Man has to stand for 7 hour flight due to fatty next to him.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ggforever

Sorry, but the arm rest does divide the "space" you are renting on that particular flight with the airline. If you need two seats then you should pay for the extra space. A seat belt extension should mean you pay at least 1/2 price to purchase the seat next to you. Also, if you read my post, my husband would never feel victimized.

Yes, you made it clear that your husband does not allow himself to feel victimized. If you read my post, you'll see that what I was saying is that talking about this kind of problem in terms of "rights" and "victimization" is overdoing it and doesn't help anything. If anything, it invites people to to feel victimized.

What I was responding to were these bits:

Originally Posted by ggforever

Because the other passenger allowed himself to be victimized. Had the passenger not allowed the arm rest up, there would have been no place for the obese man to sit and he would have had to go on another flight. If everyone would keep arm rests down and not allow them to be raised so someone can "fit" into the next seat then this would stop. We are all so PC that we do not want to hurt the feelings of an obese person. Believe me, the obese passenger knows they are large.

and this:

Originally Posted by ggforever

Other passengers need to start standing up for their rights. My husband has a VERY firm "arm rest down" policy. If someone says they are not comfortable with it down, he just tells them he is not comfortable with it up.

As far as I'm concerned it isn't about being PC at all -- it's about being a gentleman. I was raised to believe that I have an obligation to be considerate of others regardless of whether they are being considerate of me. And I've learned over the years that a primary benefit of this approach to life is that it makes me a generally happier person.

I agree that the arm rest is a divider and that we would all rather not have others in our "personal space." And as I said, I prefer the arm rest down. That said, I would never make an issue of it. If the person next to me said they are not comfortable with it down, I wouldn't just tell them that I prefer it down and insist on my way because it's my right. I'd try to work something out in as friendly a manner as possible (including, if necessary, asking a flight attendant if another seat was available, and telling the person next to me that I was going to move so he could be more comfortable).

My very firm policy is that I would rather be uncomfortable on a plane than behave like an a$$ on a plane.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

As far as I'm concerned it isn't about being PC at all -- it's about being a gentleman. I was raised to believe that I have an obligation to be considerate of others regardless of whether they are being considerate of me. And I've learned over the years that a primary benefit of this approach to life is that it makes me a generally happier person.

I agree that the arm rest is a divider and that we would all rather not have others in our "personal space." And as I said, I prefer the arm rest down. That said, I would never make an issue of it. If the person next to me said they are not comfortable with it down, I wouldn't just tell them that I prefer it down and insist on my way because it's my right. I'd try to work something out in as friendly a manner as possible (including, if necessary, asking a flight attendant if another seat was available, and telling the person next to me that I was going to move so he could be more comfortable).

My very firm policy is that I would rather be uncomfortable on a plane than behave like an a$$ on a plane.

I adore you. Having been on both sides of the situation (being encroached upon as well as having a hard time fitting in the seat) at different times in my life, I'd rather do away with bucket style seats in favor of bench style seats. The armrests take up very valuable space.

ETA: With the decreasing seat space, can we please do away with reclining coach seats. It's a hazard when someone is sitting in your lap. God forbid there should actually be an emergency! A person in a window seat whose forward neighbor has his/her seat back down is as good as dead. I have yet to be on a flight where the attendants actually force people to put their seat backs up, which makes it even more challenging to actually move once the flight has landed.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

I adore you. Having been on both sides of the situation (being encroached upon as well as having a hard time fitting in the seat) at different times in my life, I'd rather do away with bucket style seats in favor of bench style seats. The armrests take up very valuable space.

ETA: With the decreasing seat space, can we please do away with reclining coach seats. It's a hazard when someone is sitting in your lap. God forbid there should actually be an emergency! A person in a window seat whose forward neighbor has his/her seat back down is as good as dead. I have yet to be on a flight where the attendants actually force people to put their seat backs up, which makes it even more challenging to actually move once the flight has landed.

Amen on getting rid of the reclining coach seats. Nothing better than having someone's stinky head in your face. Also, amen on the seats and the pitch being ridiculously tiny and continuing to shrink. I'm pretty sure my 32 pound three year old would find it challenging to be comfortable in an airline seat. (OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but still).

[VandalSquirrel]

I've thankfully never flown USAirways, but I have done many a run from Fairbanks or Anchorage to the Lower 48 and even in peak tourist season many flights have some stop over in between Alaska and the east coast (Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, etc.). Not being able to buckle his seat belt and sitting on the aisle is also quite suspect, why didn't he alert a flight attendant or did a flight attendant notice his belt wasn't buckled?

The guy is allegedly a "frequent flier" but if one is they would know how to handle this and if it happened in July why is it now making news four months later? He claims to be worried about the safety issue but perhaps he should have done something about safety at the time and had it handled before takeoff?

I'm a window seat girl myself and never ever get up to get into the overhead compartment or to use the bathroom. As unpredictable and annoying as some small children can be sometimes I will swap seats to help out a family which ends up with a kid in the middle seat and my space is not encroached upon. I have been on some crazy full flights in and out of Alaska and maybe I am fabulously lucky but someone will always volunteer to switch seats around to increase the comfort of others or make the flight safe and legal.

I also just cruised www.seatguru.com and realized Alaska Airlines has some narrow seats at 17 inches. Much like christiangirl I can't be trusted with this caboose and a smile, but I can fit my Joan Holloway into their smaller seats. Maybe airlines should have some seats at the gate or the ticket counter for people to sit in, of course that has never worked with the carry on luggage examples so perhaps it would be the same situation. Carry on luggage is the bane of my travel life, I wish that policy was enforced.