It's an increasingly popular question; should hugely obese people pay for two seats when they buy their flight tickets (or any other travel tickets)?
I believe that certain airlines are already asking VERY big passengers to buy a second seat (refusal means they don't fly), and other companies are charging a 'Fat Tax'.
The silliest thing is that someone weighing-in at 8 stone is only allowed the same baggage weight as someone weighing 30 stone. It makes nonsense of the whole caboodle.
I don't do much flying these days; dogs and chickens have seen to that, but Lady Magnon flies quite often and the question of baggage weight limits drives her crazy. Does the picture above touch a nerve?
Morning Cro - the chap in the picture looks like he's already carrying his baggage allowance round with him. I wonder how the stewards managed to walk up and down the aisle with him taking all the space up. Perhaps they should designs planes with seats twice as large carrying half as many people and charging them twice as much.
ReplyDeleteAnd how would they get their trollies past him?
DeleteIf you take up twice as much room you should pay for it..fairly simple and logical I think
ReplyDeleteOne would have thought so...
DeleteYes, they should -- if only because it's hugely unfair to the person unlucky enough to be seated next to them... I do think, though, they should also get twice the baggage allowance!
ReplyDeleteTwo tickets; two lots of baggage. Yes!
DeleteAt a minimum, aircraft should be designed to provide legroom sufficient for a 6' 2" male of the species (and should calculate fares accordingly)! I wonder if perhaps the commercial time has come when passengers receive a general anaesthetic on boarding and are flown in some sort of racking system?
ReplyDeleteWith a real airline you'd receive an injection as you showed your lucky drawer ticket, with the laughable likes of Ryanair and EasyJet the passenger would receive a blow to the head with a mallet and be piled loose until the fusilage was full.
This sounds dreadfully Japanese. Personally I'd like to be 'out-cold and horizontal' on any flight over 2 hrs.
DeleteYour last dozen or so posts have been about food, so I blame you for the situation.
ReplyDeleteLarge people might prefer paying for two seats if it means they get two in-flight meals.
ReplyDeleteOr (in my case) pay less NOT to have to eat in-flight meals.
DeleteI have compassion for people who are morbidly obese as their lot in life is not easy. However, the room you have on an airplane has shrunk considerably in recent years while the girth of the population has grown. It is a problem and I must admit that I don't like having to share my small space with someone who is making it even more small and uncomfortable for me.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing funny about morbid obesity, but there's nothing funny about being pinned into a seat by someone's overhang hanging over into your space, either. Sorry for their embarrassment, but if they're taking up extra space, they need to be paying for it. (Either that, or give the person pinned in next to them a discount!)
ReplyDeleteI just hope when I fly, that I am not in the middle seat next to this guy.
ReplyDeleteI haven't flown in 9 years, although i must say that i've found since i'm short, people sitting next to me think it's perfectly all right to claim both arm rests and use all the overhead storage space because i have a problem reaching it.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't fit into the seat, i should think they could say it's a safety hazard--how does the guy buckle his seat belt? What is the liability if there's turbulence and Tubby who can't be strapped in, bounces around and hits someone who is strapped in and unable to move out of the way?
I'm not asking in a cheeky way, but in all seriousness. I've worked with some morbidly obese people and of whom i was quite fond, but it was painful to watch them try to navigate in certain situations. Like Gulliver in Lilliput.
Frankly, if i'm 8 stone, i ought to be able to be allowed the same weight as a morbidly obese passenger if we're charged the same price. So, if he's carrying an extra 10 stone on his body, can't i have an extra piece of luggage without paying for it??
Oh, and for that rude man i thought of who hogged all the overhead space? I stood on his seat with my shoes on, opened the hatch, unceremoniously shoved his stuff over, and place my carry-on bag there. He made is way back from the loo, and looked appalled. I told him i needed to put my carry-on there as the gent behind me was tall and could use the extra room.
this fellow above obviously needs two seats. So, he should get twice the luggage allowance, and twice the meals. It's only fair. I sometimes travel with very tall friends, and it is painful for them to be tucked up for so very long. If we all want to pay more for more room, flights are going to get very very expensive.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the day when we can be molecularly beamed from one location to another, a la Star Trek.
Beam me up, Tara!
DeleteI have to say I am not so proud to have a cousin and his wife..yes both of them that are built similar to this! Yes it is annoying as Wendy often complains about how we ordinary built people feel about this subject.They both went on an Antarctic flight a regular thing from Sydney all the family panicked as we wondered what was going to happen when they all looked out the same side!They bring this situation on themselves Cro,we have visited them and they have taken us out to an all you can eat restraunt and honestly by the end of our first plate they had ,had 3 and we were almost embarrassed when they were still going about 1 hour later!then they grumble that the plane seats are too small..I noticed this happens at the movies for them too..how uncomfortable that man looks..poor buggar.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you go about it, this is a situation with very little solution. So, I think the one chosen is probably correct. If you are taking up more than your seat, then you should pay extra. It's sad, it's uncomfortable, but any other way is going to be offensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. That was interesting.
ReplyDelete