Obese should buy two plane seats, says Australia survey

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Give me a break. I am not hunting for a chance to insult anyone. If a person is claiming to be 6 feet tall 240lbs and not obese, I am simply showing them that clinically they are. There is a definition

person has traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 percent over their ideal weight. That ideal weight must take into account the person's height, age, sex, and build.

Obesity has been more precisely defined by the National Institutes of Health (the NIH) as a BMI of 30 and above. (A BMI of 30 is about 30 pounds overweight.)
[\ex]

His BMI is 35.

reply to post by jedimiller


if you can garentee to fit in a normal seat without invading the personal space of someone else then you have every right
if you cross the chair line then i would be with the people who want their personal space)

The personal snipes and off topic posts cease now.
Anymore and warnings will ensue.

Mod Note: Posting Conduct… Play The Ball – Please Review This Link.

I think people should be charged for excess baggage as well irrespective of where it is located, bags or waist! Why is I can get charged for excess baggage when the weight of me and my bags is less than one of these obese idiots? It makes no logical sense whatsovere.

At the check-in the weighing machine is modified to accommodate one person and their baggage. The bench auto measures the width of the person and their total combined weight. Extra charges are applied for excess weight and/or wider seats.

Whilst we are at it: the overhead lockers are designed so that there is one numbered locker per seat.

Originally posted by jedimiller

Originally posted by Karlhungis
At 6'4", 240lbs... your BMI is 33 and you are obese. Your ideal weight 6' 0" 160 - 196 lbs.

those charts are for fools!

I hear you. I'm 6'2" and I way almost 240 at the moment. My BMI is over 30 so I'm obese according to their chart. Just to give you an idea of how far off those charts are, at 220 my bodyfat is below 10% and you can start seeing a six-pack.

The BMI index is only for people who don't do weight bearing exercise. Obesity is something you don't need a scale for. You know it when you see it.


If I eat this entire piece of fudge will they make me buy another seat?



[edit on 12-12-2007 by dbates]

I'm going to take the middle ground here. It does make sense for airlines to charge for two seats if a person cannot reasonably fit into one seat. It does make sense that a smaller person should be entitled to a refund that represents half the ticket price if an obese/overweight/fat person is taking up half of their seat. We all love to get what we pay for and get paid fairly for what we offer. The problem is, as some have already pointed out, is that no matter how you slice it it, targeting overweight/obese/fat people is discriminatory. It is. It doesn't matter if it's their choice or not to be the way they are. Do well developed and physically attractive people have to pay anything extra? What about "normal" sized people who only look bad and/or smell bad? Do the elderly have to pay extra? Airlines only really look good when they have young, beautiful, and affluent people using their planes and making the airlines look choice, so catering to any folks other than that could cause image problems for the airline. Just check any airline travel brochure to get what I'm talking about. Given that, should all the Wal-Mart shoppers of the world have to pay extra?

My point is, while I know that there probably is some poor soul, a frequent flier, who always seems to get the fat person sitting next to him or her, by and large most fliers don't have to deal with it that often or even at all. I think that the best solution is to make personal accommodations for people different than ourselves, even on a plane. Just deal with it. I'm not overweight and in defense of overweight people, I'm just saying that there's always going to be something that bugs folks about other folks when traveling on mass-transit. My biggest personal beef is sitting next to someone whose body and breath smells like an ashtray. When that happens I have fits and fears of breathing second hand smoke even though no smoke is present, just the smell of smoked cigarettes or cigars from the person next to me. No offense, but it's truly disgusting to me. So, should that person have to pay extra for fouling the smell of my airspace? Should I get a 50% refund due to a gag reflex clause on my ticket's terms and conditions that compensate for those who travel and suffer poor air quality due to the personal hygiene of others who sit next to that person?

See? It gets pretty ridiculous pretty quickly. Airlines, buses, and trains should definitely design for comfort more often. More trips and ticket prices to match. And folks should increase their tolerance for types of persons they are not that fond of. Some people LOVE fat people. Some people LOVE their cigarettes and cigars. Yet if we're traveling together then we've got to compromise ourselves to accommodate the different types of people we are likely to come into close contact and quarters with. It's better that we just deal with it like DeadFlagBlues did. People are people.

Only youthful, gorgeous size 0 people should be allowed on planes.
Anyone else is an eyesore/inconvenience.

Others who should pay double ( to deter them from flying at all) should be...
the great unwashed ...people with bad breath....people who snore....people with frequency problems.....people who won't shut up....children.....people who are too tall and take up too much leg room....

the list goes on.......and yes I'm being facetious to prove that once you start to go down that road, the bar keeps getting higher and higher and until we ALL will be paying double because no one is PERFECT.

Obese/overweight people should have to state that they are obese at time of seat booking so all the fatties can be seated next to each other. Problem solved.

[edit on 12-12-2007 by Flighty]

I cannot stand it when people are politically insensitive. It is even more of an outrage when it is an inanimate object like a airline seat in coach makes a person feel shamed and humiliated. These seats should be required to receive sensitivity training.

I reckon they should just ban fat people from flying altogether. I've been stuck on flights before sitting next a a big fat smelly bag of spuds snoring his head of and crushing me up against the window. I looked at him in contempt and thought you fat bastard why don't you lose some weight.

Ban the lot of them i say.

