Too fat to fly?

[corianderstem]

Fat-shaming is so hot right now.

 

[coolian2]

The fact that he requested to fly standby on a flight he did not buy a ticket for weakens his whole argument.

no it doesn't. he still had a valid ticket to fly. it was southwest who allowed him (and many, many passengers each day) to elect to fly standby to deviate from his original plans.

 

[deep]

Oh, c'mon, how does flying standby weaken the argument? And what possible justification can they have in yanking him when he's seated, and when his seatmates have said he's fine? And why has the airline allowed him to fly every other time (including several times the week before) with no problem? He regularly flies that airline.

Listen to the podcast, and then talk to me.

Are you sure his seat mates said he was fine?
Is it possible that if he asked them directly they may have one thing, and then complained to the airline staff?

 

[coolian2]

Is it possible that if he asked them directly they may have one thing, and then complained to the airline staff?

that sounds like their problem to me.

 

[VintagePunk]

Are you sure his seat mates said he was fine?
Is it possible that if he asked them directly they may have one thing, and then complained to the airline staff?

Not from what he said, because he was only seated for a matter of seconds before one of the staff came over and began to remove him. Neither of the ladies had time to get up and privately speak with a staff member.

Rather than play devil's advocate, listen to the podcast for the story, and then you'll know.

 

[deep]

I just wanted to mention what came from him, as opposed to what's being reported.

I can't believe how badly the media has been fucking this up, when the story is right there for them to hear, from his own mouth. Have they become that lazy that they can't report facts?? I suppose that aspect of it angers me as much as the initial situation does. It's like one media outlet will pick up a factually incorrect story, and the rest of them run with it, sheep-like, without even fact-checking. Unbelievable. I watched the same thing happen last week with a U2 story, too, something that was easily fact-checkable, and I called a reporter on it in his blog. Idiots.

I do agree with you about the media picking up a story and running with it because of the sensational aspects involved.

It seems like this one and some others you have listed have hit a nerve with you.

I also think fat-shaming is wrong.

If these seat are 18 inches, and someone can get the armrest down but they spill over. or encroach into the neighbors 18 inch space, lets say 6-7 inches, leaving that person with 12 or 11 inches of space, there is a problem.

The encroacher could be a body builder type, large / wide framed person or whatever. The Airlines should be consistent and require they pay for additional space, too.

Passengers are now charge for the amount of luggage they bring, larger people do not get extra luggage space because of their size.

 

[deep]

Rather than play devil's advocate, listen to the podcast for the story, and then you'll know.

I will accept that there is bad (incorrect) information circulating

but listening to his podcast is the objective representation of what occurred?


I do believe it is a source that should be taken into account.

 

[VintagePunk]

I do agree with you about the media picking up a story and running with it because of the sensational aspects involved.

It seems like this one and some others you have listed have hit a nerve with you.

I also think fat-shaming is wrong.

If these seat are 18 inches, and someone can get the armrest down but they spill over. or encroach into the neighbors 18 inch space, lets say 6-7 inches, leaving that person with 12 or 11 inches of space, there is a problem.

The encroacher could be a body builder type, large / wide framed person or whatever. The Airlines should be consistent and require they pay for additional space, too.

Passengers are now charge for the amount of luggage they bring, larger people do not get extra luggage space because of their size.

Perhaps I find incompetence - in this case, on the part of the media though sheer laziness, and on the part of SWA, due to their complete disregard for paying customers - irritating, maybe?

Sure, some people take up more space than others, there's no arguing that. But there's got to be a better way of dealing with it than sending the Fat Police in after they're seated. That's just nasty and unnecessary.

I will accept that there is bad (incorrect) information circulating

but listening to his podcast is the objective representation of what occurred?


I do believe it is a source that should be taken into account.

Believe him, don't believe him, I don't really care either way. But the fact is, he was there, and they weren't, and I haven't heard anyone that was there come forward and dispute his version of things. And when you listen to it, you can see how the media has cobbled together bits and pieces of the story out of context for some parts, and then for others, has just plain gotten facts wrong, parts of the story that he's adamant about.

 

[Vincent Vega]

It is a somewhat complicated issue.

Does a larger person get to argue that they should be allowed a larger 'carry on' bag because their clothing, shoes, etc are larger than the average, that they need to have on their 2 day business trip.


