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Normally, I don't speak negatively or harsly about fat people, but the reality of the issue is you're the way you are because you chose to be. You want to be fat?? Fine, embrace it and celebrate all you want, but the reality of the situation is the world doesn't revolve around you and your lifestyle.
There will be certain negative elements that come with those extra pounds. Other passengers on the plane shouldn't be forced to be smoothered and squashed for hours because you're too lazy and greedy to lose weight and live a healthier life. If I'm paying the same amount of money as you; my comfort level and traveling experience should be just as good as yours.
You would let a business selling a service or product to everyone set different prices for different people? You would let a coffee shop sell a coffee to white people for a dollar and charge Blacks or Orientals five dollars? Businesses selling to the general public must charge the same price for the same service or rampant discrimination would soon be normal.
People are not cargo and charging by any way but by the person is simply discrimination.
Comparing obese people (who, for the most part, are that way because of overindulgence) with race (which is 100% involuntary) is a poor argument. The discrimination argument only holds weight (no pun intended!) if it is for something that is completely involuntary.
I disagree. The airlines are not selling seats. They are selling the transportation of a person, regardless of size, from point A to point B. If they cannot make money accommodating, preferably with suitably sized seats, everyone that buys a ticket, then they need to revise their fares. I do not understand why so many posters are more concerned with a business they will probably never own than with their own comfort and the comfort of other passengers. Why is the business success more important than the customers?
By this logic, they also should not be able to limit the amount of baggage you can carry. After all, you are buying transportation for yourself and your belongings, right?
Feel free to start your own airline with this new policy. Southwest's is clearly posted on their website:
Quote:
Customers who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat(s) should proactively book the needed number of seats prior to travel. The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats and measures 17 inches in width. The purchase of additional seats serves as a notification to Southwest of a special seating need. Most importantly, it ensures that all Customers onboard have access to safe and comfortable seating. You may contact us for a refund of the cost of additional seating after travel, provided the flight does not oversell (which means having more confirmed Customers than seats on the aircraft).
If you don't like it, don't fly with them.
Quote:
I am an infrequent flier without an expense account so prices are important to me. The only reason I and my wife would fly to Albuquerque is to save limited vacation time. Driving my Buick sedan and staying in cheap hotels actually costs less than a round trip for two on Southwest. If they charged me for three seats (2 for me and 1 for my wife) the cost would be completely out of our range.
It sounds to me like you want passengers who don't need two seats to subsidize those who do. Thanks but no thanks.
Maybe they should place passengers more intelligently. Heavy people should be seated next to children if possible. Maybe it would also make sense to develop new seats, like in the back of cars, where you have basically one single bench and everyone occupies as much space as they need.
And how about a "freak department" with special seats for extreme cases
[color=black]Airlines do not pay for runways or Air Traffic Control. They do not pay fuel taxes. If they internalized all these costs flying commercial would be the same as flying in a private jet.
Airlines have to pay landing fees which indirectly pay for things like runways and air traffic control. These are included in the price of the ticket just like departure taxes on international flights.
A close relative is 6'6" and 275 lbs - he's not fat, just big. He's had one hip and both knees replaced, which makes sitting in the ever tinier coach seats impossible - he just doesn't bend well anymore. Coach seats have gotten narrower and leg room has gotten shorter over the past few years, to the point that sitting in coach has become painful for him. Flying first class is too expensive, so, he just doesn't fly anymore.
There should be an intermediate price level with slightly bigger seats for people who are just too big - not fat - to fit in tiny coach seats.
Coach seats are not narrower today. The 737s, 757s, MD80s, etc. have the same number of seats per row in coach as they did 20 years ago. The aisles are the same width.
Leg room varies widely by carrier. And they fiddle with it to see how many passengers they can get on a plane before they switch to another airline or complain.
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