“Need” or “want”? I can see this proposal balooning into the next culture war controversy - the rich are buying extra seats at a discount to keep empty for their comfort while the poor communities are crowded out of flying altogether.
You sure? Profits are currently small but positive and yes they loss money during COVID but they were raking in the money pre-pandemic with baggage fees and other fees and the toddler-sized seating so razor-thin profits are the aberration and not the rule.
You may be thinking of a recent story about Air New Zealand that is asking passengers to voluntarily get weighed to estimate the average weight per passenger (and carry-on luggage).
And about a decade ago, Samoa Air tried charging by weight. The article says, "The statistics on obesity in the region suggest that many passengers could be forking out for a lot of kilos: Samoa appears regularly in lists of the top 10 fattest countries with more than 80% of the population aged 15 and over overweight.
Among the airline’s other destinations, American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Niue also feature in lists of the top 10 countries by percentage of overweight people."
The rich are in Business Class already. If I’m paying an extra 50% above my Cattle Class seat, I’m getting premium economy so I can stretch my legs, not an empty seat next to me that I don’t really need.
As someone who is both obese and tall, I do not think that airlines should be required to offer free seats to obese people. However, there needs to be a requirement that, if I pay for that second seat for my use, it needs to be flagged so that the airline doesn’t move my seating arrangement into two separate seats, the same as they should do for families who try to arrange seating together.
And yes, we all need more leg room. I’m only 5’10" but have long legs. Trying to stand up after being crammed into a seat for 3+ hours is quite painful.
I think also we have to consider does it actually matter how someone got there, or is the issue more are they disabled at the time of the flight in a ‘digital’ yes- need accommodations or no- no accommodations needed method.
I have often thought that people should be given leg room according to their needs. Why should a tall person have to suffer while a small person gets much more room? Why should a child get an adult sized seat (also many times a child is charged less)? I never thought of this in terms of width, but yes that seems to make sense, as a seat row for 3 may be able to accommodate 4 skinny people/kids. And each person would be given equal space around themselves. Now I know there are practical limits to fixed seating, so this is more of a thought experiment.
As for if the obese should be given such seats or have to pay, I’d say it is a benefit to other passengers, particularly those who sit next to them to give them that space. Overall making the flight more an enjoyable experience for all. And if the airlines see those seats being lost revenue perhaps they will modify their future seating arrangements to be more accommodating to most people if it were to come to that.
I asked a morbidly obese friend about the airline seating issue and she described the two times she had to fly as being “uncomfortable, humiliating, or poverty-inducing.” The first time she flew coach on a three hour flight with American Airlines. Said the armrest was getting so painful she was ready to cry. Her neighbor apparently tried to avoid contacting her for part of the flight but eventually ended up using her as a de facto armrest. The next time she flew, she opted to pay for a 1st class ticket, which while more comfortable, emptied her bank account. She was of the opinion that if there’s any way to avoid flying, people of size should choose those other means of travel first.
As to the first part…
On small planes actual weight matters enough to go to the trouble of weighing the rather few people involved. And their luggage. On larger planes averages for the people will do although all checked baggage is still weighed individually.
IMO a company deliberately overloading planes with cargo would be unlikely to be weighing passengers when eyeballing that too is close enough for their half-assed don’t-care methods. I can’t say why they weighed you folks, but IMO your suggestion seems pretty implausible. Not that half-assed companies wouldn’t overload; that does happen.
As to the second part…
In the US the FAA mandates using a certain average passenger + carry-on baggage weight. Which differs winter vs summer. Every couple of decades they update those weights. Where do they get the data to make those updates? By ordering all the major airlines to weigh some fraction of their customers at random for a couple weeks then turn in their homework. This was last done about 3 years ago.
IMO the weights currently used are still ~20# per person too light. But they are what they are. I have a suspicion that the process tended to result in weighing more of the smaller people than the bigger ones, even if the selection was truly random / computerized. Because the bigger ones would be more likely to object to it and carriers would demur rather than force the issue with any particular customer. Whether, and how much, the FAA “corrected” for this anomaly I have no idea.
It’s curious though that the same people unwilling to cede any space to a larger passenger, sitting beside them, think the person in front of them should be denied reclining their seat, because the person behind them is tall. Kinda funny really.
Curious, because I am 5’8” and I have never had an issue fitting into a standard economy sized seat and my last flight was in April. My knees have never been pressed up against the seat in front. 
Uh, do the same people think that? Has anyone said that in this thread? Anyone who tries to stop the person in front from reclining or thinks they are doing something wrong if they recline is an asshole.
I’m 5’6" and also never have a problem with insufficient leg room, even if the passenger in front reclines.