Does a person that is larger get plate of food that is twice as big because that is what they require?

You can take everything to the extreme and make it mighty complicated. I can't say for sure, but would argue that the difference in size and thus volume of your clothing is not that great as to making a significant difference. Sure, there is a difference, but that can be neglected by an airline. An airline also doesn't ask you how long you are staying at your destination. Whether it's a short trip or a year, short-haul and long-haul they have their luggage policies. They cannot accommodate every passenger individually in every aspect.
Same with food. An airline is not a restaurant. They have standardized meals. As with everything else, for one it might be more than enough, for the next one not. I'm a good eater and so far on my flights I couldn't complain.

So far, the only aspect where it really came into play was the size of passengers as regards to seating. Both for health reasons and for comfort reasons.

Why did I spell rate reight?

 

[Liesje]

I'm just a pessimist when it comes to flying. I expect long delays and mechanical errors. I expect to be seated (in a way that I am blocked from the aisle) next to the most annoying person, fat or not. I've only flown a few times and my first ever flight was when I was about 21 years old. Sure enough I've experienced multiple mechanical delays and annoying people, like the guy who took off his boots and subjected those around him to that "hockey bag" stench for 9 hours, or the guy who was really nice (telling me his life story and shady business deals) but had this overwhelming curry and garlic smell, also a 9 hour flight.

 

[anitram]

I'll go out on a limb and be rude and readily admit that I can't stand when I'm squeezed between two people who JUST BARELY FIT into their seats. It's horribly uncomfortable, contorting your elbows way in because their arms are spilling over the armrests.

The airlines should have a better policy, but let's be honest, how many of us here would be amused to be sandwiched in that position on a long haul flight? It's as bad as being stuck behind a screaming toddler (my pet peeve #1).

 

[AliEnvy]

I'm just a pessimist when it comes to flying. I expect long delays and mechanical errors. I expect to be seated (in a way that I am blocked from the aisle) next to the most annoying person, fat or not. I've only flown a few times and my first ever flight was when I was about 21 years old. Sure enough I've experienced multiple mechanical delays and annoying people, like the guy who took off his boots and subjected those around him to that "hockey bag" stench for 9 hours, or the guy who was really nice (telling me his life story and shady business deals) but had this overwhelming curry and garlic smell, also a 9 hour flight.

I've travelled quite a bit and have had my share of bad seatmates and delays - I even got on the wrong plane to the wrong destination once lol. But a new one about 2 years ago was a flight where allowable carry-on bags included small animals. There were about 5 or 6 cats in close proximity and I was highly allergic at the time. Not. Fun.

 

[deep]

Amusement parks have physical size requirements

carry on luggage has a maximum size requirement

perhaps the airlines should all have a seat in the boarding area, next to the carry on bag measuring apparatus

 

[Vincent Vega]

I'm not extremely tall (1.88m or 6'2"), but long-haul flights are not really enjoyable with most airlines. On my trip to the US I was lucky as I was seated way back where the rows change from three seats on the sides to two, and I was sitting at the window so I could stretch my legs.
But the 13 hour stint between London and Singapore was really awful. I'm glad I'm not overweight adding to that.

 

[deep]

I am not near as tall as you
and I try and get an aisle seat so I can at lease streach one leg out until the attendant comes by with the drinks cart


flying is uncomfortable, it is not a cruise ship

it is a necessary inconvenience to get from point A to point B

I try and nap, so I can be rested for my arrival

 

[corianderstem]

Of course no one wants to be uncomfortable while they're hurtling through the air in a shiny metal tube at a gajillion miles an hour and at 35,000 feet.

I don't want to be squished in my seat, I don't want to be sitting next to someone who smells bad, I don't want to be sitting next to someone who's going to yammer my ear off the whole flight, and I don't want to be sitting near an unruly child.

But it's airline travel, and there's not much I can do about any of those things (okay, I can at least pretend to be dead go to sleep to avoid the chatty cathy in the seat next to me).

Overweight people are a safety hazard? So are passengers who stick their feet in the aisle (I do it to, but I'd hate to fall asleep like that and get my foot run over or trip someone), and so is an unruly child who might be flailing around, throwing stuff, or projectile vomiting (actually, that could go for drunk adults, too).

