Too fat to fly

[loobielousplaits]

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

The problem with insisting that people book two seats is that it could be seen as discriminating against someone with a disability. There are many health problems that can class someone as disabled, and mean that they are more likely to put on weight/be unfit.
Do you start a system where a doctor's note will get someone a free second seat due to disability-related obesity? What impact would that have on cost or availability of seats? Do you extend it to people with temporary problems (e.g. broken leg)? Who decides what conditions/level of disability is covered? Would there be international agreement or could it change between countries?

There just isn't a simple fix to this, or the airlines would go for it. If they could sell all the seats on a flight but actually have fewer passengers, they could make a bit more profit on each flight - they would love that!

Why is it that these threads always demonise fat people but never blokes with really broad shoulders who spill over just as much? At least the incredible shrinking airline seats have been called out this time. FWIW, I am an 8-10 and 5'3", and fitting in an airline seat has NEVER been an issue doe me, but I do get sick of seeing larger people demonised.

Discomfort aside, there is a serious safety issue, especially in a smaller plane.
The fuel needed for a flight is calculated on an average weight per passenger and their allowed baggage.
If you had a lot of heavy people on the flight there wouldn't be enough fuel for the plane to safely take off and land !

Airlines should ask passengers to declare their weight at the time they book their tickets!

We once flew to Samoa. The flight from Los Angeles to Samoa had many overweight Samoans on board. Many were not seated safely. They stretched their belt extension on they immediately took it off. Then we hit turbulence and I seriously feared for my life.

If you are the problem then the onus is on you to resolve. The obese person needs to therefore book two seats. Why should anyone be uncomfortable in a seat they paid for. Airlines need to put some sort of weight limits/ seat requirements when booking the tickets.

Airlines don't make it easy to book two seats for the same person, together.

Perhaps seats should be available in different sizes such as standard and 30% larger. Which cost 30% more.

And maybe 60% more I think this would be popular with non-fat ask people to who just want a little more comfort or distance from their fellow traveller

I’ve been seated next to very overweight people several times (i’m petite, so one airline - which I now refuse to fly with anymore - deliberately changed my seat to sit next to overweight people). its hell.
you need to be obese, not just overweight, to not fit in a economy class seat. if seats get bigger, we all pay a lot more, so i don’t see why healthy weight people should pay more?
(i fly with groups of colleagues of different statures and weights - we all fit well some are certainly overweight, some borderline obese - i know because we discussed it after I got moved seats once more).

@Dana28 they exist. its called prmoum economy.

The size of cabin baggage is made abundantly clear, with diagrams and instructions and references to your baggage allowance at every stage if booking.

Airlines could save their customers embarsssment and inconvenience by being equally clear about seat size and needing to conform or book the right number of seats.

But it is s grey area. If you are extremely tall due to Marfan syndrome for example, is it a matter of the DDA to get an extra leg room seat or should you have to pay?

We seem to have drciddd ad a society that fat isejolly s matter of choice and people ‘should ‘ take responsubility. But we know eating disorders of all kinds are not like that.

Anyway voyeuristic programmes called to fat to fly are hardly contributing to a helpful way forward, surely?

I've not seen the program and clearly nothing should be made that mock people, but it is something that should be drawn attention to.

Too often people try to force themselves into one seat, causing issues for those next to them, and safety problems and it needs to be managed better by the airlines,

And yes I too have sat next to an incredibly over weight man, it was a long haul flight back from St Lucia, he couldn't get the table down, couldn't eat for the journey and we both sat there all squished up and deeply uncomfortable for several hours. And yes I lost a portion of my economy seat to him.

However I was very polite about it, smiled at him and told him it was fine, for rhe simple reason he was clearly uncomfortable and deeply embarrassed and I felt for him.

However the airline should have stepped in, cabin crew did the pre flight check and clearly saw the issue and simply walked on ignorning it. And that's not ok, both from a safety perspective and a comfort one for myself. I paid to use all of my seat, he did not pay to share it with me, which is exactly what he did. I did not pay or agree to use only two thirds of my seat and let a complete stranger have the rest.

On both legs of a recent flight my seat was next to a very large man,actually more very broad shouldered and big build than obese and I actually needed to see a physio shortly afterwards because I spent both flights sitting awkwardly twisted in my seat to accommodate him spilling over .He was polite and a really nice guy and when we boarded the return flight he rushed to help me with my bag ,and said so sorry you are stuck with me again.It wasn't his fault ,but I'm a petite build and the seats just aren't big enough now for the majority of the population.Another reason I will only fly if absolutely essential now.

