Obese should buy two plane seats, says Australia survey

Obese should buy two plane seats, says Australia survey

www.smh.com.au

Almost two-thirds of the 2810 respondents (63 per cent) believed obese people should be charged for an additional seat, answering that they did not want to share the seat they had paid for.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I agree with the survey. When you are paying hundreds of dollars to fly somewhere, I don't think you should have to have someone else half sitting in your seat.

What do you think? Good call, or insensitive and unfair?

www.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good call and insensitive.

Maybe thats the problem with society today. Too sensitive.

I think it's unfair. Maybe the best option should be the Air plane companies start to make a few "especial" sits for obese people. But at a normal price, because to be a obese is very similar to be sic with a ilness.
Ill people should´nt must pay more then others.

reply to post by Umbra Sideralis


I disagree on it being an illness. You are implying that it isn't their fault. In some cases that is true, but in most cases it is a lifestyle choice. People choose to eat large portions. They choose to eat fast food. They choose not to exercise.... etc.

I don't think that they should be allowed to get a "special" seat at a normal fare. This would mean that it is the responsibility of the airline to pay for their obesity. More space being allowed for the "special" obese seats, means fewer seats can be put on a plane. Which translates to lower profits for the airline.

Either way you cut it, if they aren't paying for an extra seat or paying a premium for a larger seat, then they are burdening someone else. Either burdening the people who paid full price for half of a seat, or burdening the airline who has to deal with fewer seats to accomidate for the obese passengers.

I thinks it's fair, some people do have a glandular problem, but others are just... y'know, fat. Special seats for those with a problem sure. But for those who just couldn't be bothered to get outside or eat better? No.

I have a personal story.

I was 13, and in charge of my 8 year old little brother.. We had to be separated because of an error in the program. He ended up sitting 4 rows behind me, and he wasn't too happy about it. We're flying from Dallas, Ft. Worth to Salt Lake international and mid-flight, # starts hitting the fan. It was like a movie. The lights started flickering, there was huge drops in altitude, only to swing back upwards again. The Stewardess' were trying to get back to their jump seats falling all over the place. I wasn't scared, but I looked back to see my brother crying and that pissed me off because I couldn't do anything about it trapped between an old woman and an overweight guy.

They had given me those cheesy headphones to listen to their music, so I plug them in trying to calm myself down about the whole situation and I look at the channel selector..


I look again in disbelief.


The guy next to me had fallen asleep, but his lovehandle had popped out of it's designated area and seemingly swallowed my arm rest. While all this chaos is going on, I just focus on this huge slab of meat hanging over my god damn arm rest. I had country music blasting in my ear, and me being the punk rocker I was, wasn't about to hear that. Most awkward situation I've been in my entire life up to that point. The next most awkward moment came when I tried to navigate under the side flab to turn the value down, maybe even make an attempt on a station change. I eased my finger between his personal luggage and onto the button. As soon as I was about to press it he woke up and it was a the most awkward staredown ever. Hand in the cookie jar, my friends.

The funniest part was how I just slide my finger back from underneath his gut and looked straight forward and dealt quite well with the country music until the turbulence was over. I wonder what he was thinking when he was trying to calm himself from the turbulence and the kid next to him is playing with his fat? Weird, man... Weird.


For all over-weight citizens who don't have a health clearance, they should buy more space. It's not fair that we have to feel squeezed into any situation because another can't manage their weight. I personally could care less, but that would seem more fair for the general populous.

reply to post by DeadFlagBlues


Thanks for sharing. I had to laugh. That was a good story.

good! Glad the survey suggests this.

About time. Ever had to sit next to an over weight person?

I have, many times. Why should I have to put up with them leaning on me?

AND... prolly mean but overweight people also have more body odor...

yes, that is generalising, but it is true.

I find it offensive!

Why should the airline have to put in bigger seats to cater for overweight people with no extra cost for the ticket?

That is rubbish, I had to pay for my child to fly, why don't they make little kiddy seats to cater for their little bums? Lets have a kiddy section too. The tickets would have to be cheaper if the seat is smaller.

Also, by weight, each person pays by kilo. The person who is heavier uses more fuel than the person who is lighter.

Yes, I can just imagine the new system, when you go through the scanners, it also weighs you and like excess baggage, you pay when you are over a certain threshold.

Star for DeadFlagBlues, that was the funniest thing I've read all night.

And congratulations on being about 50 times more polite than me. I would have simply woke the man and told him to get off my arm rest. If he gave me any attitude about it I would have said "Just keep your heft off my headphone controls and we'll be cool, capische?"

reply to post by mattifikation


Oh, there would be nothing but a "Hey, are you really sleeping during this #?! Get off my side so I can change this Brooke's and Dunn, Jesus..."

I do miss the glory days though. Everything was "experimental." Cool experience though. Haven't feared flying since. As far as I'm concerned, nothing could rival that sort of chaos on that small a scale. It was quite incredible. Thank god the dude gave me something to focus on, or I would have been losing it like the rest of the people.

You guys sure that these "Survey" results aren't just a divide-and-conquer scheme by the elites/corporations to get us to thinking that the fat people are the problem, while ignoring the REAL problem? -

WE ALL KNOW, DAMN GOOD AND WELL, THAT NORMAL AIRPLANE SEATS ARE TOO SMALL FOR MOST PEOPLE!!

The only rational thing to do is to make the seats bigger. Instead, public perception is being skewed by survey results (are they even real? They were done by a travel agency?) that lead you join a certain cause as it is seemingly more accepted by the masses - in this case, the cause is the discrimination of the obese for corporate profit. Don't look past the simple fact that airline seats are entirely too small by blaming it on a group of people in an attempt to rationalize it!

THERE IS NO RATIONAL JUSTIFICATION FOR SMALL AIRLINE SEATS!

