Airlines: No Extra Charges Allowed for Overweight Passengers

what is this world coming to...can we just treat all people with dignity and respect regardless of weight,height,color,and religion.etc.

Airline seating for the very obese ... this is such a can of worms. Basically it's a matter of profit, I think. On one hand, two-paid-seat requirements for the obese are discriminatory, but on the other hand, such people do require greater 'resources' (i.e. space). And of course, from the point of view of the airline, giving a second seat free potentially takes a seat away from another traveller (and therefore less profit from the airline).

Semi-related: it really annoys me how airlines charge extra for excess baggage, often really large $ amounts even if it's just for a few KG. I'm a pretty small person, if those few extra KG were on my body rather than in my suitcase there would be no extra charge, and the same net weight!

I'd really like to know what the numbers are on the amount of obese people that fly on any given day. I mean, are there THAT many people that may need an extra seat that airlines feel they have to charge for that seat? Every time I've flown I've been seated alone because there weren't very many people on the plane and I know it can't possibly be packed all of the time.

Airlines should be more sensitive. It's embarrassing enough to try and wedge yourself anywhere if you're that big and no one really wants to be pressed against a 350 lb man for hours, anyway. After all, there are a lot of people who DO have medical problems that make them gain weight and that is most definitely discriminatory.

On the airplanes I've been on (Delta coach mainly), it seems like you'd have to be pretty large to need more than one seat...

DH feels too cramped on coach seats (6'4, 335 though people estimate lower) so he pays for first class when he travels (frequently).

Paying for two seats is ridiculous. Definitely want to hear that the flight was completely packed if they did that.

Canadian courts regard the Bible as hate speech. I'm supposed to give a flying rat's ass what they think about anything?

I'm sure financial concerns play a role, but I am surprised no one seems to understand the safety factors involved.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E7D91339F93BA15752C0A9659C8B63

Flying is a pain in the butt, no matter what size you are. Still, I can see how much more of a pain it would be to have to wedge yourself into a tiny airline seat if you were significantly overweight. My husband's on the tall side and he HATES it when he gets seated behind someone who reclines their seat all the way back and squishes his legs throughout the whole flight. What's he going to do about that, ban the person from reclining? You can't please everybody all the time, especially in an aircraft that's standardized for your generic human. I know a few very overweight people that do just buy 2 seats when they fly, just to minimize the discomfort and embarrassment they have to face. As far as charging more to fly simply because they are obese, I don't know that that's necessarily fair. I think if a person chooses to do the 2 seat option, that's their personal choice and they pay for the extra comfort.

On a different note, what about giving a price break to the short, tiny people like me who end up sitting behind the people that push their seat all the way back and basically have their head in your lap throughout the whole flight? Or discounting the seats by the bathrooms? I swear, once I had a trans-Atlantic flight where I was seated right by the restrooms and I was subjected to smells that no human should ever have to endure.

Personally, I think they should be charged. But, like others said, this might start trouble with other types of people as well (short, tall, etc.). Maybe the airlines should start offering different seat sizes, ie. small, medium, large. From a business standpoint, this might be costly, but it could also be worth it later down the road.

So what if I wanted to take up two seats with my legs? Should I get charged extra? I really hate getting squeezed into those seats so I'll just take two for me.

What about fuel costs? If you're overweight, the plane has to burn more fuel. That's why there's a weight restriction on luggage. This isn't about descrimination, it's about money like someone above stated. If a bunch of overweight people too one flight, that flight would profit at half the rate. That isn't very fair is it?

I don't think this is about profit. I think this is about doing the right thing for everyone involved. If a person cannot sit in a seat without BOTH armrests down 'comfortably' than they should probably buy both seats. It's more comfortable for them AND the person that sits next to them. Besides - Southwest Airlines refunds the cost of the second seat as long as the flight is not full... therefore it's not about profit. Frankly, if I were an obese person - or moreover, someone who basically needed two seats as defined above - I would be fine paying for it. BTW - Southwest doesn't charge fees.

i am a fat person who flies. i am more of an outward fat instead of side to side. i fit just fine in one seat just make a seat belt extender available.

By making a better flying experience, more money will be made. Cramming 50% more seats in an already cramped tin can isn't a good flying experience. Seats are getting smaller, but people are getting bigger. Something has to give.

