Kieran Daly wrote an article called Passenger creates big debate at American – I mean big! a couple of weeks ago. The story originated as a result of the following photograph taken by a flight attendant aboard her flight while the plane was boarding.
Now anyone who has to do a lot of traveling can empathize with the guy in the middle seat here who is stuck by this morbidly obese person. God knows I’ve had experiences where a huge person has spilled over onto me, and frankly I don’t want another person touching me for even a second, much less hours on a long crowded flight.
Now, I find it completely unacceptable that the gate agent didn’t stop this man before boarding and tell him that he simply isn’t going to fit on this airplane – but I can understand why they didn’t do it. No one wants to be placed in the situation of telling someone they are too fat to fly. But clearly, the evidence we see in this photo is that this man is not going to fit in a single seat no matter what they do.
So tell me this:
- How is this guy going to affect traffic flow in some sort of emergency situation?
- What do you think his fellow passengers are thinking?
- Is it fair that AA charges small passengers money to check a bag when this guy weighs more than a small person plus their bag?
- Do you think this guy could even fit in the lavatory?
So the real question is: Should the FAA actually step in and provide some standard guidelines for how fat you can actually be and still get on each type of plane? Personally, I think so since the airlines (except for Southwest) are apparently too scared to actually do something about it without big brother leading the way.
Oh, and it’s not an isolated event. This happens every single day…
By the way, if something like this happens to you, head over to Elliott.org and look up the airline’s contact details on the right side of the page and complain like hell! They should reimburse you as the most basic starter.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree that there should be something done, but, does that mean obese people can’t fly? That they have to “fit in” to the “standard” size bracket?
Don’t even get me started on how I feel about the airplane industry. I say, get those damn planes flying pilotless via satellites or whatnot, saving money on labor costs, then redo how the planes look like inside. No need for cockpit, at least not how it’s setup at the moment, so, give more room for the passengers, thus allowing more pockets of areas inside a plane to put obese people.
That’s my answer. ;)
This is typical American. I am Platinum for life and see this monthly. On one particlular flight last year, I had an Exit Row aisle-seat on the left side of an MD80-series aircraft with a slightly less obese man on the window seat. He occupied about 15 – 20% of my seat with the armrest raised. Before departure, I got out of my seat and went to the galley toward the rear of the aircraft and complained to the F/A that this man was not going to be able to fit through the fuselage opening, if he can get the door removed after a crash. She told me that there was nothing she could do about it. This was before engine start and push back. The aircraft was booked solid so there was nothing I could do other than request that I get off the aircraft. I chose to stay.
Since this photo was obviously taken while the plane was still boarding, how do you know that the man didn’t purchase two seats and was simply sitting on the armrest while his seatmate was getting settled? What do you expect of larger people – stay home all the time?
You don’t know the circumstances. Don’t jump to judgement. You ain’t perfect either.
This particular case is well documented and we know that on this flight the guy in the middle seat was “bought off” the plane for $250 in vouchers plus a first class seat on the next flight. The flight was 100% full, and the fat guy only paid for one seat.
What I expect of any person, “larger” or not, is that they do exactly what is fair. If a “larger” person is required to consume twice the food, they will pay for twice as much food. If making them clothes consumes twice the fabric, they will pay for double the fabric. If they can’t fit in a tiny sub-compact car, they will purchase a full sized vehicle at greater cost. This is NO different!
In our family we have to deal with a food allergy. This means that all of our food costs more than “normal” people. Some people have handicaps that drive up the cost of their goods and services. If fat people have special needs, they have to bear the burden of those costs just like the rest of us with special needs.
But thanks for playing…
John P.
How does the drink cart fit through there?
That picture is little on the edge, but it does not mean fat ppl cant move via air.
Here’s a fat chick chiming in! I say they (we) should be banned from flight at a certain poundage, maybe – or something like that…
This line from the original article sums it up perfectly:
I understand the some people are just big, they just are. But at a certain point – we go beyond that. (I’ve personally gone beyond that from the get-go – I’m not ‘just big’.) Past that point, though, we’ve done this to ourselves. Obesity in this country is ludicrous. It’s disheartening and beyond crazy. And just like the O/P says, whether you sympathize or not – there are certain very real issues to take into consideration.
I have to retract my statements – a little bit. I remembered watching one of the shows about a morbidly obese person and their mother talking about how the problem had affected the person since childhood. It wasn’t just the ‘my child’s a brat, give ‘em food so they’ll shut up’ syndrome. It was that the child could never get satisfied. It was backed up by the child’s (now man’s) doctor. That is the only time I’ve ever heard of that, though. So I guess the possibility is there for it to be an actual medical issue.
