Larger passengers

[chunkichik]

We flew with air 2000 on our first trip and we upgraded to premium economy, the seats were much more comfortable, dont get me wrong, yes I am overweight but I do fit in an economy seat. The worse thing for me in economy was that the seat was so uncomfortable for my coccyx injury, i was in agony, and no matter how many of those silly little pillows I sat on!!!! I wouldn't mind a comfortable seat no matter what the size of it!!

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:That must have been after 2003 when Concorde retired because he used to commute on her[/quote]

I am talking before Concorde came [u]into</u> service - late 60's or early 70's!! He had live TV shows in GB and USA at the time

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
As someone said it is cheaper to buy 2 seats in economy than Business/first class.

When David Frost had regular TV programmes on both side of the Atlantic he travelled several times a week between New York and London. He used to buy 3 seats at the back of the plane and lie down and sleep for the journey.

I suppose he got 3 times the frequent flyer miles as well!
[/quote]

I think he got the 3 seats because I stepped on his foot once in Toys R Us....he would of need to rest his foot for many a year after that....I think my heel put a hole in his foot........[msnembarrased][msnembarrased]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:That must have been after 2003 when Concorde retired because he used to commute on her[/quote]

I am talking before Concorde came [u]into</u> service - late 60's or early 70's!! He had live TV shows in GB and USA at the time
[/quote]

OMG! That is before my time Robert LOL!!!!

[domster]

I always thought that as a safety point of view you are not allowed to take up 2 seats (for take off and landing).

So anyone who does not fit into a small seat in economy would have to go in premium etc.

I was once on a flight to London from belfast and the UK strongest man was on it (Jim Ross), he travelled in premium and had 2 seats, for take off her squeezed in and once up in the air used the 2 seats.

So from his point of view he was happy to pay for 2 seats.

DOM

[Magical Dreams]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk
As long as they only use one seat then they should pay the same price as anyone else. To discriminate against people on the grounds of weight (or anything else for that matter) would land someone in a lot of trouble I suspect.

I did see a program about SouthWest Airlines in the USA a few weeks ago and their test with larger passengers was could they comfortably sit in one of the plane seats with both armrests down. If not, the passenger did have to buy another seat but would then have the use of two seats. Sounds very fair to me [msnsmile]
[/quote]

I totally agree

Not everyone is overweight by over indulgence.

Thats like saying a 2 year old should pay less than a 5 year old for their seats!

Imagine the claims going in for discrimiination?

[Upsidedown]

There is a woman at my wifes company who is so large that she has to turn sideways to get through a standard door. Now apart from the fact that I would not like to have her spilling over into my seat I wonder what would happen in the case of an emergency. If she tried to go out through one of the overwing exists she would get wedged in the hole. This is a real flight safety issue. And it needs to be addressed because somebody that size could and very likely would cause the loss of several lives in the case of an emergency requiring an emergency evacuation.

[LiesaAnna]

awww nice to see an old topic resurrected...... never did manage to lose the weight..... i go through the worry of seats on every trip we have taken, the smaller planes to short haul destinations im thinking are probably a tad smaller..... we're doing 'easyjet' flight in may and worrying about size of seats already!!

[lafifille]

Easyjet seats are 29''. For comparison BA, UA, VA or CO are 31''. So yes, get ready for a smaller seat (but cheaper, at least I hope[msnwink]).

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by DiannaUK
The airlines are just way too greedy trying to fit in so many seats. I'm sure that if they were transporting cattle or chickens in these conditions, someone somewhere would say that it's illegal, but as we're humans, it seems ok to squash us up together.[/quote]
Actually this is an interesting thread topic, and something the airlines have been wrestling with for some time. The 'standard' seat dimensions most airlines use were set back in the 60s when people first started to fly regularly. Since then of course the size of the average person (at least in the western world) has increased dramatically, but the seat sizes have not been amended.

It's a thorny question - I can just imagine the reaction to the first airline that imposed an 'excess baggage' charge for body weight! But I can understand the frustration of people asked to pay charges because their luggage weighs a few kilos over, when they see someone else in the check-in queue who might weight twice as much as they do!

The best solution would obviously for the airlines to adjust their seat size to whatever is the average these days, but that would of course reduce capacity and so I am sure prices would increase. It would be interesting to see if people would be prepared to pay more for a larger seat. The success of classes such as premium economy and their ilk implies that they would, but it would take a brave airline to take that first step...