Mr. Howard you I assume are not that familiar with Southwest Airlines,(the Greyhound of the skies as you put it) This Dallas based airline does charge a Customer of size for a second seat if that is required. If the armreat on your seat cannot be lowered your probably a Customer of size. An airline seat is a commodity, if you happen to be obese and require two seats then by all means do purchase two. I don't supose you would like to be sqished on a flight because the guy next to you takes up not only your seat but his as well. In Southwest's case if the flight is not full a refund may be requested post flight from the airline. This Canadian rule seems down right silly. Why not mandate Canadian hockey arenas, movie theaters and concert venues provide this service. Why punish just the airlines.And how would you like to be the poor traveler told " I'm sorry but you have been bumped from your flight home due to a person of size". I think Southwest does it right. I dont think of this airline as a "Greyhound" by any means. They don't charge the extras most Canadian and Americans carriers charge, (pillows, blankets, snacks, soft drinks, water, two free checked bags, no fuel surcharge, no phone reservation charge, no curb side check in charge,no window or isle fee,no ticket change fee, this list goes on) I will gladly fly the "Greyhound of the skies" and their 40 million dollar Boeing 737's "busses"

Are passengers paying to get from point A to point B or are they paying for "real estate" - whereby they are entitled to a certain definable space.

It's not an either/or proposition. When you fly, you're paying for both transport and the 'real estate' you take up. This makes sense when you consider that one airplane can hold a limited number of people. Airlines calculate costs partly on a per seat basis, with the assumption that one seat will accommodate one person.

If someone is obese and it is not a proven medical condition, they should have to pay. If they can pay for extra food, they should have to pay for an extra seat! I understand that obese people are dealing with an addiction and genetic issues, but I also think that until fruit and vegetables are nonexistent, obesity is mostly a personal choice to deal with stress with food.

Its not about paying for getting from point A to point B, its about the gas that it takes to get there. Since passengers are being charged to check baggage, and the charges are based on weight, as part of an effort to decrease the weight carried on the plane, which Directly affects fuel... How is it fair that a 300 pound mad who has a carry on pays less than a 120 pound woman who checks one 50 lb bag pays more?

May be airlines will add a "big and tall" row for the tall and obese folks. I hate flying because the only row that is good enough for me is in first class or the emergency row with the more leg room.

Now that oil prices have come down so dramatically, airlines don't really have an excuse for charging extra for heavier passengers. This charge was nothing but a "stealth tax". If a person is so large that they need an extra seat then that is different. They should pay for it.

I think the issue, for the not-so-large amongst us, is having part of the seat we have paid for being occupied by another person - we're uncomfortable, and there's nothing we can do about it on a packed flight. Should we pay for a second seat, on the off chance that half of the seat we've paid for is being occupied by someone else?

I don't think that airlines should be charging overweight people for a second seat, but they should be insisting an extra seat for people who won't physically fit in a single seat, especially if the airline is alerted ahead of time; there's not much that can be done on a full flight if the airline doesn't know in advance.

The the treatment of those who are "vertically large" perhaps should inform the treatment of those who are "horizontally large". There is no embarrassment associated with requesting an exit row seat if you're particularly tall. Indeed, I've been on flights when people who really were too tall to physically fit into the space associated with their seat - basketball-player types - were relocated to an exit row. (I know this because I was asked to move from an exit row, and was relocated to a seat that was partially occupied by my neighbor). The tall people, relocated people weren't asked to pay more for their extra space, and I wasn't given a refund for my reduced space.

You'll be "interested" to know how I was treated by Southwest Airlines on 2/24/09. I am an obese woman (BMI 38) who voluntarily purchases an extra seat on any airline I fly. I've done this several times on Southwest, as well as other airlines, and I've never had difficulty until this trip. I checked in early for a flight that proved to be overbooked. I was told by 2 agents that I didn't LOOK like a "person of size," but I was given my boarding passes anyway, and the one pleasant gate agent I met that day told me to have a nice trip. 90 minutes later, the announcement came that the flight was oversold. I was called to the podium, informed firmly that I was not a customer of size, and order to return my extra ticket for a one-way refund. When I balked, I was told it was against Southwest's contract of carriage to purchase an extra seat unless (a) a Southwest employee told me I was "of size," (b) I had an infant in an infant seat, (c) I had a musical instrument. "You can't just buy a seat for your own comfort," the customer service rep told me. "If everyone did that, our planes would be half full." No, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, either. To complete my humiliation, I learned from another customer service rep that my name is now on Southwest's "crank" list, and when I arrived at my destination, I found 2 uniformed TSA agents waiting for me. They stepped aside when it proved I was no threat to the fourth Southwest rep waiting to talk to me. She was disappointed that I didn't see the error of my ways. I'm doing my best to see that this absurd Southwest "policy" is publicized so that no one else gets punished when trying to do the right thing.