Anything to take the focus off of smokers... Let’s tax the hell out of them. Their per cubic output of flatulence is arguably much more than your normal weighted passenger...

reply to post by benign.psychosis


Thank you, benign.psychosis, for a well-put argument against humiliating our fellow human beings for the sake of airline profits. I can still recall flying overseas as a child when they actually had a coat closet in the front of the plane if you wanted to hang your coat. Of course, they took that out so they could cram three more seats into the plane. In recent years, they've also reduced the amount of fresh air coming into the plane-- too bad they can't blame that on overweight people too-- they use too much air! I'm 5'3", 107 lbs., should I get a reduced ticket? I'd rather not if it meant humiliating (and judging) people to make them pay more. While we're at it, let's charge double for screaming children. Or people with bad breath. I agree it can be uncomfortable being seated next to someone who might be overweight, but given the choice, I'd prefer it to a screaming baby or someone who won't shut up even when you're trying to sleep. When hundreds of people are crammed in a plane for hours, it's not really going to be fun, is it? We could help save the airlines money if we let them remove all the seats and stood us up on little x's marked on the floor for the entire flight too. If I wouldn't turn to the person next to me and say "you're too fat to sit next to me", then it certainly seems cowardly to want the airline to do my dirty work for me. It's my opinion, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

reply to post by Cowgirlstraitup7


With all due respect, the Doctor is the one who screwed up.

reply to post by kattraxx


How is it humiliating to a fat person who spills into a 2nd seat to ask them to pay for the two seats? 1 ticket, one seat. How in the world is that humiliating them? Like they don't know they are fat and spill into a second seat?

Why would YOU get a reduced fare for taking up the appropriate amount of space? 1 ticket, 1 seat. Bad breath, screaming kids, big boobs.... these things while annoying (except the big boobs), don't occupy two seats.

Originally posted by scientist

Originally posted by wyldwylly
since I'm "Taller" than "most" does that mean I must pay for an isle seat just so my head doesn't hit the roof?

If it's a comfort issue, then yes. People should have to pay extra for comfort, but not for accommodation. Technically, it's a handicap.

Which is why I don't Fly, I will not pay extra just cause I need to sit in the isle seat, all seats are the same, except for first, business class, which in my book are WAAAAAY outrageous in price. You'd think after how many years we've had Air Travel that things would be better for the whole instead of just for the few. But even those few still find time to complain about the whole. /shrugs.

EDIT:
.. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, as I'm just trying to make my point about price gouging! The Airlines do it, and people help them do it by putting down other people and causing people to bicker back and forth on forums, since normally they wouldn't act this way, Face to Face!

[edit on 12/12/2007 by wyldwylly]

Hey every cloud has a silver lining.. they should be happy about it, they get two meals!

Seriously though, I had to sit next to a rather large man for 4 hours a couple of years ago and it isn't fair having someone leaning on you and invading your space all the way. I know it may be offensive to large people and some of them can't help being a certain weight but if you are disabled, you have to book a specific seat, if you are particularly tall, you might have to pay for extra leg room and if have special dietry needs, you might have to pay slightly more for your meal. Obesity is the only one of the above that would affect other passengers and i think it is only fair that they should have to have two seats if one is not enough.

reply to post by RogerT


Hey Doc, some illnesses cause huge amounts of water weight gain. I saw it in my friend before his organ transplant. He went from a normal size to twice his weight very quickly, then back again. All water weight. Next time you're judging someone's lifestyle, please consider that they might actually be ill. So even if you believe overweight people don't deserve kindness, perhaps the ill might.

[P.S.] Great topic, KarlHungis.

There is an extremely small percentage of obese people who actually have some kind of disorder that makes them fat.

It's just like depression in a way.

reply to post by paul76


i've only been sat on once in the dozens of flights i can remember but that 1 flight has remained forever inbedded in my brain-----------i dont want to hate anyone but when they sit on you without your consent it gets hard to be nice and maintain your composure----------i thank G-D quite frequently that even though i'm not pretty to look at and have many failings----------i'm grateful to be thin---------i used to weigh 145 lbs. till a guy at school 40+ years ago felt sorry for me and took me under his wing--------and showed me how to lift weights and eat sensible meals----------i gained 10 lbs of muscle that never left me---and the strength to go with it----only 1 problem injured my back trying to lift too much weight for it-----moderation is required for a balanced life style

Would anyone like to sit between these two?

That is the real issue here... There is a third seat in between these two...imagine how uncomfortable your flight would be?

Is it really that offensive to expect over weight people to buy an extra seat?

Originally posted by Thurisaz

Would anyone like to sit between these two?

That is the real issue here... There is a third seat in between these two...imagine how uncomfortable your flight would be?

Is it really that offensive to expect over weight people to buy an extra seat?

Forgive me if this comes across as cruel but if I was forced to be sandwiched between them two, I would demand that the airline give me free round-trip vouchers for a couple of future flights.
This or get credited 100 miles for every pound that the combined weight exceeds the average weight of a normal sized person.
Seems only fair.

If enough people do the same you can bet your arse that the airlines will finally crack [no pun] and give in.

Sorry, don't mean to be cruel and thoughtless but the problem with obese people, at least the ones that have sat next to me in the past, is that they seem to have complete disregard for my space and comfort.
I'm a very forgiving person but they didn't take my feelings and concerns into account at all. It was almost as if I didn't exist and not once did they ever apologize.

Give me some empathy man!

If I were obese I would at least try to sit alone somewhere that was free or travel during non busy flight times.