Should people over a certain weight be charged extra for airline seats?

[the donald]

i am with several people here, i am 6'4 320lbs. if they want to charge me more i am fine with it if you give me more room. but if you charge me for a half a seat, and there is a barrier that prevents me from using that other half seat, then no.



but i have flown before and have never had a problem fitting between the arm rests, but i did have trouble fitting between my seat and the one in front of me. and i felt bad for the person in front of me, i know knees to the back are that comfortable.

 

[BlacKat]

Weight is not an issue with me. I'm only concerned with whether or not the passenger(s) next to me isinvading my personal space.

Exactly. The airlines don't care about the person next to you. They care about how much extra fuel they use to transport fatty to Denver. Which is what this is about. Not the passenger's comfort. A combined weight of passenger and luggage is the only way I see this happening. Like plumber said, the cost of the lawsuits makes this idea retarded.

 

[Holeshot]

Thanks Blackat...you at least get the issue: it's not about comfort...the airlines are in a pickle and they need a solution. This is about viability.

I don't believe lawsuits would succeed...they WILL happen, but I believe they'll be easy to beat based on the whole "weight" issue. Should they discriminate against a certain type of weight over another (say fat over muscle), then there'd be a claim. However, EVEERYONE knows that weight affect performance in many different avenues of life.

It's gonna be hard to win the lawsuit when the very thing people are flying in is extensively weighed and certified for certain weights by the Federal Government. So I disagree that lawsuits will by and large, come about.

 

[catgirldanni]

Im sorry but if you weigh over like 300 lbs you need to buy two seats. It might not seem fair but its not fair to me being squished to the fucking window either.

 

[ntula]

yes, they should have treadmills in the back of the plane for the obese persons to work off the extra weight their gluttony has caused and generate extra power for the plane.

 

[tocino]

Tocino, if you're complaining about legroom on a plane with a 34 inseam, imagine some of my coworkers who are as much as 6' 6", not sure on inseam but a lot more than you, and they not only can't get the exit rows, but often wind up in a middle seat. Heck, I'm only 5'4" but have a 32 inseam...

hehe yeah i have a few friends who are just as tall or taller than me. So i know about their issues. with my height right now, I barely fit in a coach seat. if my legs were a little bit longer, I'd probably start to suffer more

 

[wreckedrex]

they'll never do that. bc then the little five ft nuthin's 90lb's soaking wet things will try to swipe the big-n-tall section seats for the extar ten bucks so they can be comfier.

Oh, you're absolutely right. I know I'm dreaming, I also know it has less than nothing to do with my comfort. In reality I'd be pissed. I'm 220, and could (need to/trying to) get down to 200. my ticket would cost more and there wouldn't be a damn thing I could do about it. It wouldn't be discrimination on the part of the carrier either, I cost them more to move. Period and end of story, any lawsuit coming from this sort of plan would be bullshit so long as folks were being charged a flat /lb rate based on the net weight of them + the crap they're dragging along.

 

[uhmeebuh]

Brandon, you're not fat, that's for sure...and despite not being able to do anything about the weight, life's not fair. There are advantages... I wouldn't fuck with you man! But I'd talk shit to my own self all day long!

What?! Life's not fair?!? Why wasn't I taught that in college?!? Damn CA school system not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings

I get the business problem that they're trying to solve and there's no good answer except finding a less expensive fuel

The fact that I don't fit in the coach seats is a non-issue since, as you stated, I wouldn't be charged based on space but rather weight.

My point was this - while the airlines will have to spend more on fuel for heavier passengers, how can they reasonably charge more for someone that has little control over their body composition? The end result is charging more for a lifestyle decision (obese or bodybuilder). I just don't see how it would work without alienating a large portion of the country and resulting in rediculous lawsuits.

pfft....can't tell by lookin'.....i know a guy around that size (6'3", 250#, 54" shoulders).....big, strong as hell, doesn't look fat.....but still overweight..way overweight...

to uhmeebuh - no offense...don't know ya.....sound like a big dude.....curious as to what your % of body fat is (not BMI....that's a load hooey)....ever done a Hydrostatic test?? don't trust the calipers.....they lie....if you're above the 25% mark you're too high....

just for reference - 5 years ago at 6'0" and 160 i was 21% bodyfat.....GROSSLY "fat" and out-of-shape......i didn't look like it though.....but, if you had me try to run a mile I'd prolly die.....that scared me....i'm in better shape now....

CHUM - sorry you caught up with my defenders (Go Team Brandon Defenders!) but they speak the truth. I'm about 12% right now - not fat, not skinny. Still FAR below the national average. BMI is a load of crap - I'm Morbidly Obese according to those standards. I was a powerlifter 7 years ago but I haven't worked out like that for a long time. I was 285# at my heaviest at 6'2" and 6% bodyfat (looked like a bodybuilder but was only concerned with being strong). Now, I could lose 10 pounds or so (I loves me some beer!) but that only brings me down to ~250# so the problem is still the same. And I'm the RUNT of the family

Simply put, I'm not fat or skinny and I naturally carry a lot of muscle (as do all the men in the family) so I earn my nickname "Tons of Fun"

 

[m_asim]

What's up with all this hatred against us phat people

 

[mercurial]

Interesting that this comes up, I was just reading in the journal today that the average fuel cost per passenger on a transcontinental flight (LA - NY) is around $270 or so on Jet Blue, closer to $400 on AA (the variance can be accounted for how intelligent each airline has been in hedging their fuel costs and what type of planes they fly).

That means fuel costs sap approximately 60-70% of the revenue realized from each ticket!! The airlines are so fuel conscious they removed the magazines, extra pillows/blankets, and are lightening the meal karts. They are also lowering the total ammount of fuel they carry per plane on any given journey to just over the required amount, when AA did this it saved them about $200 million a year.

