Is it unreasonable for airlines not to provide wider seats for obese passengers?

They're making the seats narrower so they can fit more in.

Dh flew to America recently and said he was so uncomfortable because his shoulders were too broad to fit in the seat. He's not overweight. He's always struggled with leg room but he says it's getting worse.

A guy in work was telling me he no longer flies because he doesn't fit anymore. He's a power lifter so has very broad shoulders. He drives all the way to Poland instead.

I think some stark realities come into play here:

1. We are all different shapes and sizes. It’s not always as simple as “lose weight”.
2. Not every fat person who needs (or dare I say wishes…) to fly can afford two seats. Should they remain at home forever until they can “lose weight” (See 1 above)
3. Is it really so unreasonable to ask airlines to consider making standard seats slightly wider by even a couple of inches. After all, they are businesses offering their wares to modern society, and in modern society (not 50 years ago) we are all in reality different shapes and sizes (See 1 and 2).

Just my thoughts.

The problem with that is if you booked Ryanair your 2 seats would be at opposite ends of the plane 🤣

its not weight that is the issue for what people are describing here, its girth

Of course weight is important in terms of the plane, but in order for people to be seated comfortablly nexrt to each other its the girth that counts

A small woman of 13 stone could have girth that spills over but a man of 15 stone might not do depending on height, so I think a literal 'seat check' is better than a weight check

But like others say, can you imagine the uproar.

Omg

why is the onus on op and not the ma who should have booked the seats

Who knows. Technically it's not a protected characteristic but if it is linked to a disability or found to be considered a disability in itself then I suppose their is a case to be had. I still don't think you should have to pay full price for a flight and have to suck up losing half your seat to someone else.

I empathise. As a slim person, many a time have I had another person’s body over flowing into my seat/space e.g the tube, bus , plane etc
I do not know what the solution is really, as people seem to be increasing in size.

I would have had to tell him to remove himself from my space

I’m mad for you - having to take up less space as a women!

when men do the wide open leg on the tube I move their legs out of my space

Airlines have made seats smaller and smaller to get more people in, people are getting bigger, for a multitude of reasons (very few people are bigger because they chose that option).

What are the reasons? I can only think of steroid and/or other medication.

I came here to say exactly the same thing

They do. It’s called business class. Although frequently the seats are exactly the same as in economy on short haul, but at least they leave the middle seats empty. The tricky bit is getting people to actually pay for it.

What would the court case be based on?
“im too large for a standard seat so had to pay accordingly to travel”?
can I take the airline to court for expecting me to pay for the 4 seats my family needs?

Also not to mention a potential evacuation risk too.

I agree OP. I sat next to a really large gent who had the aisle seat on a trip back from Greece. His body was pressed up against me in the middle seat for the entire flight - it was really unpleasant to spend 4 hours with my body touching a stranger. He also had assistance to get on the plane so clearly had mobility issues too. DH, who never normally worries about anything, was concerned if we needed to get off in an emergency, we would have struggled.

He actually asked if he could use my pull down tray to put his drink and food on when it arrived as he couldn't lower his own tray. I said yes as I thought how on earth can I say no? Hopefully something that I never have happen to me in the future!

I also don't know what the answer is but airlines definitely need to address it, I think.

Nightmare flight many moons ago.

I was sat next to a very obese couple. I had the aisle thankfully

Unfortunately Gatwick was closed, so we sat on the runway for 2 hours

I did have to ask to be moved when we took off, as my back was killing me for the weird angle I was forced to sit in, and luckily there was a spare seat, centre, really pissed that couple off Im sure.

The poor obese woman alighted the flight with severe sunburn from where she was crushed against the window and because we were on the runway the blinds weren't allowed down

Im just over 5 ft and was barely 8 stone back then. Im 9 stone now and I find the seats have gotten smaller . I mean I have enough bum room, but my knees still touch the seat in front of me , must be pure hell for those that are bigger

I was on an 8 hour flight next to a morbidly obese woman. She had a vest top on and it was direct skin to skin contact with her sweaty skin spilling over to me. The flight was packed and I asked to move but couldn't. It was awful. I don't think it's the airline's responsibility but I think if you are of certain proportions you should legally buy 2 seats and stop putting other passengers comfort and space at risk.

This is so difficult as I really don’t want people to feel shamed and as though they can’t fly but if that happened to me, I just couldn’t sit in that seat. I have a bad back and would be in agony if I couldn’t sit square in the seat.

I don’t know how I’d handle it but I definitely couldn’t sit there.

I think there should be an option to purchase wider seats just as there is to purchase extra leg room. With no judgement but you need to pay a bit extra.

Then the standard seats should have fixed, firm dividers between them as part of the arm rest, so you can’t spill through from one to the other and take another person’s space. Parents of small children can request the FCs to remove them with a key so the kids can lean on their parents to sleep, but otherwise they remain in place.

I think it’s southwest airlines in the states that has a plus size policy, and I think this is the way forward. The onus should be on the individual and the airline for the comfort and safety of other passengers.

....Be interesting to see how that might go legally.

Can you magine the crap that would hit the fan (and the court case that would follow) first time that happened.

YANBU.

I once had a 12 hour flight with an obese woman next to me - it was horrible as I couldn't avoid skin contact for most of the journey.

But I don't think it's up to airlines to provide larger seats for obese travellers - I think the travellers themselves should be required to book 2 seats. Although how airlines would arrange that is difficult to work out - I suppose they could make it a condition of h ticket & refuse boarding if a passenger hasn't bought 2 tickets, or they could monitor people as they board & rearrange passengers on the spot.

The aeroplane is!

Prob asked to move seats

He failed to, prob no other seats for her either

Very uncomfortable, how does that even work, I'm only slightly overweight and was very grateful to be sitting next to my 2 year old on a flight last year.
So, I think it must be uncomfortable for even 2 slightly overweight adults.

Really he should have bought two seats…