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

Someone upthread said that they had complained to the airline afterwards and received a sympathetic response. There’s definitely no simple answer to ensure everyone has a seat without having to have a stranger touch you all flight. And as many have said, equally uncomfortable for the person with obesity. There are no winners.

So I think some pressure on the airlines to come up with something as like it or not, obesity is much more common today than it ever was. And losing weight despite what many have flippantly said on this thread is as hard as it ever was. If it was easy then there’s no way so many people struggle (and take WLIs).

I wonder if airlines had to compensate those whose space was cut down unreasonably and thus not delivering what has been paid for, might do something. So the more complaints and references to them not supplying what has been purchased. Some pressure on them. I know they are a business but businesses mostly only keep going if they deliver quality. Airlines seem strangely immune from normal quality standards.

I still think some kind of discreet method to alert crew of discomfort would be good, and make whatever the system recordable. And cabin crew should be able to observe squashed in passengers and offer more space if there are spare seats elsewhere. Or just keep 1 row free - surely that wouldn’t dent profits too much, and would allow at least a bit of moving the most squashed in passengers or the largest.

Or something from a definitive health and safety compliance perspective - no idea if there is one and presumably there is not otherwise surely it would already be in place. offshore workers going on helicopters cannot be over the weight that would allow them to be winched to safety in an emergency, so those over that weight had no choice but to comply if they want to keep working offshore.

So I think some pressure on the airlines to come up with something as like it or not, obesity is much more common today than it ever was.

The only pressures that will work are falling sales, or a ton of cash to be made out of an alternative, or the one we definitely don't want: some sort of safety disaster caused by a large passenger.

It just is. People love to exaggerate. There’s no chance he took up 25% of her seat 😂

Most obese people don’t want to be obese. Often it will have resulted from some struggles in life and bad things happening. Losing weight is not easy. Otherwise tell me why there are millions of people on WLI. So it isn’t.

I think airlines should book 2 seats for passengers over a certain weight or hip or waist or shoulder measurement / whatever and I think that their second seat should be free. It’s disgusting to stigmatise and charge people for their weight when they have enough to deal with. And it’s also wrong for people like the OP to be inconvenienced.

In our family we have an airline problem as we are so tall. Both DH and DS are over 6ft6inches and I am tired of having to pay £££ for extra leg room. It isn’t fair.

I wouldn’t have been able to sit next to the person the OP describes as I am 6 ft and built. I need my entire seat. Me and DH find it hard to sit together on flights as his shoulders are so broad that they encroach onto my seat. And I need my entire seat as I am tall and built.

It is on the airlines to provide seats that passengers can fit into and not to discriminate. Otherwise, why do children get cheaper seats? They are using a whole seat. So obese people ought to get 2 seats for the price of 1.

I don't understand why you would say its rubbish! It has happened to me before, a very fat lady taking up half of my seat. By the time we disembarked my t shirt and skirt were wet down one side due to her sweat. It definitely happens!

No, you haven’t. It’s just such utter rubbish.

Everybody judges. We all d oit for all sorts of reasons (baby names, fashion, pets, personality etc). You do it.

If someone sits next to you on a plane absolutely reeking of BO you're not a cunt to think 'fuck me he stinks'. You are a cunt to say to the passenger 'fuck me you stink'.

How does helping other people equate to obesity?

No, you haven’t. It’s just such utter rubbish.

How has that poster exaggerated? I've had sweaty skin on skin fat touching me on a plane no matter how much I pretzel myself into a different position. It's unpleasant and pretty gross. No one should have someone else's body in their personal space.
And no, I've never been fat.

I think that it would be pretty easy to design a portable and removable seat topper that would go over either 2 seats or over 1.5 seats. No reconfiguration necessary. And again, I would make the 1.5 seat or 2 seat the price of 1 seat. The world is a horribly fat-ist place. Someone in this thread has referred to “Mr and Mrs Obese”. Just horrible. Would you say “Mr Disabled” shouldn’t have any help or an accessible seat unless he pays double? After all this takes up staff time and admin time. Horrible.

my db is obese and he doesn’t fly at all. He’s obese because he spends his life and sanity helping other people. He is sad about it. He has diabetes and is in a big hole. Just hating people and kicking them when they are down like this is fucking filthy behaviour.

Oh you do exaggerate.

As someone said up thread, there’s nobody more sanctimonious than a formerly fat person.

I am overweight.
There is no way I will use the jab, heard too many people talking about side effects, and it is untested in the long term.

I am delighted for those who have used it and it has worked, but no way I would.
It sin't just about cost

So is being on a plane, in your own seat and having someone else's sweaty fat spilling into your space touching you for hours.

This is so gross.

If tall people have to pay for more leg room, then it would be grossly unfair to give wider seats for free.

I do find it somewhat unfair that if I as a 50kg woman, am being charged more for my suitcase because it’s over 22kg, when combined we still weigh less than many adults who paid less than me and my suitcase combined.

not sure what the answer is though as people can’t be and shouldn’t be penalised due to nature. It’s impossible to be fair.

Only cunts are judging

Other people realise that life is a bit more nuanced.

This thread makes me so sad. I used to weigh 24 stone (or more) and I just knew people were judging me. It didn't bother me but the insistence that they weren't didn't ring true and I see now that my intuition was correct.

That being said, when I had to use a seatbelt extender to fly, I was smart enough to realise that my weight was a big problem and lost it all.

However, I still feel very compassionate towards bigger people, in the main. I guess because my parents, brother, SIL/BIL, FIL, MIL are all grossly obese and I don't want people to be mean to them even if they brought this on themselves by their habits.

I don't know what the answer is when people won't take accountability for themselves and don't seem to recognise, or care, about their impact on others.

Airlines will just penalise us all under the guise of equality or inclusivity. We'll all end up paying more and receiving less.

Let's be careful about fostering an us and them which isn't skinny vs fat but, rather, corporate vs fliers.

Like I said... simple solution... go on the weight loss medication. They can afford a holiday so they can afford the jab.