I guess it depends what timescale you are talking about. I must admit I hadn’t realised that airline profits increased from an average of around $2 per seat from 2002 to 2013 to about $8 from 2014 until covid but at least in the UK piecemeal pricing has been going on since before the start of the millenium. Go back to the regulated era (pre 1978) and fares were regulated and high enough to ensure big profits even with airlines competing purly on level of service. I was trying to find data on prefitability pre 2002 but couldn’t find any find, from memory the 1980s was pretty brutal for the traditional carriers used to regulation leading to the end of carriers like Pan Am. In Europe fares were not regulated but there was little competition as airlines could only fly to and from their home nation. All that changed in 1991 when the EU became a free for all and airlines could fly on any EU route, airlines like Ryan Air expanded enormously with their extremely low headline fares causing many of the traditional carriers to go under .
I’m 6’0 and 205 lbs, and I can sit in an economy seat fine. The only time it was a little painful was on an 8 hour flight to Europe, but I fixed that by getting up every once in a while and stretching my legs.
Most domestic flights are less than 3 hours. A little discomfort for that time is a small price to pay for having a smaller price to pay. The savings in CO2 are a bonus.
I was one of those peoole who could not afford to fly. My first commercial airplane flight was not until I was in my 20’s. My family just didn’t have the money. So lowering the price of flying is a big deal.
I’d rather fly cramped than not fly at all. If you think 3 hours with little legroom is a problem, try replacing it with 20 hours of driving, or 30 hours on a bus.
Yeah, I’m 6’2" and 220#, and fly RJs on a semi-regular basis. I prefer to fly business, but fit fine in economy.
The same for me. I think knee room has actually gotten better in the past 20 years due to changes in seat design, like thinner seat backs, and moving the seat pocket up to the top of the seat. I think I’d actually prefer a wider seat, not because I’m all that wide, but just to avoid constantly getting bumped by people walking to the lavatory, or having to spend the entire flight leaning to the side because there’s a really broad shouldered guy in the middle seat.
If/when obesity is considered a disability, then (in the US) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals with obesity would be legally entitled to reasonable accommodations:
“Reasonable accommodations” are generally understood to mean things like making your store wheelchair accessible or providing menus rendered in Braille. I have no doubt that the word “reasonable” has been litigated extensively over the past three decades, and I confess to not knowing where the courts have drawn the “reasonable” line, but it seems likely to me that compelling a business to provide its usual services for half the usual price would not be considered reasonable.
If approved, does that mean I only have to pay half fare because I have extra space in my seat that I don’t need? If they get extra space free, I should be reimbursed for my unused space.
My understanding is that the ADA doesn’t actually apply to airlines. There’s a separate law, the Air Carrier Access Act, that covers them.
It’s amazing how my weight yo-yos; every time I book a ticket I’m 350 lbs but do this wonderful crash diet to lose almost ½ of that by flight time, even when I got a call, “Get here NOW” as her mom took a turn & was on death’s doorstep & there was an agonizing 5 hrs between booking & flight time.
Somehow I balloon back up a mere seconds before I book my next flight. Amazing how that happens.
I’ve got almost a foot on you & have long legs. My knees routinely are touching the seatback in front of me even if it’s in it’s upright & locked position. How I love not having a neighbor in the middle, I can turn a little & stretch my legs under the middle seat in front of me.
Good catch, you’re right.
Just last year, the DOT published the airline passenger bill of rights:
Here’s item #8, “The Right To Receive Seating Accommodations”:
Airlines must provide specific seats to the following passengers who identify to airline personnel as needing the seat, if the seat exists on the same class of service on the aircraft:
- Movable Aisle Armrest–When the passenger uses an aisle chair to board and cannot transfer readily over a fixed aisle armrest.
- Bulkhead Seat or Other Seat–When the passenger travels with a service animal that is best accommodated at a particular seat.
- Greater Leg Room–When the passenger has a fused or immobilized leg.
- Adjoining Seat–For a companion providing a certain type of assistance, such as:
- A personal care attendant who performs a function that is not required to be performed by airline personnel, for example assisting a passenger with a disability with eating;
- A reader for a passenger who is blind or low vision;
- An interpreter for a passenger who is deaf or hard of hearing; or
- A safety assistant if a passenger with a disability cannot assist with their own evacuation.
For passengers not specified above, airlines must provide a seat assignment that best accommodates his or her disability if the passenger meets the airline’s procedures.
Airlines must provide seating accommodations using one of three methods: the block method, the priority method, or preboarding (if the airline does not provide advance seat assignments). Visit our Seating Accommodation Methods page to learn more about these seating methods and for the seating methods of the largest U.S. airlines and their operating partners, which account for approximately 95 percent of domestic passenger air traffic. Information regarding seating methods of certain foreign air carriers is also provided.
The items in that list, even if not officially referred to as “reasonable accommodations”, all seem to be offered in the same spirit: they generally just involve finding a specific seat on a plane to match someone’s unique/uncommon needs. In most cases the cost/loss of revenue to the airline is relatively minor, e.g. allowing someone with an immobilized leg to sit in an exit row seat with extra leg room (for which most other passengers would be required to pay a small premium). While weighing twice as much as a normal adult may indeed be a disability, “two seats for the price of one” does not strike me as an accommodation that’s commensurate with the other items on that list.