uncomfirtable journey

[planejourney]

Interested in people's opinions.
I had a recent journey from hell when an obese/morbidly obese person sat next to me on a flight for 6 hours.
He and his partner both booked aisle seats next to each other and both were morbidly obese. I was in a middle seat and another passenger in the window seat.
He struggled to get into the seat and had to rearrange himself and move bits around in order to get the armrest down. Once in place, the armrest disappeared. He basically overflowed into my seat and had to cross his arms for me to have any room. His right leg was in my space and his left leg was in the aisle. He was unable to get the table down in front of him.
Unfortunately I had to spend the full journey with body contact with this person. This not only invaded my personal space but was also really hot! It was a night flight and the flight was full, so I didn't want to disturb people sleeping by asking if a swap/move was possible. This person proceded to fall asleep and snore very loudly to a point where people were turning around. The trolley or people could not get past his leg in the aisle so he had to keep moving it. To make matters worse, the person in front reclined their seat right back. I felt trapped!
I had a few looks of pity and the staff could clearly see how uncomfortable it was.
AIBU to think he should have bought a second seat? Airlines should make it clear and consider the comfort and safety of all passengers. I paid for a seat and got half a one. Did this person lack consideration for others?

The ones next to the emergency exit are great because they don’t allow obese or unfit people or children.
Can you not see what’s wrong with this attitude?

I’d definitely rather have spent the flight sitting next to the fat dude than next to you!…for fear of being reprimanded if my leg accidentally drifted into your footwell or I rested my arm on the shared armrest when it was “your turn” 🤣

Also “he should’ve been removed from the flight”. LOL what world do you live in where you think this would actually happen?! The entitlement is mind blowing 🤯

OK:
MN is full of complaints about people wanting them to move because they want to sit next to their child so sitting in the exit row saves me this hassle.

I do not want to sit next to someone who is spilling on to my seat. I probably have little sympathy as my husband, having very long legs, either has to contort himself or pay extra.

I have no objection to sitting next to someone unfit or disabled. I was just stating that they can’t sit in the exit row. However, I have reported someone sitting in one of those seats who was using a walking stick and they were moved. This is for the safety of everyone on the plane.

Not all.

Bang on the money.

And I have children! If I didn’t.,, hell yes that would be a positive feature of these seats

But what you said is it was great if you didn’t have to sit in the same row as unfit and I assume disabled given the posts previous to yours. Nobody likes to be inconvenienced by others but your attitude isn’t one I share or one that is in any way admirable. The idea that a very tall/large human is in anyway not going to be less of an imposition than someone of a smaller frame is laughable and makes me wonder if you do indeed live with someone taller at all. I wonder if a height limit on seats might be sensible if we’re only catering for average.

I wonder if a height limit on seats might be sensible if we’re only catering for average.

FWIW the guidlines regulators like the FAA publish suggest seating etc should accomodate a size range from the 5th percentile female to the 95 th percentile male.

No, I said it was great that planes don’t allow obese or unfit people in airplanes. Meaning it is safer in case of an evacuation from a plane. Also I don’t want someone spilling on my seat. This has happened 3 times to me ( under very different circumstances, over many years). Of course my husband is very tall. All his height is in his legs. He has very long legs. When he sits down on an airplane, unless it is a long seat pitch, his back to knees is longer than than the space. He either sits with his knees in his chest or sideways, using my space. He is always uncomfortable. I don’t think airlines will ban tall people. Have you seen the height of some young men! Years ago, I could always spot my husband in a crowd. I just had to look up! No so these days.

Keep reading. You’ve just insulted a rape victim for not wanting to spend a whole flight with an unknown man’s body pressed up against theirs.

I absolutely would refuse to fly until they dealt with it and move him. If they removed me from the flight then I’d sue. He’s the one breaking the terms and conditions by not booking an extra seat.

Some people have very good reasons for not wanting a man spilling over into the seat and have his body covering theirs.

sorry I couldn’t edit post. I don’t know why. I meant unit and obese people are not allowed in exit row seats in planes.

What gets me is that someone very very obese such as this passenger KNEW that he would be subjecting the person seated next to him to a very uncomfortable flight, for hours.