If you sit next to any average person on an airline, they are either stealing the armrest in the middle, you are stealing it, or you are both being polite and leaving it open! There aren't too many airlines that have TWO middle armrests, and if they do, they are 1/2 inch away from each other, so you'll still be touching the person next to you if you both decide to use yourst. That is, unless you're forearms are 1 1/2 inch wide!

If this is accepted, the next thing you know, body builders will be required to purchase two seats. So will tall people, and people with extra wide shoulders! If you got really long legs, you'll be required to purchase the seat it front of you to so your knees arent bothering the guy in front of you. How about passing a smellometer on the way into the plane, and being forced to buy all the seats in your general vacinity... or being told you have to take a shower first!

I'm 6'2, 210, and muscular, not obese... but I'm always bunched up when I'm in a normal airline seat. Ever fly international? They usually cram more people into a tighter space, and I can barely fit my hips/thighs in those seats! For 16 hours! Imagine how an obese person feels! Much worse than a skinny pencil neck, I bet!

Right now they are just concentrating on obese people because people can associate them with sweaty, hairy, smelly, breathing hard... once the cream-of-the-crop excuses are dead and gone by forcing obese people to buy two seats, they can concentrate on the body builders, and the really tall, long-legged people! This is only being persued because it is the model that will allow for the most profit for the circumstances. The simple fact is that the airlines have crammed people as close together as they can, and now they are focusing on a subset of people for more profit.

Design the system around the human, not the human around the system.

Don't lose track of the manipulators and the enemy of humanity: the artificial profit driven corporate machines - not your fellow human being - no matter how much their lovehandles flop over into your seat!

This is stupid! you should'nt have to pay twice. have larger seats for the larger people and charge them the same as everyone else. it's discrimination what those airlines are doing. hope this makes sense.

reply to post by jedimiller


Please justify why you should have the right to take up half of someone elses seat that they payed for? Or justify why the airline should pay to transport your extra gerth?

It isn't discrimination to force people to check their carry-on bags if they are too large. Perhaps they should come up with a similar system for passengers. Everyone should have to sit in a chair after they go through the metal detectors. If you can't fit in it properly, you can't fly or must pay for a bigger seat. It only seems fair to me.

If you take up two seats, you should pay for two. That's common sense if you ask me. One the other side you have to buy an individual seat for kids over 2 even if they both fit into one. I know Southwest has a policy where they make you purchase an extra seat if you don't fit inside of the arm rests. If the flight doesn't fill up they refund you the cost of one of the seats. Fair enough.

Face it, you've got to be a real fat-so to need two seats. At 240 I fit just fine in-between the arm rests of a single seat. If you're big enough to need two seats you've got real health issues.

Great story DeadFlagBlues. Reminds me of the time I was at Six Flags and they wouldn't let a lady ride a roller coaster because she was too fat for the safety bar to go over her gut. The ride operators were trying to push the bar down, but it wouldn't go. I was half expecting her to start screaming in agony. They just gave up and asked her to get out of the car. She had to have been embarassed. No roller-coasters for you. You're too fat.

Larger seats are available in many airlines, but you can't fly in coach. Upgrade to business class. It's cheaper and more comfortable than two seats.

Originally posted by Karlhungis
Please justify why you should have the right to take up half of someone elses seat that they payed for? Or justify why the airline should pay to transport your extra gerth?

Because those seats are really, really small. they should have larger seats so the large people can fit into them and not take up another seat. I am not large and I'm not defending them, I am saying it's stupid to have a large person pay for 2 seats because the airlines were too stupid to design the seats small versions.

Choicers vs. Non-Choicers


Essentially, this is another debate between choicers-nonchoicers. You will always have those who claim "it is not my choice that I am overweight". I could go into many other claims of non-choice by other groups, but I dont want to offend anyone and besides, the last time I did it, I lost a lot of allies here.

Modern cry-baby mentality has it that its all "genetic" and that we are not responsible for our experience of life. But from all I have seen, these things are a CHOICE...all of them (even the ones I am not mentioning).

I have no problem with obese people, but I wish some of them would at least assume responsibility.

I ocassionally smoke cigarettes and take full responsibility for possible health risks. I wouldnt blame the tobacco company. I wouldnt blame health insurance for charging more.

So if we understand that obesity is a choice, then anyone taking up two seats needs to be charged two seats. Of course.

Originally posted by dbates
If you take up two seats, you should pay for two. That's common sense if you ask me.

I definitely agree there. And if the plane is full, maybe they should pay for the extra weight too. Can't have a huge bag but you can have a huge person? makes no sense to me.

Larger seats are available in many airlines, but you can't fly in coach. Upgrade to business class. It's cheaper and more comfortable than two seats.

And, if it's in the middle, you are four times more likely to die! And if it's in the front, twice as likely! Looking at the statistics here at least. In fact, if you sit in the middle you sit on top of the reserve fuel tank:

(taken from something off boeings website I think)



[edit on 11-12-2007 by apex]

Skyfloating you are one of my friends. So i respect what you said, I just don't think it's funny or right for people to treat overweight people in such discriminatory way. Do you know where i'm coming from?


I think the airlines should then construct an airplane for all the overweight users then. call it the "Large Plane". "All over 300 please go to terminal X" and this plane would have larger seats all around, at the same price compared to the regular people.

They should eliminate the per-seat rate and switch to a cubic-foot rate.

That way they can make up for the displaced air, the weight imbalance on the plane (especially if Shamu gets a window seat... God help us if it's the one with the emergency exit), not to mention the extra fuel needed to propel their McBlubber butt.

The guy next to me had fallen asleep, but his lovehandle had popped out of it's designated area and seemingly swallowed my arm rest.

I lost some scrambled egg over that.

[edit on 11-12-2007 by apc]