Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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:
TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 04/04/2019 17:34

Was that fat shaming, dusty? You could argue it was skinny shaming just as easily - “you’re no use as ballast, you puny little fart. In the corner with you”...

TheRumor · 04/04/2019 17:35

Not sure why me suggesting that fat people are talked about with compassion is tantamount to me saying I think they should take up all the space.

I actually agree that buying 2 seats is an appropriate course of action. What I don't agree with is the shaming and humiliation of people because of their bodies.

TheCherries · 04/04/2019 17:37

Please excuse all the predictive text errors

Justkeeprollingalong · 04/04/2019 17:38

@CheshireChat Premium Economy seats not only have more leg room but they are considerably wider and deeper than economy. They obviously cost more but potentially cheaper than 2 economy seats.

beeetyj · 04/04/2019 17:39

To quizqueen (sorry I don’t know how to repost/tag), I completely agree with you. I’m a travel agent and whilst we use good sense if we have a customer who will obviously be too large to fit in a seat, sometimes the partner of that person books - so how are we to know? I can hardly ask ‘and how fat is everyone you’re travelling with?’
There are NO guidelines from ANY airline as to the appropriate cut off for size for these seats, height or weight.
My DH is 27st (has lost 4st already and doing great - put on lots of weight after both parents died in an accident) and can fit into a seat - but I always make sure he’s in the aisle and I’m in the middle so nobody but me is having their space encroached upon.
The answer, I feel, until seats are made bigger, is to post pop ups when booking airline tickets to state the maximum hip size and height appropriate for one single seat, and if customer is bigger, to book 2 please.

TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 04/04/2019 17:41

I don’t think that’ll be in any airline’s marketing plan, TheCherries.
If someone needs two seats because they can’t squeeze into one, why should the airline give them a 50% reduction on a seat that they could sell at full price?
Ditto deliberately not selling two seats per flight makes even less sense. Why would they?
And if they did; you can bet your arse they’d recoup the cost by increasing the cost of everybody else’s seat, so we’d all pay for the fat persons’s extra space so they didn’t have to.
No chance.

Fowles94 · 04/04/2019 17:42

Yeah I agree with what some have said, you should have to give your weight when booking and if two seats are required it will be sorted then.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 04/04/2019 17:44

baw53 the regs require armrests to be down for take off anyway, but your experience is exactly why I lower mine as soon as I sit down and refuse to raise it again for anyone

A properly trained crew obviously won't break the ruling by asking for it be raised themselves, so this puts the problem back where it belongs - with the crew and the person who doesn't fit

WorraLiberty · 04/04/2019 17:46

I've been on a small plane where we were all weighed before boarding and the larger people were positioned by the pilot to "balance" the plane. How's that for fat shaming?

That's not even remotely like fat shaming.

TheRumor · 04/04/2019 17:50

I actually think that airlines should have a weight threshold, so if you input your weight and you are above that you have to buy two seats.

That way, no one is unsure as to whether they are too big for the seat. No one has to go through the uncertainty of turning up and not fitting. No one has to endure any sort of humiliation and inconvenience. What's more, it's all done over the phone or on a website in a way that says 'hey airline seats are small, you're bigger. You need a bigger space, here's how to sort it.'

Then, if they turn up and have lied about their weight, they forfeit their seat for the next flight.

WingingWonder · 04/04/2019 17:50

Having spent 12 hours by an oversized person it’s totally unacceptable - they were a safety risk to themselves and us (couldn’t physically get out of seat easily never mind at pace)
They were physically touching me unless I basically lent over onto the person next to me, which was also then inappropriate
They were literally filling endure cubic space and made it impossible to get to toilet
They couldn’t lower their tray to be able to eat
The whole thing was awful for everyone
He was on holiday, so not a ‘need’ trip eg extra ordinary to funeral etc
The alternative- fly business in individual seats or don’t fly

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 04/04/2019 17:51

The answer, I feel, until seats are made bigger, is to post pop ups when booking airline tickets to state the maximum hip size and height appropriate for one single seat, and if customer is bigger, to book 2 please.

