Now there is a debate on weather or not they should alow over-weighed people on airplanes, what do you think?

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Paul McDonald

Depends on what you mean by "overweight" and how someone is "overweight" ... and "how overweight" are we talking about?

Actually, weight has nothing to do with it really... it's "body width" which includes people with broad shoulders too.

What it comes down to is this: One person who is extremely wide can overlap into another seat, and that's uncomfortable for both people involved. Personally, I'd like to see airlines give everyone larger seats...

...but as long as you will get upset at the overweight person who sits in a chair and makes the flight uncomfortable for one or two people, you should also get upset at the mother who brings her crying yelling screaming child on the plane who makes the flight uncomfortable for everyone.

NC Mom

Overweight people should not be discriminated against in the air. They already receive enough of that on the ground. On the flip side, I was once sandwiched between an extremely overweight person and the window on a US Air flight. There was another passenger in the seat to his right who was leaning into the aisle. The flight attendant shook her head at me and gave me a pitying look. I was in severe discomfort during and after the flight. Eventually I had to lean forward and place my elbows on my knees to escape being pressed against the wall. I gave a pleading look to the FA, who chose only to flash mean looks at the overweight man. I blame the airline.

I also want to say that not all overweight people are that way by choice. Some have medical conditions, or have taken medication that has made them obese. To assume weight gain is based solely on eating too much is simply ignorant thinking.

mr danger

The usual allegorical crap, John Calvin would have been proud .
The actual question reads like this :" I am an attractive healthy person that takes care of myself and as such I expect to be rewarded for such self care or at the very least not punished for it. Fat people are that way by choice. If they wanted to they could all be as thin and attractive as I am. Why should i as a thin person suffer from higher airfares or the discomfort i might endure by having a person who quite obviously doesn't care about themselves sitting next to me? It isn't fair !!." That is the argument in all it's naked prejudiced glory. Their argument has nothing to do with how airlines do load calculations based upon all of the variables of what a group of people might weigh- A plane full of Japanese tourists flying LAX-LAS will not get a rebate because they're smaller than Americans
Nor does the argument have anything to do with the maximum take off weight of a given aircraft at a given density altitude. Even flying out of LAS on a really hot day I've never seen a pilot come aft and ask for volunteers to lighten the aircraft so that it can clear the Luxor's pyramid on take off.
We have devised ways of wrapping the ugliness of our prejudices in packages that sound reasonable and noble. You just need to look a little further to find the true meaning

BTW The pay- for- two- seats faction does realize that if you charge for two seats you also have to allow the person to check in twice the amount of baggage and bring onto the aircraft twice the amount of carry-on luggage. They bought two tickets , they're entiled to all the rights and priveleges that two tickets grants them.

sheriwx

I think how much they weigh doesn't matter. It's how much space they take up. If they take up two seats, they need to pay for two seats. Simple as that. It isn't about discrimination, it's simple logistics.

wolf

Just because they're overweight doesn't mean they should be denied the right to fly. That's discrimination. Of course they should be allowed to fly.

bmi=22

Don't want to be a fear-monger, but I think the issue of overweight people on airplanes goes beyond just the comfort of fellow passengers. If a small commuter plane is carrying more weight than it can handle, it could effect its performance. When US Airways flight 5481 crashed in 2004 at CLT, there was some discussion that it could have been caused by the plane attempting to carry more weight than it could handle. I DO NOT KNOW if this was found to be the cause but I've always wondered.

sarlha

Some airlines require very obese passengers to purchase the seat next to them, if their size will inhibit the seat of the passenger next to them. This isn't really a debate. This has been going on for years. They would not be able to refuse travel to obese passengers. This would be a violation of their human rights.

isabelledustylo

Being an overweight person myself... eh, I highly doubt they'll ever keep people off a plane due to their weight. Having to purchase an extra seat, maybe. (In which case, travel business class - it's cheaper than buying two coach seats and the seats are bigger) Airlines aren't going to want to lose that money. It's not really a human rights issue (those are life, liberty and security).

Ryan H

They should buy two seats. The extra weight of overweight people are costing the airlines millions of dollars a year.

cute girl

i dont know

Toeless_Joe_Jackson

The obese could probably save money if they shipped themselves as 2nd class freight.

marybattersfield

Overweight people should be forced to buy two seats. There's no reason for the rest of us to be uncomfortable next to them. If they don't like it, some excercising and dieting would do them some good. And don't say it's a case of hormones because the exact same hormones exist in the rest of the world. There are two reasons why Americans are overweight and hormones aren't one of them: They are laziness and gluttony.

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