Still, though, something needs to change, for sure.
And I was thinking of that giant man – he’s HUGE, right? Certainly they make special arrangements for him on a plane. What is the difference if you grow ‘out’ instead of ‘up’? Right?
Hi,
Maybe I’ll seem too harsh, but when a person says ” frankly I don’t want another person touching me for even a second”, it kind of makes me think in what kind of society you live.
Sorry for being so direct, but I prefer to say what I think.
Best regards,
José
John, I agree with you but let’s not lose sight of the primary issue here and on any flight – safety. You absolutely must be able to evacuate the entire aircraft in a prescribed period of time, depending upon the number of seats in the aircraft. The flight crew’s primary responsibility is safety. My previous comment was written strictly in the context of safety. The picture that this AA F/A took represents a situation that will cost lives in the event of an accident where everyone survives the impact but a post-crash fire erupts. I can’t tell you how many passengers survive impact but die because they can’t get out of the aircraft. Can you imagine this guy on USAirways 1549? You might also check out Air Canada 797. I could care less if I sit next to an obese person but God help those who try to evacuate around him if something goes terribly wrong and he is one of those that does not survive the impact or is stuck trying to get the emergency door pulled or pushed out. Regarding the Pilotless comment – count me out. We have the technology today to actually make this work but I prefer to have some gray hair up front provided they stay awake. Glad to play………………..
This means that all of our food costs more than “normal” people. I understand the some people are just big, they just are. But at a certain point – we go beyond that. (I’ve personally gone beyond that from the get-go – I’m not ‘just big’.)
Seriously – that is scary to think about – an emergency event and people stuck on the plane and can’t get out. I was picturing it in my head as I read your comment.
That is a perfect way to explain it, John – in the context of special needs like that. Just like the giant man I referred to http://www.thetallestman.com/sultankosen.htm – it just is what it is. I’m not even that big and I always feel bad for the person sitting next to me – and I fit in the seat! But geez! That guy is a very tall guy that got fat – he barely fits in the seat.
The picture reminds me of sitting at the back of the band bus on the way to a football game this year. A busload of rowdy teens on a Friday night take up aisle space in the same way that man is – they just hang out and there basically is no aisle! I got ‘carsick’ and knew the second that bus stopped I needed OFF!! But I looked up the ‘row’ – and didn’t see a row – how in the hell was I gonna make it outta there fast enough? It was crazy!
Steve,
heheheh
Sorry, my previous comment was directed at”A Noun” not anyone else. I should have been more specific but my reply didn’t work properly… You are absolutely right about the safety issues! I just was deviating off that path onto the financial ones etc. because I figured the safety thing was so freaking obvious to people as to not require me to point out that I prefer not to be stuck in a burning oxygen filled flying aluminum cylinder behind anyone who can’t get out ahead of me! :-D
Cheers,
John P.
And the link to that documentation is…?
Looks like the 2 seats behind him are open.
Sounds like a biz op to me. Isn’t there an airline now that specializes in transporting pets? Why not one specializing in transporting obese humans? ;-) Planes would have fewer but much bigger seats, wider ailes, etc. — everything designed for the comfort and convenience of supersized air travellers — at a premium price, of course!
The documentation to which you refer here, that is…
“This particular case is well documented and we know that on this flight the guy in the middle seat was bought off the plane for $250 in vouchers plus a first class seat on the next flight. The flight was 100% full, and the fat guy only paid for one seat.”
That sounds like it would be popular with all travelers, regardless of body size.
More seat room? More leg room? Count me in.
Ah Bonnie – ever the marketer! Heehee! I love it! ;)
Charges are done for luggage and not for human. You are fat or slim, thats not a problem.
They should start selling 2 for 1 tickets to skinny people then
I read article and wasn’t going to comment because other commenters have brought up some of the points that I was going to bring up already, but I had to laugh when my cursor did a flyover on the picture and it was captioned “fat guy on airplane”. No idea why I thought that was funny.
Wow that must be a hell of a lot of pain if you were at the window and have an obese people next to you. According to a travel and tourism teacher “BA” British Airline they are thinking on making the poeple weighting over a certain amount to pay for another seat.
Very Nice :) :) :)
I love it!
Surely its about other passengers safety NOT the human rights of the obese person. As mentioned, he is blocking the aisle which in an emergency could mean life or death for the other passengers on the flight. And as also mentioned the guy who was near the emergency exit couldn’t even squeeze through it in an emergency.