United To Charge Heavier Passengers Twice To Fly

[chri'stina 190]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Unless Shaq lost some weight that I don't know about, I wouldn't label him "lean" nor able to fit in a small airplane seat easily with his height too! But I'm sure he must fly first class. Someone can be obese at 5' 8" weighing a lot less than 350 lbs.

[mawilson 2,133]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Obesity has nothing to do with it - the only thing that matters is your weight.

If you're 250lb or heavier, you have to pay more - it's as simple as that.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's not discriminating against obese people. The seats are designed to accomodate an average person. If your girth requires you to occupy 2 seats, then you should be required to pay for that extra seat.

Their definition of "average" is surely the question.

The issue is what can reasonably be accommodated.

So airlines are now supposed to design seats and cordon off a section for morbidly obese passengers? These passengers incremental cost is more, they should bear that cost themselves.

Are they? I don't know - there's only so much that can practically be done and you can't accommodate every extreme. That said - I find the seats small at the best of times, and I'm not obese.

I'm overweight myself and I can fit fine and comfortably in a seat. If I blew up to 350 pounds because I can't stop eating Big Macs and Hot Pockets, then that is my fault, and my problem. If I then required 2 seats to accomodate my size, then I should have to pay for that 2nd seat.

I'm not overweight, but I'm tall and my hips are in contact with both sides of the seat. "Comfortable" is not the word I would use to describe air travel.

It doesn't help of course that the airlines are protected from prosecution related to cramped seating conditions, making this somewhat of moot point.

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Obesity has nothing to do with it - the only thing that matters is your weight.

If you're 250lb or heavier, you have to pay more - it's as simple as that.

That bodybuilders convention in Vegas will probably be up in arms

[NickD 203]

Wondered about that when we took our 118 pound daughter to the airport last summer, her bag was three pounds overweight so she had to repack it. Meanwhile, the woman in front of us weighed at least three times as much as our daughter, but her bag met the requirements, so no problems there.

They claim more weight equals more fuel, and that is definitely true in aviation.

[mawilson 2,133]

But I don't think people should be paying more per pound. To me, that isn't right.

More pounds -> more fuel -> higher cost

[justashooter 430]

Why not have a fat person row with extra wide seats?

what pisses me off is when the fat guy is in the emergency exit row.

one way or another, if the plane goes down, he is going out that window, no matter how many pieces he'll be in.

[fozzie 41]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Unless Shaq lost some weight that I don't know about, I wouldn't label him "lean" nor able to fit in a small airplane seat easily with his height too! But I'm sure he must fly first class. Someone can be obese at 5' 8" weighing a lot less than 350 lbs.

Okay shaq was a bad example.

[mawilson 2,133]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Obesity has nothing to do with it - the only thing that matters is your weight.

If you're 250lb or heavier, you have to pay more - it's as simple as that.

That bodybuilders convention in Vegas will probably be up in arms

They already eat more and therefore spend more money on food than regular-sized people.

Their clothes use more fabric and therefore cost more. So why not airfares?

[fozzie 41]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Obesity has nothing to do with it - the only thing that matters is your weight.

If you're 250lb or heavier, you have to pay more - it's as simple as that.

Heavy doesnt require two seats, obese and wide does. The weight argument is valid for fuel consumption but for the fact that you can fit one less person on the plane because someone nneds two seats is about physical girth. Maybe they should have a seat at check in (like they do with the basket to check the carry on luggage size) where you have to fit in that seat or buy an extra.

[chri'stina 190]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Unless Shaq lost some weight that I don't know about, I wouldn't label him "lean" nor able to fit in a small airplane seat easily with his height too! But I'm sure he must fly first class. Someone can be obese at 5' 8" weighing a lot less than 350 lbs.

Okay shaq was a bad example.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

I wonder if anyone's taken into consideration the potential "airport rage" associated with this policy. I mean you can just imagine:

Ticket Person: "Hello sir, how many bags are you checking today?"

Fatty" "Just the one."

Ticket Person: "OK, that's great. Now if you could just pay for another seat, we're good to go."

Fatty: "Eh?"

Ticket Person: "Well you're clearly a fat f**k, so you have to buy an extra seat"

Fatty: *SMACK*

Cue legions of TSA/Police steaming in, resulting lawsuits etc etc............

Edited April 15, 2009 by Damian P

[DeadPoolX 9]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Unless Shaq lost some weight that I don't know about, I wouldn't label him "lean" nor able to fit in a small airplane seat easily with his height too! But I'm sure he must fly first class. Someone can be obese at 5' 8" weighing a lot less than 350 lbs.

Again, that depends on what you're using to classify someone as "obese." The BMI, for instance, says that a 5'8" man is obese if he weighs 197 or up. It's entirely possible for someone to be that height and weight without truly being obese. That person's bone frame as an effect as does their muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat, so someone could get classified as "obese" (by the BMI) even if they were under 197 or even at it.

It seems to me that if airlines decide on this, they'll have to use body dimensions over weight. Neither choice is good, since as I said, it'll alienate passengers, bring them negative press and have some lawsuits tossed their way. I can bet you that competing airlines will make it a point not to have this rule, so they can say: "Look! We don't discriminate based on weight!"

Whether or not you feel this is truly discrimination is something else, but those who're overweight (not obese) and those who have family members who're overweight or obese will probably react negatively, thereby costing the airline money. Considering the financial hurt airlines are in today, I wouldn't be in a rush to enact a rule like this.

[mawilson 2,133]

If you are 6'8" tall and well bult, like Shaq say, then you will not be classed as obese. If you are 5'8" and weight 350lbs then you are. Which would not fit in the seat? The obese one. Shaq would be lean where as the obese person would spil out over the side of the seats.

Obesity has nothing to do with it - the only thing that matters is your weight.

If you're 250lb or heavier, you have to pay more - it's as simple as that.

Heavy doesnt require two seats, obese and wide does. The weight argument is valid for fuel consumption but for the fact that you can fit one less person on the plane because someone nneds two seats is about physical girth. Maybe they should have a seat at check in (like they do with the basket to check the carry on luggage size) where you have to fit in that seat or buy an extra.

The only reason airlines want to charge fat people more for their seats is because it would save

them millions in fuel costs. They're not doing it to make your flight experience more enjoyable,

believe me.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think the current rule is that if you can't fit into a single seat - you have to pay for a second if your flight is full (otherwise you have to wait for a flight that's got some free seats).

They don't ask you why you can't fit in the seat.

It is discriminatory - but the question has to be what is reasonable, and accommodating someone who weighs 400lbs is not reasonable.

There's a couple of people on my daily commute to the city who take up 2 seats on the bus, and there's no big hoo-ha about it.

Edited April 15, 2009 by Private Pike

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Thank god I just travel for pleasure and when I do I do it with family,

That'll be hell if I had to seat next to one of those heavy sets,