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Original poster

Too fat to fly

968 replies

loobielousplaits · 02/04/2019 23:55

Is anyone/has anyone watched this?

It's a documentary about massively obese people being interviewed about being taken off flights/too fat to flight.

While I absolutely agree it's a 'fat shaming' programme - I can't agree with some of the comments from the interviewees that have complained they had to leave the plane due to an armrest not being able to go down - a woman wasn't able to visit the toilet, another who couldn't understand why someone would be offended that half their seat was taken up by overspill - a 32 st man was offended that he was asked to leave the aircraft because he couldn't safely fit in the seat and should have paid for two - pilot decided he wasn't safe to fly.

I'm torn - I absolutely understand weight is a huge issue (I was anorexic in my teens) and it is not easy to control your weight but come on - seriously? You cannot expect to be OK to fly if your weight affects health and safety and you can't fit safely in a seat

OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 03/04/2019 13:32

Kennehora but my weight wouldn't be the same at check in as it was when I booked the tickets, it would be nearly a stone more. I would have entered it correctly when I booked but it's changed in the last year and I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one on the flight!

RottnestFerry · 03/04/2019 13:34

It can’t be just physics. People aren’t machines. What about biology and the role of various hormones in weight gain/loss, especially in terms of individual differences? I’d like to know more about that

Biology might explain a low metabolism or stimulated appetite etc., but even biology has to obey the laws of physics.

Kennehora · 03/04/2019 13:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ellenborough · 03/04/2019 13:37

These threads always turn into a debate over why people are overweight, whose fault it is, whether it is owing to a health issue, past traumas, etc.

I am a perfectly polite, friendly, empathetic person. But when I am taking a flight, I really don't care one jot why my neighbour is encroaching onto my seat. I don't judge them, nor am I interested to be sympathetic to their "journey" of why they are overweight. It simply isn't my business. What IS my business is the quiet and safe enjoyment of the seat I have booked, and into which I fit. That is my contractual right and I should not be required to cede this to someone else.

Amen to that. Beautifully put.

TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 03/04/2019 13:38

A stone isn’t going to tip you into spilling into your neighbour’s seat territory unless you’re morbidly obese to start with, PinkSparkly

Bookworm4 · 03/04/2019 13:38

Why should airlines, hospitals spend vast sums of money to accommodate obesity? Obesity needs to stop being glamourised 'curvy and proud' I hate this; curvy is a shapely figure not ten stone overweight with no shape! People think it's ok to poke a slim person with comments of 'you need a feed' but god forbid you should say someone is overweight. Yes health/medication can lead to weight gain but let's be honest the majority is poor choices. Why should obese people expect everyone to adapt to accommodate them, it's not a disability it's their choice.

Jenny17 · 03/04/2019 13:38

Why should I justify what I eat to you?

I didn't ask you to justify, you said we don't know better than you so I asked whether you would like to share. I didn't think it would be sensitive given you've already said you eat healthy.

InternetArgument · 03/04/2019 13:41

Ticket price should at least reflect load. If you weigh twice as much you pay twice as much.

goodfornothinggnome · 03/04/2019 13:42

Why can't I find this anywhere? I'd love to watch it

RottnestFerry · 03/04/2019 13:43

Ticket price should at least reflect load. If you weigh twice as much you pay twice as much

And get twice as much space, food, drinks, luggage allowance?

EssentialHummus · 03/04/2019 13:44

Imagine the response if a passenger turned up at the easyJet boarding gate with 20kg of extra luggage - it’d be “Pay this additional rate (that you were appraised of when booking) or your luggage won’t be boarded”. No mumbling about whether the suitcase itself was heavy/it was winter/they were off skiing/they’d been shopping in Milan/DC with additional needs demanded all their Lego with them. I’d like to see the same approach with weight - a standard seat fits an adult up to x cm and/or y height and/or z diameter. If you cannot demonstrate to a member of cabin crew that you can safely fit in our in-flight seats you will not be boarded.

Belenus · 03/04/2019 13:44

But it is that simple, Belenus. Not easy, but perfectly simple.

