Comments on: Your thoughts on charging obese air passengers extra

By: Bill Nicolay

Bill Nicolay — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:59:38 +0000

As an average sized man I am still uncomfortable in coach on most airlines. The airlines average seat width and pitch is absolutely ridiculous. People of size, of which there are many in our overfed nation, should not be scorned because of it. If they can sit with armrests down and belted in then how about a little compassion for your fellow human being.

Yes I have been seated next to people of size many times over the years, I have found them to be normal and nice in every way that you and I are except for their size. I agree with the second seat purchase for people who can’t fit at all, just as long they are refunded for the extra seat in a plane less than full. It’s sad that most people complaining are so insensitive.

We as a nation have become so self-absorbed and compassionless toward our fellow man, I fear it WILL eventually ruin our “good old USA”. Rome didn’t last forever either. Look around there are signs of failure everywhere and will only get worse.

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By: Mike Gordon

Mike Gordon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:42:21 +0000

Chunky tax, about time. I paid for my seat and have had to share it with someone who couldn’t fit in their own seat. I get charged for excess baggage so they should get charged for being over excess weight.

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By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:00:01 +0000

Obesity causes the body to become diseased, if all these obese people lived a healthy and active lifestyle most, if not all of their health problems would be solved. If they can’t fit in one seat, its just common sense that they should have ot pay for two seats.

Fact – Obese people literally eat like pigs, fast food, pop, candy, donuts, you name it they eat it.

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By: John

John — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:58:58 +0000

Ryanair have decided not to implement a charge for heavy passengers. They spout more hot air than anything else. However they are sitting on lots of suggestions for discretionary charges. I will be ranting myself if they implement one of my suggestions after paying out someone 1000 euros for a suggestion they didn’t use.

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By: Kim Palacios

Kim Palacios — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:38:54 +0000

We are asking ourselves the wrong question, here. Instead of debating who should pay if a passenger can’t fit into his or her seat, we should be outraged at how brazenly airlines have shrunk the size of their seats over the years, sardining in as many passengers into as little space as possible in order to maximize profits.

I am a 5’9″ woman weighing in at a whopping 155 pounds, and an economy seat on most major airlines is uncomfortably small for me, regardless of the size of my neighbor. This is because the space problem on airplanes isn’t limited to how wide you are–it’s also about how tall you are, and how far back the person in front of you reclines their chair, and how considerate the person next to you will be about sharing the lone elbow rest.

The answer is simple: airplane seats should be bigger. Not because of obese people, but because I don’t want to be so close to the people around me that I can tell what they ate for lunch. And I don’t want to be so cramped that in order to let somebody out to use the bathroom, it takes minutes of rearranging my limbs and the few things that fit in the seat with me…

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