If Southwest (and other airlines, although I haven't heard so much about other airlines' ill handling of these situations) wants to stand by this practice, then they need to a) come up with a standard that involves some sort of consistency and not some arbitrary method of deciding who needs to buy a second seat or GTFO; and b) handle it in a way that at least attempts not to humiliate people.

I'm not saying I have the answer, and I can understand the necessity to have people buy two seats if they do require more space than one seat. There just has to be a better way to go about it.

 

[corianderstem]

deep, it's so charming how you post pictures of overweight people squeezed into small seats in this thread. It's such a helpful contribution to the topic.

I also think fat-shaming is wrong.

But it's okay to post pictures of them to illustrate your point in an exaggerated manner. Got it.

 

[anitram]

I'm not saying I have the answer, and I can understand the necessity to have people buy two seats if they do require more space than one seat. There just has to be a better way to go about it.

I agree...though that also presents bad images of a weigh-in at the check in counter.

 

[coolian2]

deep, it's so charming how you post pictures of overweight people squeezed into small seats in this thread. It's such a helpful contribution to the topic.



But it's okay to post pictures of them to illustrate your point in an exaggerated manner. Got it.

a+ on trolling, at least.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I try and nap, so I can be rested for my arrival

Try that for 13 hours when you don't know how to try and find a comfortable angle anymore.

 

[the iron horse]

-high fructose corn syrup

-sitting on the couch


More thoughts (but I stopped)

 

[corianderstem]

I agree...though that also presents bad images of a weigh-in at the check in counter.

Yeah, that's not going to be any better. and how exactly would that help?

Someone has somewhere to be, and they're at the airport, ready to go - is the airline going to just send them home if there's not an extra seat for purchase? "Sorry, sir, you'll just have to miss your brother's wedding/funeral/bar mitzvah."

If the alternative is to make it some sort of requirement prior to purchasing tickets, how do you measure that? Weight isn't going to be an exact measure of whether or not someone can fit into a seat, and plenty of people will tell you that BMI is not a great measuring stick, either.

Argh. I'm getting unnecessarily worked up over this. It's probably a good thing I have somewhere else to be later tonight.

 

[Liesje]

Try that for 13 hours when you don't know how to try and find a comfortable angle anymore.

After my back to back experiences with the curry-man and the hockey-bag-smelling-feet man (both of whom were thin and fit in their seat FWIW), I took a quadruple dose of dramamine/gravol and slept for a 10 hour flight with my cheek on that fold out table. The nice KLM stewardess woke me up and fed me some crackers but I could barely chew I was so zonked. Worst neck ache ever! If there was any fat or stinky people near me, I never knew.

 

[corianderstem]

Drug us all into oblivion, strip us down, and stack us like cordwood.

Seating problems AND terror fears solved!

 

[VintagePunk]

Drug us all into oblivion, strip us down, and stack us like cordwood.

Seating problems AND terror fears solved!

I think that was a Stephen King short story, wasn't it? Or was that time travel?

 

[corianderstem]

-high fructose corn syrup

-sitting on the couch


More thoughts (but I stopped)

That's good, because this thread isn't about the reasons for/perils of the growing problem of obesity, it's about airlines' policies regarding passengers.

 

[the iron horse]

That's good, because this thread isn't about the reasons for/perils of the growing problem of obesity, it's about airlines' policies regarding passengers.

Sorry, but I was thinking, my reply had a point.

 

[deep]

c

If the alternative is to make it some sort of requirement prior to purchasing tickets, how do you measure that? Weight isn't going to be an exact measure of whether or not someone can fit into a seat, and plenty of people will tell you that BMI is not a great measuring stick, either.

Argh. I'm getting unnecessarily worked up over this. It's probably a good thing I have somewhere else to be later tonight.

This is not a BMI issue

This is not an obesity issue.

I previously posted that a body builder that spills over into the next seat should be required to buy more space.
I know very tall people that are forced to pay a premium to fly 1st class because their legs will not fit in coach seat space.


The seats are 16 - 17 inches wide.

I think it could be a measurement only thing.

 

[corianderstem]

I know very tall people that are forced to pay a premium to fly 1st class because their legs will not fit in coach seat space.

That's interesting, I didn't know that.

 

[VintagePunk]

SWA doesn't have 1st class.