Airline Says Overweight Travelers Will Need To Buy Extra Seats Or Be Denied Entry To Planes
CHICAGO (CBS) Apr 15, 2009
If "beefy" or "curvy" describes you, here is a word of warning: United Airlines will begin aggressively enforcing a new policy that allows it to charge heavier passengers twice to fly
WBBM Newsradio 780 has learned that Chicago-based United has instructed its customer service representatives at O'Hare International Airport ticket counters and gates to be extra vigilant beginning Wednesday for passengers they deem to be overweight. Those unable to comfortably fasten a safety belt with one extension or sit comfortably with armrests down will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat, even if they can be placed elsewhere in the aircraft next to an empty seat.
If no empty seat exists, the passenger will be forced to take a later flight.
Couples flying together who can fit in adjoining seats are exempted "unless one of them complains," a United spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said it is responding to complaints from passengers...
...The United spokesperson said it intends to impose the charge even when empty seats exist and passengers can be re-seated next to one. The spokesperson said United quietly adopted the policy earlier this year...
I agree this is a good thing. We each pay for our own space on a flight. We are already cramped in a small space and having a plus size person infringe on my personal space is not fair. There is a right way to do this without offending the plus size person --quietly and not in front of others.
Hope others will follow.
On this same front something needs to be done when there is a body odor issue and/or excessive perfume. It can cause issues to so many and when some people don't wear deoderant or where an entire bottle of perfume it can be offensive too.
Interesting article OP...thanks!!
Guess we can tell who the PLUS SIZED people are on the board who are redding all those of us who support this!
It is about time. I fly almost every week and absolutely hate it when I get stuck next to someone who pushes up the armrests b/c they can't fit and infringe upon my space. I hope all airlines follow suit.
SimpleCypher said:It is about time. I fly almost every week and absolutely hate it when I get stuck next to someone who pushes up the armrests b/c they can't fit and infringe upon my space. I hope all airlines follow suit. Totally agreed! We don't force rental car companies to rent out full-sized cars at the economy rate if the driver is too fat, do we? If they are obese due to medical reasons, then they should be accomodated for free as per the ADA.
Otherwise, why should the rest of us subsidize these fat-zos?
And just like how handicapped people can't occupy the exit rows for safety reasons, fat people should be obligated to seat themselves "appropriately" for everybody's safety.
Not that I need to worry about this but how fat is fat? Will there be a weigh-in? Who decides who is too fat? Do they tell the person discreetly to buy another ticket or do they yell "look fatso, you need to buy two tickets"?
Might as well weigh everyone and charge based on weight since heavy people use more fuel.
JamesTKirk said:Not that I need to worry about this but how fat is fat? Just like how they determine if your carry-ons are too big: if one can't fit safely into a single seat, then she needs to consider "alternatives".
Technical issues are easy ones. That's the legal issues may be hard to deal with.
JamesTKirk said:Not that I need to worry about this but how fat is fat? Will there be a weigh-in? Who decides who is too fat? Do they tell the person discreetly to buy another ticket or do they yell "look fatso, you need to buy two tickets"?
Might as well weigh everyone and charge based on weight since heavy people use more fuel.
JamesTKirk said:Not that I need to worry about this but how fat is fat? Will there be a weigh-in? Who decides who is too fat? Do they tell the person discreetly to buy another ticket or do they yell "look fatso, you need to buy two tickets"?
Might as well weigh everyone and charge based on weight since heavy people use more fuel. Those unable to comfortably fasten a safety belt with one extension or sit comfortably with armrests down
jlawrence01 said:shank said:As a frequent flyer, I applaud and encourage such policies. If nothing else, it will shame obese people in to taking some action.
Like flying another airline (oops, I do that already.)
Same here, but now that two major airlines have adopted the policy, it should become more common.
popyu said:WHOLE LOT, REALLY WHOLE~~~ LOT OF LAWSUITS & CLASS ACTION SUITS ARE COMING.
Fatsos & all those "human" rights activists will ask, "Why don't they make the seats larger???"
Now, I am a normal (???) person, 6ft tall, 165 lbs, and I could never "sit comfortably with armrests down".
So who's the fat & greedy here?
It does not say sit comfortably, but comfortably fasten a seat belt - BIG DIFFERENCE.
There is no law that says you have to fly, seat size and pitch are public information, and if coach seats are not comfortable, they are happy to sell you a business / first class seat - assuming you fly a full service carrier.
It only seems fair. My wife is 100lb and she has to pay a fee for every checked baggage weighing no more than 50 lb each; and some 300lb hogzilla pays the same price? not fair.
faw169 said:Technical issues are easy ones. That's the legal issues may be hard to deal with.
This gets sillier by the moment. What are they doing to do with the ex-professional sports figure who has a 52" chest? Deny boarding? I doubt it.
This comes from an airline who NEVER enforces its carry-on policies.
I find it amazing that an airline that is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy spends so much time and effort thinking of ways to extract more money from their remaining customers. They would do far better to do things that would improve the airline LIKE:
Train their flight attendants to be friendly. (I used to LOVE to fly TED watching United FAs try to pretend like they work for Southwest. Never have a seen so many forced smiles.)
I had to sit next to a heavyset dude on a United flight once. He sat in the middle seat between me and someone else. The armrests were up but he looked more uncomfortable than I was. During the entire flight, he sat leaning slightly forward with his arms in front and his hands on his lap. For 1.5 hours, he never moved until we arrived at the gate. I like to think that he was being considerate and did us a favor that day by not leaning back.
jlawrence01 said:This comes from an airline who NEVER enforces its carry-on policies.
Improve on-time performance.
I've never missed my connecting flight with United. As a data point, I just flew my first trip on Delta and never again. Left LAX at 1030 and arrived in Omaha at 2330. Plane arrived late in LAX, missed connection in SLC, and got rerouted through Minneapolis. And on the way back to LAX, there was no overhead bin space. Some lady refused to remove her purse from the overhead bin and store it beneath the seat in front of her. Delta made me check in my carry-on! WTF? I had to wait 30 minutes for my carry-on sized bag to show up at baggage claim. Bunch of mofos!
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