Because it takes up extra space, costs more money for the companies, and would require work on every airline plane in service. Its a waste of everyone's time and money. If you are too fat to fit in the seats then get two or move to first class.

In this case, yes, yes it would.

Ok I hope I don't offend anyone but here goes....

We had a discussion about this in my English class last semester when someone brought up an article that had been written about America becoming larger and larger. One of the points brought up was, if companies begin to accommodate larger people will that just make the obesity problem worse? If you're uncomfortable about not fitting into seats and such would that motivate you to diet?

Of course on the other side of things if you're larger and you find a place (i.e. clothing store etc) that offers what you need you're likely to spend more money there. So it may not be good for America's waistline, but it could be an untapped market for companies. Just a thought.

On a different note....

Over the summer while I worked at Cedar Point I noticed that the newer coasters tend to have smaller seats. It's hard to explain to someone who just paid $44 that they can't fit on a ride. Sometimes girls with large chests couldn't fit onto rides that had chest harnesses so it wasn't just a problem for larger people.

Well, if they are going to make a "customer of size" pay double :rolleyes:, then I want to pay only half, because my sister and I are small enough that we could share a seat.

Remembering back to when I was little, there were VERY few clothing options for larger women. There are lots more now. It hasn't changed the American perception that fat is bad.

People are larger than they used to be in general - height as well as weight. If you don't believe me, go to a vintage store and try to fit into the clothes. Average height has gone up something like 4 inches since the early part of the 1900's. (yes, I am too lazy to find figures)

Wow 33, you and Rudey owned a car together? I had no idea.

har, I guess it did sound that way. Actually this is the car my mom went to the hospital in when she was in LABOR with me.

This is my problem, and why I always insist on an aisle seat. I figure I can lean into the aisle so the pervert in the middle doesn't feel the need to "subtlely" grope me.

I'm still saying that 33girl's optional bench seat is the best idea brought up thus far.

lol, thats funny.

I wonder if this could apply to really muscular men with wide shoulders?

okay, a couple things.

1) I have a very large chest and roller coaster rides suck b/c either my boobs hurt the whole time b/c I have to pull the safety brace in too hard, or I feel like I am going to fall out the entire ride.

2) I think that airlines should make people pay for two seats if they cannot fit into one. Seats on all of the airlines I have been on are of sufficient size. I don't think that it is fair that just b/c someone is that overweight that they cannot fit into a regulation seat that they should - FOR FREE have two seats available to them for their comfort while the rest of us are not at will to spread are legs and relax. I know people who I am sure that many of you would consider obese and they have no problem fitting into regular seats and keeping to themselves. If someone is that overweight that they need two seat, then I think that they should have to pay for it. It is no one elses problem other that their own that they are THAT overweight that they need 2 seats.

Or ILS?

People who take up two seats at the movies should also have to pay for two movie tickets. (The theatres around here have arm rests that raise up on both sides~which is good if you want to cuddle with your S.O.) Why should you get two seats and pay the same for a ticket as me?

OOOH I can't stand this. I have no objections to it if the theater is empty (this summer I went to matinee that had like 5 people in the whole place) but I hate nothing more than when a movie is full and you can't sit by your friends because somebody is sprawled across two seats and won't move, so three of you go in one place and two go in the other.

I have actually had to get my seat moved.

I was stuck with a middle seat (I'm usually an aisle person) on a relatively full flight. Unfortunately for me, the people in the aisle and window seats were rather large. Large enough that neither of them fit in their own seats...so there was about 8 inches of room for me. (I fit in plane seats just fine)

I stood there for a minute and waved an attendant over. The flight attendant actually told me just to sit there and she'd see what they could do. I looked at her, looked at the 1/3 of my seat, and laughed at her.

I got a new seat rather quickly, but I'm thankful the flight wasn't full. They would have had to bump somebody, because most children couldn't fit in the space left.

I agree with the post that airlines should make planes with an additional section with larger seats that would be more expensive -- although I don't see how this is that different from first class?

If someone is too large to fit in their seat and only bought one ticket, they shouldn't get an extra seat free, where would that seat come from? especially if the plane is full! If they want to purchase 2 seats, they can maybe get a 25% discount?

I personally have seen many large people fit fine in coach seats, so Im guessing one would have to be pretty big to actually require 2 seats. Wouldnt it be uncomfortable to sit across 2 seats though? I think the larger more expensive seats would be better...

I kept hearing about the two seats for larger peole but have never actually experienced it myself. Whenever I've flown most of the people in my row happened to be of average weight and I never saw a person take up two seats. I could understand the annoyance though if you were squashed against someone who was taking up part of your seat though. Would be miserable

It's bad enough to be smushed between people of size (and I'm no Calista Flockhart so I'm not trying to cast stones... but I can easily fit into the seat and seatbelt) but then have the guy in front of you lean the seat ALLLLLLLLLLL the way back... and you can't get to yours to also lean back because the rude seatmates have flipped up the armrests. Personally, if the person next to me puts it up, I put it right back down. If I don't know you, I don't want you to be touching me.

I think it's United that has some rows with more legroom (at a higher charge of course). Why could there not be wider seats, also at a higher charge and it be clearly enforced that if you need seatbelt extenders you can't be in the discounted seats... wouldn't be as expensive as buying two seats but would alleviate some of the problem

As long as we are sharing our pet peeves about riding in the cattle car I have another one. How about actually ENFORCING the carryon rules?