The physics is very simple. The psychology behind the calories you are putting in is rather different. And actually so is the biology of metabolism. Whilst yes, it is governed by thermodynamics, the relationship between how we take in calories and the effects on our appetites is interesting. Have a look at some studies on corn syrup, such as this one www.princeton.edu/news/2010/03/22/sweet-problem-princeton-researchers-find-high-fructose-corn-syrup-prompts

As humans, our basic psychology and physiology hasn't changed much over the last few hundred years. We are however getting fatter, and we need to ask why. If you just dismiss this as lack of willpower, it doesn't help or change anything. I'm not saying that one should assume it's an illness and make people powerless. But we should be able to change our environments so that they are less obesogenic.

Cushellekoala · 03/04/2019 13:45

I wonder if the increasing prices for hold luggage (and stricter sizes for cabin luggage) are two-fold - initially i would think profit potential....but maybe its to deter a lot of people from extra luggage affecting the weight of the plane as they have squeezed in more seats and thus increased passenger weight?
Im not sure how having a scale or test seat at check in would help . What if you exceeded their weight requirement or didnt fit in the chair? Lots of flights are fully booked and wouldn't have a spare seat (especially if people had already paid to allocate seats?)....but you book accomodation, hire care and flights to all correlate. How would that work if you were not permitted on the flight?

RottnestFerry · 03/04/2019 13:46

a standard seat fits an adult up to x cm and/or y height and/or z diameter. If you cannot demonstrate to a member of cabin crew that you can safely fit in our in-flight seats you will not be boarded

I take it that you are a short arse?

Kennehora · 03/04/2019 13:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Kennehora · 03/04/2019 13:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EssentialHummus · 03/04/2019 13:50

you are a short arse?

I’m not. I’m (badly) trying to account for the fact that a 150cm 100kg person will be rounder than a 200cm 100kg person.

Gohenceforth · 03/04/2019 13:52

I have no qualms about refusing to allow anyone to encroach on my seat. The arm stays down and if they overspill then I would be getting a flight attendant to resolve the issue. For a full flight and if someone has to be removed then it’s goung to be them and not me. This fussing around and being delicate about fat people being fat is ridiculous. They made their bed and they must deal with the consequences.

RottnestFerry · 03/04/2019 13:52

I’m not. I’m (badly) trying to account for the fact that a 150cm 100kg person will be rounder than a 200cm 100kg person

I'm all for a height check if it means tall people get a guaranteed extra-legroom seat. Even if they have to pay extra for it.

Siameasy · 03/04/2019 13:53

Belenus I liked your post. Do we have HFCS much here? I noticed it on holiday in the states.

I agree we need to understand why. That’s not to absolve anyone of personal responsibility because yes, only you can change it. However, there is a bigger picture, especially when we now have overweight infants who are clearly not going shopping themselves

RottnestFerry · 03/04/2019 13:55

However, there is a bigger picture, especially when we now have overweight infants who are clearly stuffing themselves unchecked

Fixed it for you.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 03/04/2019 13:56

Food is engineered to be addictive.

No, shit processed high calorie low nutritional value food is designed to be addictive. Healthy food, contrary to what someone has already claimed in this thread, is cheap, natural and non addictive.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 03/04/2019 13:56

Food is engineered to be addictive.

No, shit processed high calorie low nutritional value food is designed to be addictive. Healthy food, contrary to what someone has already claimed in this thread, is cheap, natural and non addictive.

PooFlower · 03/04/2019 14:01

The problem is that there IS NOT an easy option to book extra room or two seats.
Most obese people would do this rather than face the worry and humiliation of not fitting into a seat.
When I first flew about ten years I was a tall size 22. I was so paranoid about fitting into a seat that I booked two seats for myself. This was extremely difficult to do. I had to ring up and was passed round to various people before I could do it.
At the airport I had to repeatedly explain, at check in, then boarding desk and again to the cabin crew that I had booked two seats for myself.
I actually fitted in the seat fine and didn't even need the seatbelt extension, so on return I didn't bother with the rigmarole of explaining about the two seats especially in a foreign airport. The airline then resold my extra seat as they thought it was a no show!
If there was a simple option to book extra room or seats, im sure the majority of obese people would. I know many people who wont fly because of being terrified of not fitting.
Most fat people know they are fat are usually ashamed of their size and would never deliberately inconvenience others.

CardsforKittens · 03/04/2019 14:04

Belenus That link was fascinating and exactly the sort of thing I’m keen to learn more about. I was particularly struck by this:

‘Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.’

I supppse the next question is how to get the rats to lose the weight again. I’d hypothesise, based on human studies, that fat-shaming and lectures on personal responsibility will be ineffective.