I can already see the twitter blowing up over that. 🙊

user1493391099 · 04/04/2019 17:58

I find it irritating when they moan than my luggage is a kilo overweight and that a charge is necessary to send the luggage through, but the person behind me can weigh twice as much plus their luggage? It doesn’t make any sense.

MITCHELL33 · 04/04/2019 18:03

Once on a flight a bloke so big he had to have the extra belt added to his.His lap tray didn't come down ate food off his stomach turned to us and said "hope you dont need the toilet as I wont be moving"!They weigh your luggage so perhaps[s they should weigh the passengers.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 04/04/2019 18:07

post pop ups when booking airline tickets to state the maximum hip size and height appropriate for one single seat, and if customer is bigger, to book 2 please

Like declaring weight/measurements that's a good idea on the face of it, but what about those who choose to lie in order to save the money, insisting that "they're going to lose weight before the flight"?

You could refuse boarding when they arrive I suppose, but then you're not much further forward ... and being "caught out" doesn't always lend itself to calm and rational behaviour

Thisisnotreallymyname · 04/04/2019 18:12

This was not fat shaming ! The part I saw with three very large women moaning about not fitting into the loo etc - Yes , because you’re Fat! They agreed to and were happy to be filmed.
I speak as a size 16 person so I’m no waif !

dragonara53 · 04/04/2019 18:21

I have never been on a plane and never will go on one. I couldn't imagine what it would be like being squashed next to an obese person. I would have to say something as I am outspoken. I was once on a coach and an obese person tried sitting next to me I don't know why as there were spare seats anyway they didn't as I just said, heyup sunshine I don't fucking think so. They moved.

BummyKnocker · 04/04/2019 18:25

It is annoying on a train or bus to be almost sat on by a larger person but if I was on a plane and had the prospect of a few hours squashed into my seat then I'd be raising a complaint.

The larger person's right to fly does not trump my right to travel in some comfort in my seat, which I have paid for.

AlaskanOilBaron · 04/04/2019 18:27

I have never been on a plane and never will go on one.

You're pretty much living my dream.

AlaskanOilBaron · 04/04/2019 18:28

The larger person's right to fly does not trump my right to travel in some comfort in my seat, which I have paid for.

I think this is well-put. For anyone who has flown next to someone spilling into their seat in recent memory, this probably resonates.

Tomkinz · 04/04/2019 18:29

In the same way there's a box to check that your carry on does not exceed a certain size, there should be a chair with a sign that says "if you can't fit in this - you're too big and need to pay extra".

Airlines should have a "weight bonus". "If you're an adult male/female and weigh less than xxx, then you'll get a fare reduction".

If someone's a druggie or an alchoholic then it's stupid to say "there there, carry on taking the drugs or drink". Being obese is just as bad healthwise and offering an emotional subsidy to a special class of people who can't find the word "no" is as equally wrong.

bubblegumunicorn · 04/04/2019 18:34

According to my BMI I am obese closer to overweight than morbidly obese but still technically obese and I’m size 14-16 and fit comfortably in the plane seats with space either side of me so there is definitely an issue that needs addressing about weight and fitting in seats! There is an epidemic and it shouldn’t be up to companies to accommodate weight gain it absolutely is for us as a population to understand and do something about!!

LittlePaintBox · 04/04/2019 18:51

and I have been fat myself (BMI 37), twice in fact

How on earth did that happen? Does that mean you're twice as lazy/greedy as people who just put on weight once?

Bluelonerose · 04/04/2019 18:58

Airplane seats are bloody uncomfortable I always pay for extra room when I can.

Why don't they just make them slightly bigger? No just for larger people but so everyone can be comfy. They have shrank seats purely for profit.

sunshine11 · 04/04/2019 19:02

It’s a health and safety risk. Large people aren’t allowed on the rides at theme parks, they should be similar guidelines on planes.

Where it’s long haul you should need to book premium/business if you’re over a certain weight.