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

Weight is more of a problem than height when it comes to taking the lion’s share of space. It is futile to deny that is the case.

Weight is definitely more of an issue than height, the guy in the uploaded picture was large height and width, probably to big to fly.

What I don't appreciate is people like Bumdeer ridiculing someone 'with a skinny little arse'

To be fair, I only did that on the back of her sneering attitude and nasty posts. Interesting how you pick up that comment as offensive and not all hers though.

Given you were the one who originally stated that obese people don’t give a damn about inconveniencing others, I also doubt very much you have much empathy for us or our “issues”.

I ended up trapped and unable to drink for the whole flight in case I needed the loo it was hell

You could have pressed the button over your head and asked the cabin crew for assistance.

Emerald (and others who’ve linked or posted that photo), that chap just looks so enormous in every sense that I can’t help but feel that the picture must’ve been doctored. He’s so disproportionately tall and wide compared to other passengers that it can’t be right. He’d be about 7.5 feet tall in real life?! Not impossible but incredibly unlikely.

I think someone got carried away making a point and it went viral.

No need to worry your skinny little arse, I wouldn’t want or expect anything from the likes of you.

No skinny arse here love, it's very well toned and rounded ☺️ You shouldn't expect anything from any fellow traveller tbh.

Some people are happy to have close contact with other travellers, I'm not. If that makes me a bitch in people's eyes I have no issue with that. If people get embarrassed/humiliated when another passenger requests to be moved as they feel crushed and don't like other people's excess flesh on them then that's not my problem either. I don't get on a plane to make friends, I get on a plane to travel from A to B and prefer to travel in the seat and space I pay for without being squashed.

I don't travel long haul in economy now so it's rarely an issue on these flights but premium/business seats are often not available on short haul given I often need to book them at short notice.

As I've previously said on this thread, I'm happy to move over and have the arm rest up if a parent is looking squashed with babies or children on their knees. What I'm not happy to do is share my seat with anyone who clearly can't fit in the seat and thinks everyone should move over to accommodate them. That's just entitled and selfish behaviour imo. Whether that's due to obesity, manspreading, woman spreading or whatever other reason I don't tolerate it.

CutSomeRug Yes I was thinking he was abnormally big, he towers over every passenger.

I was assuming the bloke was sat on the armrests, rather than in the seat, accounting for his shoulders being so much higher than everyone else?

Well my buttcheeks are bit like pillows. So essentially he is sitting on extra "pillows" as well. But it does look extreme

As I've previously said on this thread, I'm happy to move over and have the arm rest up if a parent is looking squashed with babies or children on their knees

What's the difference? They wouldn't be squashed if they had had the foresight to book seats for the children.

If you got to your seat first and insisted the armrests were down, but your neighbour couldn't fit in the seat unless it was up - can the flight crew insist on it being raised?

I asked a pal who used to be cabin crew and moved on to training about this - the answer was that, while it's not unknown for some to take a chance to avoid a scene and aircraft delay, the regs say they can't

Which is why I always refuse to raise it for anyone, referring anyone who has an issue to the crew. No need to be rude, just "you'll need to talk to the staff" and disengage

But why do the staff wait until people are seated and make the person being squashed say something.

Surely when people are boarding the staff at checkout can see if there is an empty seat on the plane - if there is then put this next to the person needing it. If there isn’t then they need to speak to the person boarding - perhaps they can as a manager to speak to them separately so they are not embarrassed in the queue or when on the plane.

It shouldn’t be left to the person who is being squashed on the plane - that’s bad for both people.

possible ways of weighing people before embarking

I’d be jamming my arm rest down 100%.

That guy in the photograph is absolutely sitting on the armrests! There’s spilling out of your seat, and then there’s literally blocking the aisle sort of not fitting in your own seat . If that photo is real, he should never have been allowed to board, he’s an actual safety hazard

That surprises me not one iota.

I know I want to use my armrest for most of the flight because...well, I like to use it for arm resting or leaning purposes

That's unrelated to what the airline actually require though.

possible ways of weighing people before embarking

Weight in itself isn't the problem. Girth is.