Fuel cost and weight means everything these days, anyone who says otherwise doesn't really know the industry.

There should most definitely be weight brackets, and there should be space brackets as well (graduated seat offerings; ala United's econ. plus). You move up in either, you pay more. I shouldn't have to subsidize your transcontinentally transported fat molecules just because I am skinnier than the average American.

 

[CHUM]

.....CHUM - sorry you caught up with my defenders ...I'm about 12% right now - not fat, not skinny.....

HA!....at 12% you are most definitely not fat....not even close.....

agreed on the BMI - it's hooey....just chock full of hooey.....

edit - i'm jealous.....i run around 11%....but you're like an "eighth grader" bigger than me...doesn't seem fair.......meh!

 

[mercurial]

btw for all the big boned people crying about lack of space, you really just need to do some more investigation.

Southwest planes have a single emergency exit seat with gobs of leg room, if you purchase a business class ticket (which doesn't cost the business fare prices on the majors) you get to jump to the front of the cattle line, and you can snag that seat everytime. My buddy who is 6'6 does this all the time.

 

[HondaFreak]

What's up with all this hatred against us phat people

phat
Pretty Hot And Tempting?
m_asim have you been holding out showing us your bewbs? Raaaarrrrrrr!

Christian

 

[m_asim]

phat
Pretty Hot And Tempting?
m_asim have you been holding out showing us your bewbs? Raaaarrrrrrr!

Christian

Suffice it to say my man boobs look similar to tha hairy ones posted on the Cleavage thread <-- nothing good will come out from me posting my breastage

With the gasoline prices increasing the way they are, pretty soon we will be commuting cross country using Amtrak. This would be a good time to buy their shares.

 

[mike23w]

There should most definitely be weight brackets, and there should be space brackets as well (graduated seat offerings; ala United's econ. plus). You move up in either, you pay more. I shouldn't have to subsidize your transcontinentally transported fat molecules just because I am skinnier than the average American.

If you were obese would you feel the same way?

Would you be pushing the airlines so you could pay more for your ticket and have fairer pricing?

 

[uhmeebuh]

HA!....at 12% you are most definitely not fat....not even close.....

agreed on the BMI - it's hooey....just chock full of hooey.....

edit - i'm jealous.....i run around 11%....but you're like an "eighth grader" bigger than me...doesn't seem fair.......meh!

Well, I fluctuate quite a bit but I hoover around 12-13%. Depends on what I ate that week and what kind of exercise I did. In many ways I was VERY lucky in the genetic lottery

Seems not fair right now but if this goes through, I'll be the jealous one!

 

[mercurial]

If you were obese would you feel the same way?

Would you be pushing the airlines so you could pay more for your ticket and have fairer pricing?

of course not, no one wants to be the person stuck footing the bill.

That doesn't change the fact that fat people logically ought to pay more since they incur a greater share of the airline's overhead than a skinny person.

 

[uhmeebuh]

of course not, no one wants to be the person stuck footing the bill.

That doesn't change the fact that fat people logically ought to pay more since they incur a greater share of the airline's overhead than a skinny person.

But they haven't to this point, so unless it's done at every airline (can you say collusion?) it will seem unfair and the NAFAA (North American Fat Ass Association) will step in to prevent this sort of discrimination.

In all seriousness, what about folks who, despite every diet and exercise attempt, can't lose weight? Why should they be asked to pay more for something they can't control? And no, I don't think they every obese person can't control their weight. But I know there are some that don't respond to diet or exercise. I'm just sayin

 

[Holeshot]

If you were obese would you feel the same way?

Would you be pushing the airlines so you could pay more for your ticket and have fairer pricing?

So then it's ok to drag down that don't cause issues? No different from a taxpayer subsidized payoff on all the underwater mortgages, right?

Look everyone is born different and made different. Some things help in life and some hinder, but it depends on how/ why. Being big does cost more in fuel, being obese costs more in health care. I wish to pay for neither. I'm not in the business of subsidizing someone else's genetics when it's reasonable to do so. Sure, I'll take on cancer, etc. But certainly not body type and eating/ exercising habits.

Brandon, this isn't about humanity, it's about profitability. Toyota doesn't produce the Prius so it can save the enviroment, it does so to make a profit where others are not. If a carrier enacts this, it likely will shove heavier people onto other carriers and thus, shove lighter ones to that particular carrier. It's not that it will succeed or not, it's that it can't NOT succeed. The carrier who does so is able to:

-accommodates passengers with little seat encroachment (a thing all passengers above said they despise)
-carry less weight, thus less fuel, thus be more efficient
-fly higher and thus, over weather systems they could not before, leading to better efficiency as well
-carry weight (freight) in other forms to increase profitably


Let's face it, less weight means more options for an airline. They can become 1/2 freight and 1/2 luxury travel at reduced rates, if they wish..they can do all kinds of different configurations.

If it was my airline, I'd already be there...bring on the lawsuits: they're not gonna win. It's not discrimination, it's a pricing structure based on the airline's costs. There's other carriers to use and other ways to travel.

 

[Idontdotrix]

I eat right, I exercise and my figure is pretty damn good- as in most definitely not obese.
so should I be penalized for 1) this rack and 2) these hips fitting into the average airline seat? which btw have gotten smaller.
my sister and her husband work for two separate airlines and yeah, they changed seat sizing (trying to lighten the planes)

the problem with extra charges for ppl bigger than a house cat is, where do you draw the line? and sure, put in some moderately larger seats and what can you do to KEEP them open for someone like me, Brandon or others who stay in shape and simply are built the way we are?