I was on a Ryanair flight last year and a young woman got off with her boyfriend. I didn't see her on the plane, only on the ground once we were off it. She was probably 30 stones. Maybe more. Beyond a certain point it's difficult to guess at. Two of me? Three of me?

She was so obese that she could only shuffle along very slowly, not actually pick her feet up and walk normally. In fact it's a miracle she could walk at all - she was the sort of size you see on those documentaries about people trapped in their own bedrooms. Her stomach was at her knees. How she even fitted into a car to reach the airport is a mystery.

Obviously she'd have needed at least two plane seats although on cheap, short haul airlines the armrests often don't lift fully back, the seats don't recline and the rows are very narrow. I'm guessing she had the very front row. Then there is a hard raised ridge between the seats themselves so it must have been an extremely uncomfortable journey for her. Thankfully it was only 1.5 hours but frankly if I were her I'd not even have dared to attempt such a humiliating and unpleasant journey. She must have sensed every eye in the place on her thinking 'How in hell is she managing this?'

I was torn between admiration that she'd put herself through that, and horror that she did. But I guess when you are that size every single thing you do is a massive chore and you are painfully aware of your abnormality so it was probably not much different to every other day for her.

I saw her boyfriend's parents greet them at arrivals and they were obviously meeting her for the first time as they kissed her and introduced themselves, said 'Lovely to finally meet you!'

That must have been much harder for her to deal with than the looks of strangers. Whatever internal, visceral reactions his parents were having, they masked it very well, I must say.

Her boyfriend and his parents were all very slim incidentally.

I am a fellow small person who recently ended up at the osteopath after being stuck on a rail replacement bus for an hour, one of the first on. Nearly full and I could see the person in the queue who would take the next seat to me. He actually practically sat on me.
If someone is obese they know that they need 2 seats. Airlines should have a seat in the airport like they do at theme parks so people can try it before they get to the plane and avoid the situation.

It’s not just a comfort issue it’s a weight issue. The plane has weight limits. Either less people or less luggage. I know it’s hard for people to lose weight but if someone cannot fit in a seat, without spilling into/touching the other person next to them, they need to buy two seats.

CallItLoneliness totally agree with you and having sat next to a very petite woman who sat with her legs crossed poking over the arm rests and doing seat yoga and just generally had no awareness of how much space she was using I think the people who are most annoying on planes are ones who are thoughtless and show no consideration.

it would probably be a positive step for seats on new planes to be made larger given the collective increase in our waistlines!

It would reduce the number of seats available and increase costs for everyone. That's not necessarily bad but it is something that needs taking into account.

I'm fairly slim and I have got away with slightly too heavy cabin luggage before. Nothing's actually been said but you can see check in staff looking and doing a swift "meh, you, plus luggage = normal weight for many passengers". Airlines are very weight conscious, for obvious reasons.

The people on this programme though seem in denial why they wouldn't be allowed to fly

Well maybe they are going on holiday with friends or family* and can't afford two seats and are just hoping it will be OK?

• Do "package" holidays still exist? the ones where you buy the accommodation and flight together, so you couldn't buy an extra plane seat without actually buying two holidays.

Or maybe the flight was overbooked (happens a lot according to Mumsnet) and they were told they couldn't after all have a second seat given that no one was sitting in it? Or maybe they had paid for two seats but the stupid airline booking system wouldn't let them reserve two together (also happens a lot according to Mumsnet).

Sounds an awful programme, and there are some awful comments on here. Ellenborough's post above made me want to cry - that poor young woman to have been judged so cruelly. Here's a thought - maybe the boyfriend's parents were not "masking their visceral reaction" but actually not bothered if their son's girlfriend was overweight.

Perhaps some planes should be adapted so that in economy there is always one row that takes the space/width of two normal rows, and the seats are fewer but twice the size. They'd be more expensive to reflect the space taken up, but still an economy service and not as expensive as business class.

I don't see it as fat shaming. Just the airlines trying to save money. More weight, more fuel. Hence they are v strict about baggage nowadays. No exceptions are made for anyone now so the cfs don't get away with it as they used to.

I don’t think disability discrimination can be used on flights if they say it is health and safety. You cannot take wheelchairs on planes either which stops many many disabled people from flying.