Obese people have to pay for two plane seats

[mateykatie]

Overweight passengers who cannot squeeze into a single plane seat are to be charged double to fly with Air France.

People who cannot fit into a standard seat will be asked to pay for two seats, or not be allowed on board for "safety reasons", according to the airline.

link

My BIL is 6 6 and always has to buy a more expensive seat (or 2 economy) - he physically cannot sit down in one economy seat as his femur is 3 inches longer than the space. He would not expect the airline to put him in 2 seats or upgrade him for free just because he was in the tallest/ widest/longest 1% of the population. I think the airlines will have to start to enquire as to 'measurements' at the point of booking to avoid embarrassment or lack of space on the flight for an extra seat.

good tip MD - I'm usually on scrappy little planes with no middle aisle though. How do you know if you're on a big one before you book?

Where is Bonsoir Anna? Did she get scared off when that post of hers was deleted?

Even as a former fat person I think this is far enough, if you need two seats for whatever reason then you need to pay for two seats. When I screwed my knee in France the insurance company paid for me to have 3 seats because I needed the extra space.

As I am no waif either, I fill my seat and have been extremely squashed by an extremely overweight person in the next seat.

It needs to be handled gently though, there is no need to humiliate people.

Agree with Morloth about humiliating people. As its Air France, I cringe at the thought of a supercilious Parisian telling a fat person that they don't fit the seat. Especially if it were borderline.

I travel every day on the train, and have often seen a fat person occupying 1,5 seats, while other passengers (who have paid the same fare) are standing. Also, various other ways to occupy more than your share of space, like parking your luggage in front of the seat next to you.
I guess you are paying for the right to travel from A to B on the train, and a seat is not guaranteed. It doesn't look nice, though.

Wasn't there a case a couple of years ago where a woman suffered permanent nerve damage to her arm through being squashed on a long flight by the obese person next to her? And what about the dangers of DVT, being told to move about if you can etc, I'd have thought obese people were more at risk of that. It is to everyones advantage if they have two seats and they should expect to pay for them.
As for humiliation, I agree there must be tactful ways of telling someone they have to have two seats but really, if I was an obese person I would be more humiliated by sitting for a whole flight knowing that I was making things very uncomfortable for the passenger next to me and not being able to do anything about it (you'd either have grumbling or an embarrassed silence, not sure which is worse). Paying for an extra seat would be a small price to keep my dignity.

LOL Getorf, my first thought was that Anna had had a change of heart and gone back to work (for Air France)

I worked with an girl in the obese category, who frequently flew for work, she knew up front that'd she'd have hassle, so always booked business class (where the company would only reimburse to economy). This was 5yrs ago, so it's nothing new. Surely you'd know if you fit that category, and can prepare yourself to avoid this situation.

If you don't want to be humiliated at check-in/on the plane, book two seats. I rather suspect most people in the obese category know that they are and that they are unlikely to fit in one seat.

This isnt new i think its just becoming global, i watched 'American Airline' which is about SouthWest airlines and they had episodes where they asked people to buy an extra seat, ther policy was to refund for the seat if the plane wasnt full, fair enough IMO

i hope they serve you two meals too to go with the two seats.

surprise - what a charmer you sound. Rather be sat next to someone fat than rude anyday.

I was once sat next to a version of 'Surprise' on a nonstop flight from Denver to London (about 9 hours).

He prattled on and on and on about himself, his work, his ex-wife and what a horrible alcoholic she was.

Finally I put up the hand and said, 'Did you ever stop to think, that maybe she can drank because she was stuck living with you?'

He moved seats .

I think it's only fair, (and I say that as an obese person. ) If you require two seats, then you pay for two. Not only for your own comfort but because the person who sits next to you will also be very uncomfortable if you are taking half their seat. That isn't fair on them. It should all be done with sensitivity though. there's no need to humiliate people.

It's not nasty, it's not discrimination, it is just the practicalities of it. The fact is we take up more room and sometimes things have to be done differently.

expat

I think they do seat belt extenders stewieGsMum

DH was once asked to leave an Air France flight because " You are too heavy" in strong french accent snurk.... DH is perhaps carrying a few extra pounds but his BMI is 25, turns out she was talking about the overall weight of the plane and DH was the last one on. He was not happy, hee hee, but it makes a good story.

I was on a busy flight a few months ago, window seat, huge mammoth man walks on, I idly wonder what poor sod he will be sitting beside, only to find, yup you guessed it. The flight was full or I would have buzzed the attendant and asked to be moved. I was literally squashed into my seat, I didn't bother listening to the safety announcement as had there been any sort of emergency landing I was stuck in my seat with no chance of escape ( although I did have a good airbag beside me). Luckily it was only a short flight as my shoulders and legs went numb towards the end.

I felt sorry for the man as clearly it must be uncomfortable going through life like that, but imminently sensible that he should have to pay for 2 seats as otherwise it is the passengers sitting beside him i.e. me who run the risk of getting DVT from being unable to move.

I was seated on a 9 hour flight once with someone spilling over the armrest and seat into my seat. It was really awful, for both him and me.

I could clearly see that he was trying to keep into his own seat as much as possible but he just couldn't.

My Englishness forbade me from making him feel bad and asking for a different seat though.

Completely understand this. Also think should be weighed with luggage.

'I think your ire is misplaced Surprise. The people who are too large for airplane seats most likely do have a medical condition that keeps them that way rather than just being out of balance in the food/excercise department as I am (size 16)'.

Well that is crap for a start, Madame.

I've just had my niece to stay. When she went home, she (or ratherI) had to pay £30 for a few extra kilos in her bag. Can't see that paying for extra kilos on body is nay different.

I fly a lot-luckily to SE Asian where most people are small and slim-apart from a sprinkling of sweaty white fat peope, flight is usually bliss (and noone drinks either so calm too).

getorf did you mean peut etre

peut etre