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I've had people in my row on a plane (I always fly economy), sometimes next to me, that had to ask the flight attendant for a "seatbelt extender" because they couldn't buckle the normal seatbelt provided!
I've had people in my row on a plane (I always fly economy), sometimes next to me, that had to ask the flight attendant for a "seatbelt extender" because they couldn't buckle the normal seatbelt provided!
That's not so surprising: seatbets on a plane can very in length. As the belt becomes frayed, the airline cuts the frayed end off and shortens it; when it reaches a certain minimum length, they then replace it with a brand-new belt. I've seen differences in length of as much as 6" between seatbelts on the same plane in the same cabin class. (On one multi-segment flight I took a few years ago, I needed an extender on segment 1. On segments 2 and 3, I was able to buckle the belt with 2-3 inches of slack left. On segment 4, I had well over 6 inches of slack after I'd bucked the belt. I wasn't magically expanding and contracting over the course of that one-day trip; the belt lengths were just different.)
I don't complain. I fly First class. Why should the mooing of the cattle in the back bother me? Back when I first started flying, an Economy class ticket cost what a First class ticket costs today, and most of the whiners back in steerage simply wouldn't have been on the plane at all.
So, you're the guy that goes around bragging about how bad everyone else has it and that's why you spend 3x the cost of what I do and I don't complain. So, basically, that's the price of better mental health. If you'd rather spend that money than to address the real issue, that's your right. I just think that sounds like an expensive alternative.
So, you're the guy that goes around bragging about how bad everyone else has it and that's why you spend 3x the cost of what I do and I don't complain. So, basically, that's the price of better mental health. If you'd rather spend that money than to address the real issue, that's your right. I just think that sounds like an expensive alternative.
If you want to guarantee you'll be comfortable on a plane, you need to pony up the money for a bigger seat. That's the simple reality of flying in the 21st Century. Planes aren't flying at only 65% of capacity any more. There WILL be someone sitting next to you in that middle seat, and the odds are good they'll be larger than they would have been even 10 years ago (much less back in the "glory days" of air travel prior to airline deregulation). You are at real risk of getting squished. And no, the airlines aren't going to do anything proactive about the issue, because it's simply cheaper for them to just offload one of the passengers and rebook that passenger on another flight (with a voucher to compensate the offloaded passenger for the inconvenience).
Look at the graphic in the CNN article I linked to in an earlier post; it gives a very good visual illustration of the problem.
So the last one I remember quite well. I was on a 6 hour American flight from Philly to LAX right before New Year's 2017. Forget if the plane was a Boeing or Airbus, but it had a 3-3 configuration in economy. I had the window seat, the lady who was going to see Penn State and USC play in the Rose Bowl had the middle seat next to me.
We started conversing, and she mentions she rarely flies ever. She wasn't morbidly obese, but definitely overweight. Well, she goes to fasten her seatbelt and pulls it all the way to the end and the length was normal, just as long as mine, but she still needed 4-5 inches to get it to closed. Then she made a joke about maybe having a little too much to eat over the holidays, I laughed, knowing that wasn't the case!
She starts to worry, and then I call over the flight attendant and she brings over one of those short seatbelts they use in the pre-flight demonstration, in order to be able to fasten her in.
Would be nice if there were solid privacy barriers that could be raised from seat cushion to top of seatback. Then these big guys who claim they fit can find out if they actually do when they are physically unable to extend beyond their space.
If you want to guarantee you'll be comfortable on a plane, you need to pony up the money for a bigger seat. That's the simple reality of flying in the 21st Century. Planes aren't flying at only 65% of capacity any more. There WILL be someone sitting next to you in that middle seat, and the odds are good they'll be larger than they would have been even 10 years ago (much less back in the "glory days" of air travel prior to airline deregulation). You are at real risk of getting squished. And no, the airlines aren't going to do anything proactive about the issue, because it's simply cheaper for them to just offload one of the passengers and rebook that passenger on another flight (with a voucher to compensate the offloaded passenger for the inconvenience).
Look at the graphic in the CNN article I linked to in an earlier post; it gives a very good visual illustration of the problem.
Yeah, and I think the majority of us just don't care enough to make a deal of it. I've been on first class flights by accident in Central and South America. I slept through most of them. I sleep or read through most other flights in economy, even when I'm thrown in the last row of the plane where they don't recline.
It's all a mindset. How much do you allow simple matters to bug you into a place of unhappiness? That's what that cost is for. You can keep reiterating your point if you want; I'm just telling you that there's a less expensive cure to fix that problem.
Yeah, and I think the majority of us just don't care enough to make a deal of it. I've been on first class flights by accident in Central and South America. I slept through most of them. I sleep or read through most other flights in economy, even when I'm thrown in the last row of the plane where they don't recline.
It's all a mindset. How much do you allow simple matters to bug you into a place of unhappiness? That's what that cost is for. You can keep reiterating your point if you want; I'm just telling you that there's a less expensive cure to fix that problem.
You don't need to tell that to me. You need to tell that to the blonde lady in the video in the OP, and to all the posters on this thread who've been complaining that being squished while flying in Economy class is a Really Big Deal and The Airlines Should do Something To Fix This Terrible Problem!1!! The airlines aren't going to fix it. The seats are going to stay small, and some people are going to be squished. That's just how it is going to be in Economy class absent either government regulations mandating a wider seat width (which will increase ticket prices, making many people unhappy) or increased customer demand for larger seats in the form of actually PAYING MORE MONEY for them.
People People, how we love to complicate things...........
Need more room for your butt?
Business or first class. Can't afford it? (or too cheap),
Greyhound bus.
Amtrak
Hitchhike.
Or best yet, Stay Home!
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