Tell me about it! :mad: My favorite: People who stick their carry-ons in the overhead bin by row 5 and then proceed to their seats in row 23. By the time the folks in row 5 board, all the bins near them are full and they have to check their bags.

Then there was the time the woman sitting next to me in the bulkhead row threw a hissy fit because the flight attendant asked her to put her handbag in the overhead bin.

As for reclining seats - I was on a full transpacific (12+ hour) flight where the guy in front of me insisted on reclining his seat allll the way back. I asked him if he wouldn't mind bringing his seat up just a little so I could get out of my seat, and he went completely postal. I had to get the purser to shut him up. :rolleyes:

Ah, air rage...

</hijack>

Interesting topic.


I haven't been able to fall asleep. It's now 6am and this thread has made me a bit cranky. This is probably the longest and crankiest post I have ever written on GC so if you can't handle it, too bad. :p


Ok, so my father worked for the airline industry for 32 years.....


1) Yes, airlines are mostly about the $$$. They are NOT going to make seats bigger just because there is a slight chance that *maybe* 1 person out of 300 passengers on a flight will be too big for the seat.


2) Bench seats are a silly and unsafe idea. Sorry. During turbulance or an air emergency, the seat is meant to help keep passengers secure. Bench seating does not offer the same back and side stability a regular seat has. Besides, how does the airline calculate precisely how many people to put on the bench? How do they calculate where to place the seatbelts and trays? Do they get armrests too? I mean, how do they listen to the music stations? Let's see, if we take a seat, add seatbelts, a tray table and armrests....viola! You now have a regular passenger seat.


3) There is a "middle class" section on some aircraft, it's called the "business section".


4) Adding bigger coach seats? Eh??? As someone pointed out before, do you all realize how big of an undertaking it would be to retrofit ALL aircraft currently in service by ALL airlines WORLDWIDE???


5) Bigger coach seats - part two: Why would an airline want to add one or two rows of slightly larger coach class seats? I mean, wouldn't they have to charge more for those seats? If so, what would distinguish those seats from first class? After all, part of the attraction of premium first class seats is the bigger chair and more leg room. If you want more space, you're supposed to purchase a first or business class ticket.


6) Bigger coach seats - part three: Say the airline did make an "oversized" row or two on the aircraft and reserved them for overweight passengers. Do you think that perhaps they might start to be know as the "fat rows" thereby humiliating the passengers occupying those seats? Do you think that overweight people will want to be segregated that way?


7) Wheelchairs on aircraft. There is no "wheelchair space" on an aircraft. Passengers using wheelchairs are assisted into a specially built wheelchair by airline staff and their regular wheelchair is checked as baggage. This special-built wheelchair is called a "stair chair" and is built to be narrow enough to fit down the aisle of the aircraft. It also has handles on the bottom enabling two employees to carry the whole contraption up and down stairs should boarding not be conducted via the jetway (hence the name). The passenger is then assisted from the stair chair into his or her seat on the aircraft. The process is reversed at the destination.


8) While it's a nice concept, giving a passenger a reduced fare for double occupancy based on whether or not their weight is a result of overeating or medical causes would open up a huge can of worms. With people already having to check in way early for extra security screenings, provide IDs and such, do you really now want the ticket and gate agents to have to take the extra time to review medical documents for overweight passengers? As an overweight passenger, would *you* want to have to discuss your medical history with an airline employee? No? Then how is the airline supposed to determine the cause of a passenger's obesity? Simply telling the airline isn't good enough. Why? Because then, all of a sudden, allllllll of the overweight people claim that they have a bona fide medical problem. Who is going to admit that they overate if it means that their double-occupancy rate will not be discounted? Plus, won't you have the overeaters trying to claim that their eating too much is a result of a food addiction which they'd argue is a medical disorder?


8) Muscular men with wide shoulders??? What, shoulders sooooo wide that they sprawl out into the space of the passengers on either side? Get real, James. Sometimes you bring an interesting argument into the mix....but not today. "lol"


9) The idea of possibly offering the second seat at a 25% discount sounds like the only reasonable idea offered thus far. However, a round trip coach ticket from Los Angeles to New York-JFK costs $637. With that rate, to get two seats with the 2nd at 25% off, the total is $1,115. A business class ticket on the same flight costs $1,037. On a slightly different itinerary from Los Angeles to New York-JFK with first class service on all connecting flights, the ticket is $1,042. Anyone see the problem here?


10) This bears repeating......on each flight, how many overweight passengers truly requiring two seats do you all think there will be?? Thankfully, this is not a super common experience. Some overweight people can fit into the seat and only need a seatbelt extender. Every once and a while you get that one who really should purchase two seats. That one passenger out of some 1,000+ is hardly a call for an airline making their seats bigger, adding an oversize row or creating "bench seating". That one passenger out of 1,000+ can purchase two seats or upgrade to business or first.


Again, I acknowledge that my post has been a bit cranky. I was cranky which I first read this thread two days ago and it's still making me cranky. It doesn't help that I've been awake all night. I don't see what the big deal is asking passgeners to purchase a second seat or upgrade if they cannot reasonably and *safely* fit into a regular one.


.....Kelly :)