "asked" for the seat. It was not even phrased as a question. My options were give up his seat or get off the plane for a later flight.

And not only did I have to deal with a sweaty, squirmy 1.5 year old on my lap, trying to keep him entertained, I had to deal with the b*tch in his former seat huffing and deep sighing the whole flight because she was seated next to us.

If you paid for it you should not have to give it up. They can ask, but not force. I would have told the woman that you paid for the seat and are paying for her to have the pleasure of sitting there and if she doesn't like it too bad as this was her choice for you to endure a flight with a 1/5 year old on your lap next to her, not yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

If the airlines raised rates across the board in order to provide larger seats to everyone there would be a lot more people who could never afford to fly. If you are making 250K you really should be able to swing first class. It's not like it's thousands more per ticket. If first class was a priority for you, then you would find a way to afford it on your income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. It's still a you problem. and besides, that poster was clear that she doesn't really interact with her spouse. So she's really not under an obligation or annoying you.

You're on an airplane. Not the quiet car of the Amtrak. yes. People should be polite and not constantly all the time reach over and talk. But it's that they don't, it is absolutely fine for them to set apart for whatever reason

DP here. Truth is, you are not sorry, and whomever sits in the middle knows that. In addition, I guarantee you that I have never once seen the couple on either side be quiet and not disruptive. That's just it - you make it a point, like a frustrated child, to be as passive aggressive and haughty as possible. No one would have a problem if you "put your earphones on " and STFU, but you don't, and you and I both know that. If you did that, there would not be an issue - but you booked three seats for the price of two, and now you want to be an a-hole about it. So, eff you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am overweight! I had my third child a few months ago and it was a difficult pregnancy and I still weigh over 200 pounds! And I still fit comfortably in a plane seat. Those people do not fit comfortably in a seat without affecting the people next to them and they should need to pay for another seat. It’s just logic. When your size starts becoming other people’s problem, it becomes other people’s business.

As many other people have said in this thread, this is the airlines fault. They don't have clear policies, they screw people over, and then they let the people scrap it out and turn on each other. No one acts well on an airplane in my experience. Well that is not true I have had a lot of people show compassion to me when I traveled with children, but people are usually just shuffling through mindlessly.

We should not accept obese people being put in this situation where they need to be publicly humiliated by a fellow passenger. Have a weight limit in the booking process, have it trigger the need to buy a second seat, have it anchored into the systems so it can't be changed. FORCE airlines to treat human beings with dignity.

How would the airline know when these people booked tickets, especially if it was online. The passenger should have handled it very differently but those to people should have sat next to each other or paid for a third seat.

Can you read? I'm saying airlines should bake this into the booking process so this can all be taken care of discreetly.

Not the PP, but how are you going to ensure that the airline gets correct information for people booking tickets online or through a travel agent or over the phone? If you ask someone to disclose their weight and tell them that everyone over XXX pounds will need to buy another seat, obviously the motivation for them to say they are XXX-5 pounds is pretty high. For that matter, how are you even going to standardize this question? What is the weight limit? What about a height limit? Will you ask everyone booking tickets to put their height and weight in when booking tickets? As for having it "anchored into the system", what about if a person loses (or gains) a significant amount of weight?

I get the general idea of your proposal, but there is no way to implement this that doesn't encourage people to lie or shame them.

There is shame in the entire thing. If we want to eliminate shame than allow people to self identify at a weight where they will automatically be placed in economy plus or something for no extra charge.

But I disagree that this would not work. No fat person wants to be publicly humiliated on an airplane. If there was a way to lay out the situation ahead of time and know that they wouldn't be embarrassed in the moment I would imagine a lot more people than you think would use that. Severely overweight people are cognizant of how they do not fit, they are stressed out about it. I know a person who, if she's meeting someone at a restaurant for a business meal or something, she will go drop in ahead of time to make sure she can fit on the chairs. These people don't want to be the center of attention.

And you pick a weight where -5 pounds doesn't matter. 250. Most people over 250 will need a second seat, most people under would be able to be as obtrusive as a tall person or a pregnant person or whatever. So it doesn't really matter when a 253-er lies. What matters is that all 275ers take the second seat.

