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?

I’m not sure if any or many airlines have trialled ‘premium economy’ for short haul to assess demand? Obviously it’s not something they can do on a whim because they would need to alter their seating and I don’t think making changes on a plane is a trivial matter. But they might be able to get a good idea by using data from trains. We’ve been using trains more for or during holidays since retiring and the premium options seem to be well used. It’s easier for railways of course because they can extend the life of worn first class carriages by offering these larger seats as premium economy without all the frills, but it does give an idea about how many people are willing to pay for space. DH does our holiday travel and now always uses these options if possible. He also gets extra legroom seats on planes even though he’s average and I’m small. You shouldn’t find yourself next to anyone excessively obese in the exit rows because you need to be able to deal with the door and get out quick from those rows (idk what the crew do if someone who can’t do that has booked those seats, I’ve never seen that happen yet).
If premium economy seats existed on flights DH would be booking them for sure.

Would they allow you to bring a cattle prod next time? Or place the large ones in one area so they all have to suffer like you did?
Trouble is bigger seats mean less capacity.

I do think they'd be a market for Premium Economy, ie wider seats & extra leg room but without the frills of business or 1st class.

So many people are taller and broader without considering the obesity issue.

I was just thinking this! Gap in the market for portable seat dividers 😊

Quite a lot of people would be willing to pay proportionately more. At the moment for many destinations in Europe there’s essentially no alternative. We’re newly retired, planning on a lot of travel but the discomfort of planes is a major limiting factor - DH used to travel all over the world for work but now the idea of a flight of more than a couple of hours appalls him.

Nice idea in theory but one imagines that with evacuation times in mind they would be banned.

Mmmm, I just don't know how you'd secure it to prevent it becoming a missile in turbulence or it getting in the way during an evacuation.
Planes need to be able to be evacuated in 90 secs. Which is also a reason why parents need to be with children, they know it goes against all instinct to leave a plane without your kids.

Must be exhausting being this much of a cunt tbh.

Its not being a cunt to want your whole seat to yourself.
Seats aren't exactly massive that people don't mind sharing.

Oh do elaborate

Posting on a public forum and prioritising your own “comfort” over basic humanity and empathy is being a cunt It’s obviously a dig at larger people.

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On cost, yes obviously I agree a business will pass on sufficient to make the profit they want.

UK health and safety law does cover harm to other people, not just employees, but maybe there’s lacking a clean link between that and aviation rules. You’re absolutely right that On the plane, the CAA is in charge and it mainly focuses on safety critical risks, so probably not things like being stuck in an unhealthy position for hours. But certainly things like evacuation and other safety critical hazards.

That doesn’t mean the potential for harm isn’t real. Especially when the passenger has reported significant discomfort and a request to move if possible, and actual harm has been caused.

What could make a difference is pressure. If enough people complain, especially where there’s real pain or injury involved, the CAA would start to notice patterns and can push airlines to change how they deal with.

And the more people treat it as a genuine issue rather than just an inconvenience, the more likely it is to change.

I suppose the real question is whether passengers would be willing to bear higher prices for more comfort. I’m sure there’s got to be a solution that isn’t either cattle crushing versus business space.And would benefit people of small or large stature!

All the comments I am making are regarding economy. That’s why I mentioned European business class - it doesn’t really exist. Economy plane tickets are factually extremely price sensitive.

My point was that the model of selling space is not new at all and is very well established, and used where its profitable. It’s not something that hasn’t been thought of and it isn’t as simple as making the notional total cost of the seats the same. They have to be sure they can sell all of those seats and also make up the lost revenue from ancillary charges (baggage, seat charges, on board purchasing, advertising).

I am only talking about premium because it is a working example. The OP was on a 4 hour flight - airlines don’t even offer premium economy on these flights. They are not profitable because the demand is not there. If it did, it would be there.

Airlines have hundreds of MBA qualified economic specialists managing revenues in an incredibly complex system. An individual flight doesn’t need to turn a profit, some routes rarely see profit but the overall model has to work in conjunction with the fuel, airport and cargo industries.

Pricing is very dynamic which is why you get the anomalies you mentioned like a premium economy seat costing almost as much as business sometimes. Sometimes it will be just a bit more than economy - I am travelling this summer and the PE difference was very small which is why we paid it (family of 5 and the costs add up, we don’t always. It depends solely on how confident the airline are that they will sell that seat on that plane on that day and, importantly, how much they want to sell it at that time. I booked early during a sale. Some seats which are sold early will be sold over and over again as people cancel and change (and a huge amount of those costs are retained by the airline) but the airline wants secure a certain of booking on the plane early on. This is revised constantly.

For a real horror story Google standing ‘seats’ on two hour flights!

I’m not trying to win an argument, i just like economics and travel a lot for work. I was at an airport when I posted in the middle of the night. I find it all fascinating.

the premise of this thread isn’t that larger people shouldn’t travel, it’s that airlines should provide seat options to enable them to do it. As its stands it can be quite painful (not merely minor discomfort) for them or for fellow travellers. Wise ‘humanity and empathy’ says that airlines need to adapt to their clientele (albeit obviously at a monetary cost to the latter) rather than just shoving bums onto seats that don’t fit.

It is quite clear on most airlines that if you do not fit into your seat then you need to purchase another one and can be thrown off the plane if you fail to comply.
It is up to everyone to check that they fit into a seat.
People may not for into a seat for all sorts of reasons: to wide, shoulders too wide, legs to long.
Airline seats have not got smaller. People are getting bigger fatter and taller. Everyone should purchase a seat that they fit into. If my husband doesn’t want to contort his legs in a flight, then we have to book extra legroom.

Concentrate on the greed of corporation rather than the size of other peoples arses.

You can emphasise with people as well as want to be comfortable though.

both things can be true.

I would hope that bigger seats would also make larger people feel comfortable and also be able to exit quicker in a fire/emergency. So it’s as supportive for larger people.

we shouldn’t all be squished in like sardines!

I don’t think that’s being a cunt?!

You can emphasise with people as well as want to be comfortable though.

Of course you can, which is why it's so strange that so many posters don't, and just want to make horrible comments about people's bodies and assumed morality, or look forward to laughing at them not being able to fit in seats.

Right well in that case.

let’s also look at other factors that make cramped and packed air travel unbearable.

• Babies
• Children
• Loud people
• Farting
• Snorers
• Bad Breath
• Body odour

At this rate there will be loads of spaces for the smaller people to lounge about.

So you agree with the op that the problem and its solution lie with the airlines not the passengers who have little choice?
(I think buying 2 seats simply doesn’t occur to most people, doesn’t always work and is usually excessive vs their need).
Do you agree that there should be bigger seats available for a proportionate price?

Whataboutery.
The fact their are other factors that may make air travel unpleasant (though not physically uncomfortable/possibly injurious) doesn’t mean airlines are off the hook for addressing something that they could alleviate.

The OP is a covert dig.

Budget airlines are greedy. All the seats need to be bigger full stop.

It's not the airlines' responsibility but the individual's. Buy another seat, go Business class, don't fly or lose weight.

I bet there are larger people who simply don't travel because they know they won't fit, find it uncomfortable and buying two seats isn't comfortable and is quite frankly embarrassing.
So having a extra wide / premium economy would be an attractive option