Is it unreasonable for airlines not to provide wider seats for obese passengers?

[Kag13]

I have today spent a four and a half hour Jet2 flight seated next to a young man who was at least 20 stone, probably larger. I could not use the left hand armrest as his body (fat) buldged over it and into my personal space (which on a budget airline is not that large) and his leg was resting over part of my seat.
Luckily I am only 5’2” and not that big but what would happen if someone of the same size was seated next to him?
it made for a very uncomfortable flight for me. Am I being unreasonable to think this is not right?

It is also true that if it's your hips and bum that encroach on the next seat then that's not ok, but if it's the shoulders, that isn't seen as a problem.

Solutions seem easy in your world. They aren’t, otherwise these problems wouldn’t exist. Do you also think things like:
the unemployed should just get a job
the depressed should snap out of it
the anorexics should just eat
the overcrowded should just buy a big house
the homeless should just rent a flat

?

This thread makes me so sad. I used to weigh 24 stone (or more) and I just knew people were judging me. It didn't bother me but the insistence that they weren't didn't ring true and I see now that my intuition was correct.

That being said, when I had to use a seatbelt extender to fly, I was smart enough to realise that my weight was a big problem and lost it all.

However, I still feel very compassionate towards bigger people, in the main. I guess because my parents, brother, SIL/BIL, FIL, MIL are all grossly obese and I don't want people to be mean to them even if they brought this on themselves by their habits.

I don't know what the answer is when people won't take accountability for themselves and don't seem to recognise, or care, about their impact on others.

Airlines will just penalise us all under the guise of equality or inclusivity. We'll all end up paying more and receiving less.

Let's be careful about fostering an us and them which isn't skinny vs fat but, rather, corporate vs fliers.

Only cunts are judging

Other people realise that life is a bit more nuanced.

Like I said... simple solution... go on the weight loss medication. They can afford a holiday so they can afford the jab.

I am overweight.
There is no way I will use the jab, heard too many people talking about side effects, and it is untested in the long term.

I am delighted for those who have used it and it has worked, but no way I would.
It sin't just about cost

This is so gross.

I feel the same. I’m still overweight and it makes me feel so self conscious to even leave the house

Everybody judges. We all d oit for all sorts of reasons (baby names, fashion, pets, personality etc). You do it.

If someone sits next to you on a plane absolutely reeking of BO you're not a cunt to think 'fuck me he stinks'. You are a cunt to say to the passenger 'fuck me you stink'.

Overweight baggage is charged because two handlers are needed to lift it.
Overweight passengers carry themselves so the persistent comparison is.. not one.

So is being on a plane, in your own seat and having someone else's sweaty fat spilling into your space touching you for hours.

Oh you do exaggerate.

As someone said up thread, there’s nobody more sanctimonious than a formerly fat person.

this doesn't make sense. There are studies for 4 years. Yes there are no studies for 20/30/40 years but morbidly obese people are significantly cutting their life short anyway by being the weight they are. Lesser of two evils I think.

How has that poster exaggerated? I've had sweaty skin on skin fat touching me on a plane no matter how much I pretzel myself into a different position. It's unpleasant and pretty gross. No one should have someone else's body in their personal space.
And no, I've never been fat.

He should buy 2 seats it fly business class. He hasn’t paid for half of your seat.

How does helping other people equate to obesity?

No, you haven’t. It’s just such utter rubbish.

what do you mean no I haven't, I was on a flight back from Cyprus and had sweaty bare skin touching me from the seat next to me, due to that person spilling into my space. You can say I haven't all you like but I, along with multiple people on this thread, have experienced it whether you like it or not. And it's a huge problem, it infringes on people's personal space. If you don't like the fact that happens, buy 2 seats next time. Cheers!

Pretty easily. You spend a shit load of time doing stuff for others and you don’t have the time or energy to look after yourself. It’s a pretty common thing. You are tired and hungry so you grab a takeaway instead of cooking something, for example. You are emotionally exhausted so you comfort eat. You are transporting a lot of the time so you grab a McD. This happens to thousands of people.

I most certainly don’t judge fat people. And I don’t care if people smell. I’ve done enough caring for my late stepfather and late mum to not care about BO, shit, puke, blood or any of it.

I don't understand why you would say its rubbish! It has happened to me before, a very fat lady taking up half of my seat. By the time we disembarked my t shirt and skirt were wet down one side due to her sweat. It definitely happens!

Thank you to everyone who sympathised with my situation and recognised that I was trying to be respectful and not blame the person.

Just to answer a few questions - my husband and I had booked our seats early and paid extra so we could sit together and he could have an aisle seat, for his comfort, as he is tall. If I had asked to move there were no double seats available so we would be split up when we had paid to sit together and also I did not want to embarrass the person by asking.

However I was then annoyed when I realised the person was travelling with another woman who was sat two rows in front, so they had obviously not paid to sit together or had left it too late (the seat next to me was showing as unoccupied on the website only a couple of weeks before the flight) and she spent the flight in relative comfort.

Finally, as he was so large he did need a seatbelt extender and although the armrest came down he overspilled under and over it onto approximately 25% of my personal space, and although clothed, his body was touching mine from shoulder and arm to my hip and down to my knee, which as a woman made me very uncomfortable.

From the comments I can see that this is a complex problem, both for larger people and those who may have to sit next to them in a restricted space and I have read all the responses with interest. Clearly there are no easy solutions, but to say that if this bothers me, I should just not fly, is really unacceptable. Hopefully I will not encounter the same situation on my return flight but if I do I will ask to be moved even though I have paid for my seat.

It just is. People love to exaggerate. There’s no chance he took up 25% of her seat 😂

I don't understand why you think all the normal size people on the plane should pay more so that morbidly obese people can fly without buying two tickets.

Life is full of things people can't do for no fault of their own, this is just one of many.

But even 10% is not acceptable. I’ve had it all the way to Singapore.