However the poor sod who has the misfortune to rock up and see the person enormous person seated next to them (and indeed partially on the seat they have paid for!) had NO IDEA when they booked and paid for their seat

So this idea that we should all #bekind and suck up a very difficult and uncomfortable flight can be flipped… why wasn’t this person #bekind when they bought the ticket and actually was sneaky enough to book two aisle seats!

Agree. Neither of the couple cared. This was evident when he was snoring and making embarrassing noises, which we all probably do in our sleep but would be mortified if we knew we were subjecting others to that. His partner could see others looking amd turning around etc but did nothing. This couple were selfish and knew it. But the airlines should accommodate morbidly obese people and not charge them a fortune.

Why do you say the bloke next to the partner wasn’t decent, just because he had his head in hands and then swapped seats? What’s not decent about that?

This is why I don’t even look at other passengers/customers when I’m standing up for myself, because people like OP just watch gormlessly and decide you’re not ‘decent’ just for not wanting to be uncomfortable in my own seat.

Good point

upthread op you said they swapped because she was much smaller than the bloke and they swapped to give him a break

The OP has been really quite rude about the other passengers who had to sit next to this man obese partner. And has called anyone who would have spoken up rude and made the point that she is a moral and decent person, unlike anyone who would have said anything. We’re all just very rude apparently.

But the airlines should accommodate morbidly obese people and not charge them a fortune.

That's nice in the ideal world but airline financial margins are tight and the vast majority of the paying public want the cheapest fares possible, so how do you do that.

The current comfort seat/extra seat idea sort of works OK but there has be at very least a decent charge for provision, especially on a full flight where the comfort seat potentially displaces a revenue customer.

If you start installing bigger/wider seats aircraft seating capacity goes down, that's one reason why traditionally you charge people using those seats more, sometimes lots more (see Business class and especially First class fares)

Agreed. It's all very well saying that the airline should sort it, but if you’re not willing to speak up for yourself and yet calling other people ‘not decent’ for speaking up, then that is bizarre.

Do you need to be fit and active enough to open the door of the plane?

This. If I’ve paid for a seat I expect to be able to occupy and use all of its space, without being in physical contact with a strange man.

I dread finding someone spilling into my seat space, and really don’t know what would happen if I did. I would certainly be pointing out to cabin crew that I was unable to take my seat, but I really could not be on a flight of any length in the OP’s position.

I’m not entirely sure how the larger person’s needs and wants trump mine.

You need to be able to move. A lot of people who are this obese cannot easily get up. They need to hold onto the other chairs and pull themselves up, they struggle to get their balance, they struggle to move quickly. You’ll also be the first people in the emergency slide/raft and may need to help catch people coming down behind you. It’s not a big job; it’s just you’re there first so you help whoever comes next like you would in any emergency. And move along to make space for the next people coming. Someone morbidly obese is more likely to struggle with that.

It’s not nice to say it but it’s just fact. And if you require a seatbelt extender then you’re more likely to be heading into that category.

In an emergency event, water landing, whatever, seconds matter. Those emergency doors need to be opened and the people in the emergency row then need to evacuate to make space for everyone else on the plane to evacuate. Can you imagine people lining up in the aisle trying to get to the emergency exit… and there is someone sitting here trying to pull themselves out of their seat using the headrest in front of them? No one can get off from that section while they’re doing that and 2 or 3 minutes makes a massive difference.

If they are sitting elsewhere then they can struggle out of their seat as the rest of the place clears and immediately make their own way to the emergency exit.

Did you really need that explained?

Yes the Op is being very odd on that front

Of course not. It was an attempt at an answer to the person who asked why people of size couldn't use the exit row seats. I thought it was likely that you had to be able to move and possibly quickly but wasn't entirely sure.

Emergency exits, basically yes.... the overwing self help exits on some types (e.g. some 737s,.some of the shorthaul Airbus family) could present a challenge to some people with restrictions on mobility.

Wow. Im not sure your reply even warrants a response. He was unreasonable, immature. Im not going to describe the disgust and hate he displayed with the person sitting next to him. Noone was gormless 😂 move along...

The only rude person I’ve seen in this situation is the obese couple who didn’t book extra seats and make an informed choice to use half the middle seats belonging to someone else, and also you for the way you’ve spoken about another passenger who couldn’t sit squashed up next to one of them.

Nope, you've misinterpreted. He was right to do something about it and he had a partner luckily who agreed to swap with him. He was immature etc its not what you do, its how you go about it