airline denies plans for obesity surcharge

[Amby 490]

PARIS (Reuters) - Air France KLM denied media reports on Wednesday that it planned an extra charge for overweight passengers if they were unable to fit into a single seat.

Instead, the national carrier said that from Feb 1. overweight passengers who had freely chosen to buy an extra seat for comfort would get their money back on flights that were not fully booked.

"Contrary to reports in the press this morning, Air France is not planning to force corpulent passengers to pay for a second seat," the statement said.

Air France said that since 2005 it had offered overweight passengers an option to buy a second seat at a 25 percent discount.

"It is not an obligation; we suggest to such passengers they buy a second seat for their own comfort and in order to be sure the seats are adapted to their needs. If the plane is not full, they can get a refund," Air France spokesman Jean-Pierre Lefebvre said.

Several newspapers had reported that obese passengers flying Air France-KLM would have to pay 75 per cent of the cost of a second seat on top of the full price for the first seat, and that the measure was introduced for safety reasons.

Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have a policy where "oversize" people need to buy a second seat and can claim a refund if the plane is not full. This followed complaints from adjacent passengers.

In 2006 Air France was sued by a French passenger after the airline told him he was too big to fit in one seat and would have to buy an additional seat if he wanted to fly from New Delhi to Paris.

The passenger, who sued on the ground he was deeply humiliated by the situation because he was measured in a public area of the airport, won the case.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J4G420100120

[trillium13 84]

I may get flamed for this, but if you're sitting in more than one seat, why shouldn't you have to pay something for it? If I'm sitting next to that person, I don't get my seat for half price.

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

I may get flamed for this, but if you're sitting in more than one seat, why shouldn't you have to pay something for it? If I'm sitting next to that person, I don't get my seat for half price.

you weren't here when the great seat war firestorm went on several years ago. i think that topic mighta been why several members left vj.

[trillium13 84]

you weren't here when the great seat war firestorm went on several years ago. i think that topic mighta been why several members left vj.

Dang. That must have been something. It does seem to be a topic that people can get pretty riled up about.

Edited January 21, 2010 by trillium13

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

Dang. That must have been something. It does seem to be a topic that people can get pretty riled up about.

here ya go

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74840

[trillium13 84]

here ya go

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74840

Long thread is long. Much whining. Kinda just skimmed through it all, was pretty much what i thought it would be.

[NickD 202]

That's good news for me, was planning on going on a diet, but now I don't have any reason too. Move over lady so I can squeeze my big fat a$$ in.

[aidan80 9]

Seems logical enough to me? If a person takes up additional space and is carrying excessive weight compared to the average passenger why not have them pay extra? I'd hate to sit 8, 10 or more hours next to someone that's spilling over into my seat or have to fight to get past them to get out to the bathroom etc. We pay extra for overweight bags or additional bags.. limits are set on those why not on passengers?

Edited January 21, 2010 by aidan80

[mRx 16]

I sat next to a pretty huge guy on an O'hare to Portland leg.

He had a roll between his armpit and waist that spilled over onto my side and I ended up using it as a handrail; it was quite comfy.

[Dan J 277]

Seems logical enough to me? If a person takes up additional space and is carrying excessive weight compared to the average passenger why not have them pay extra? I'd hate to sit 8, 10 or more hours next to someone that's spilling over into my seat or have to fight to get past them to get out to the bathroom etc. We pay extra for overweight bags or additional bags.. limits are set on those why not on passengers?

i think the better solution is to put a couple of oversized seats in coach that are two across instead of 3. Keep it the same service and all, but require overweight passengers to purchase those seats. If they are not sold at the start of the flight, anyone can upgrade to them.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I sat next to a pretty huge guy on an O'hare to Portland leg.

He had a roll between his armpit and waist that spilled over onto my side and I ended up using it as a handrail; it was quite comfy.

[naiku 0]

i think the better solution is to put a couple of oversized seats in coach that are two across instead of 3. Keep it the same service and all, but require overweight passengers to purchase those seats. If they are not sold at the start of the flight, anyone can upgrade to them.

But why should the overweight person get a better seat? Everyone on coach wants more room, why should the overweight person get more room for the same price? I agree with the poster above, if they take up more than one seat, pay for more than one seat.

[Craneman 2]

Have you ever made a 9 1/2 hour flight with a 450 - 500 pund person trying to fit into the seat next to you.

I have, you wind up with half a seat for yourself, the other half occupied by rolls from the person next to you, very very uncomfortable, why should I suffer for their indugence, they should pay more, airplanes fly by weight, you pay more for over weight luggage.

[SMR 368]

i think the better solution is to put a couple of oversized seats in coach that are two across instead of 3. Keep it the same service and all, but require overweight passengers to purchase those seats. If they are not sold at the start of the flight, anyone can upgrade to them.

If you are suggesting charging 1.5 times as much and allowing anyone to buy those seats, I can support that from a standpoint of economics. And if you want to prohibit the sale of normal seats to people that exceed a certain size restriction, I can support that, too.

However, I don't think giving certain people bigger seats for the same money is going to fly. Everybody wants more room. Have you found anybody who is actually satisfied with the size of an airplane seat? My wife, who is small enough to buy clothing in the children's section, still wants more room on the airplane.

If they implement this plan, they will have to start patting people down to make sure they aren't padding themselves so they can sit in the fat section.

[sara535 15]

I took a flight for a two day business trip when my daughter was only 9 weeks old. I certainly had not lost all my 'baby weight' plus I had a C-section so my body was, at best, 'puffy. I wasn't feeling good about it but in light of having a new baby and returning to work it was at the lower end of the priority list for the time being. As I walked down the aisle of the plane looking for my seat I made eye contact with the man I would be sitting next to and when he realized I would be next to him he literally rolled his eyes and made a sound of disgust while gathering his things together and trying to recoil into his seat. He made a point to observe closely the buckling of my seat belt - did he think it wasnt going to fit? I didnt 'spill over' into his seat in any way and in fact I made sure to not touch him at all.

It was a horrible experience. Clearly he was a person who mde the 'fat and lazy' categorization which evidently I fell into.