I don't think it needs to be anchored into your profile, just something you need to enter when you're booking the ticket. You have to put it in every time just like all your other info.

Doing SOMETHING would be better than this.

I'm the woman who posted earlier about still being over 200lbs after my third pregnancy, and I would love to "self identify" with being x+1 lb so I could get a free upgrade to a bigger seat!! And you think those obese people were feeling shame about being so obese and causing those problems? The obese woman was literally eating the whole time, not apologetic in the slightest, and clearly didn't have a care in the world.

Seriously, why should everyone else need to pay extra (which is what you're suggesting, since money doesn't grow on trees and big business always gets theirs) so that morbidly obese people can fly in comfort for a low cost?

How about instead of seeing flying coach for a cheap price as an entitlement, you start seeing it as a privilege. You need to frame it like, "for the people who can comfortably cram into these sardine cans without touching or affecting your fellow sardines, we offer you the opportunity of getting to the other side of the world in several hours for the unbelievably cheap price of $YYY. For the rest of you, we offer a range of seating options that we hope would fit you and be comfortable, but we're in the mass market business so our service will not be appropriate or available for everyone."

And also, honestly, from the perspective of someone who has a lot of weight to lose and hopes to do so, having these types of things as incentives to lose weight is actually a good thing. The world shouldn't just adjust so big people can get bigger. That is really not helping anybody, despite what I know are your good intentions.

And once again, instead of putting the blame on an extremely profitable industry today provides a type of service that almost everyone needs at least once or twice in their lives, we blame each other.

And just go f yourself with that last paragraph God the unbelievable casual cruelty on this thread literally astounds me. If I heard anyone talking like this in public you can bet your a I'd be recording it and putting it on Twitter or something. And no im not an enormous person myself.

I do not think that forcing airlines to do something that would make literally every single passenger happier while also making a tiny part of an increase person's life easier is making it socially acceptable to be that large. They face it everywhere they go.

[Anonymous]

"If the airlines raised rates across the board in order to provide larger seats to everyone there would be a lot more people who could never afford to fly. If you are making 250K you really should be able to swing first class. It's not like it's thousands more per ticket. If first class was a priority for you, then you would find a way to afford it on your income."

1.) The obnoxious people booking 2 of 3 seats CAN NOT AFFORD first class, that is why they act the way that they do.

2.) I am ALL FOR raising the seat prices when needed, like you suggest. If the haughty ones are left behind, maybe they deserve it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. It's still a you problem. and besides, that poster was clear that she doesn't really interact with her spouse. So she's really not under an obligation or annoying you.

You're on an airplane. Not the quiet car of the Amtrak. yes. People should be polite and not constantly all the time reach over and talk. But it's that they don't, it is absolutely fine for them to set apart for whatever reason

DP here. Truth is, you are not sorry, and whomever sits in the middle knows that. In addition, I guarantee you that I have never once seen the couple on either side be quiet and not disruptive. That's just it - you make it a point, like a frustrated child, to be as passive aggressive and haughty as possible. No one would have a problem if you "put your earphones on " and STFU, but you don't, and you and I both know that. If you did that, there would not be an issue - but you booked three seats for the price of two, and now you want to be an a-hole about it. So, eff you.

Dude I'm sorry some girl tried to give her husband a handjob over your body once on an airline but most of the flights I've been on are like the end of Speed. People staring forward or closing their eyes looking beat.

You have some serious issued... I hope you find some happiness and relief from your paranoia one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

If the airlines raised rates across the board in order to provide larger seats to everyone there would be a lot more people who could never afford to fly. If you are making 250K you really should be able to swing first class. It's not like it's thousands more per ticket. If first class was a priority for you, then you would find a way to afford it on your income.

not true at all. I can fly to Miami for spring break in coach for $525 but first is from $1,300 or $1,900 that's a HUGE difference especially if you are traveling as a family.

[Anonymous]

Frankly I think affordable air travel is the worst thing that ever happened to this country.