Wednesday, June 15, 2011

airlines charge obese passenger not fitting in seats

obese Passengers may be required to buy an extra plane tickets on us airways flights if they cannot fit into a single seat in their ticketed cabin, and/or unable to properly buckle their seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender (available upon request), and/or unable to lower both armrests without encroaching upon the adjacent seat or another customer.

overweight United Airlines passengers who are not able to safely and comfortably fit in a single seat are required to purchase an additional seat for each leg of their itinerary.
The second seat may be purchased for the same fare as the original seat, provided it is purchased at the same time. A customer who does not purchase an extra seat in advance may be required to do so on the day of departure for the fare level available on the day of departure.
american airlines and Southwest, like many other US airlines, has had its stringent policy on overweight passengers in place for some time.

European carriers are less clear on the issue: Ryanair, Lufthansa and Jet 2 have no specific policy in place regarding obese passengers, preferring to examine each case on it’s merit.

Airlines says that 90 percent of the complaints received in one year came from travelers angry that their seat space was violated by fellow passengers. Perhaps the complaints to the airlines about passengers encroaching on personal space should be directed at airlines for having small seats. All Boeing jets in use have 17” wide seats in coach. That is limited space for all passengers. (Airbus jets have 18” seats, Embraer 190 jets have 18.2” seats, and first-class seats can be as wide as 20.5 inches. But, the majority of airlines fly jets with only 17” wide seats).
The airline policy for customers requiring extra seating penalizes a significant number of passengers because of their weight. Though the size of airline seats is not easy to change, airlines can take steps to avoid adding insult to injury by eliminating the humiliation, confusion and neglect passengers feel.

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