Plus-size passengers reveal anguish of 'flying while fat'

[dextersmith]

Some people share how they've been physically hurt by fellow passengers. “I had a guy once slam the arm down in between us, which is really painful,” says one woman. “Somebody slamming something into the side of your body hurts!” She wasn't alone in her experience, either. Another person says, “He kept pushing the arm down which was like pushing into my belly and my thigh."

The arm rest wouldn't hit her if she wasn't everywhere. It's not ok to flood someone else's seat with your belly.

The filmmaker herself, though not in the video, admitted she’s gone through several tough experiences. “The worst was the time a group of approximately eight rowdy men harassed me through the airport and they happened to be seated in a circle around me on the plane,” said Bias. “One of the flight crew caught what was happening and moved me to another section of the plane. But I was moved from the extra legroom seating, which I had paid for, back into coach without the offer of a refund.”

Perspective: they weren't sitting all around her, she was beside everyone.

Now she hopes publicity around her film will help drive a larger conversation.

Even this article mocks them. Let's have a conversation about their bo, them harassing people at meal times, restaurants, and demanding your seat everywhere.

[Seani]

BMI is a terrible metric to use.

If you are within 10-15 lbs of the normal range of your BMI that's fine. It's when you find people that are grossly obese. Yes, the BMI isn't 100% reflective of a healthy body-weight but it is a good guide. If you are 150% of your BMI, that is a good indication you might need to lose some weight.

[Deleted]

They don't allow smokers to smoke on a plane either, no matter how desperately they need to light up

There does need to be some kind of cutoff where if you're too large to fit inside a seat, you either buy 2 seats, or you don't get on the flight

And yes, as someone who lifts, I know what it's like filling up a tight airline seat edge to edge with my shoulders

That's very different from someone whose ass does not fit between the armrests

[Seani]

To be honest, I don't feel like any of the 'debates' are constructive. Someone quotes a biased article with no source, and the thread quickly deteriorates into a personal vendetta against the other person. Moderators don't do a good job being objective either, which makes these kind of threads a powder-keg for disaster.

[Deleted]

To be honest, I don't feel like any of the 'debates' are constructive. Someone quotes a biased article with no source, and the thread quickly deteriorates into a personal vendetta against the other person. Moderators don't do a good job being objective either, which makes these kind of threads a powder-keg for disaster.

Welcome to every Tennisace discussion ever. He links to an obscure clearly biased article and adopts the opinion that will conflict with the majority of the visitors here. It's an art really, a deplorable one but still a form of art.

I think it's the ramblings of a deeply lonely and warped individual.

[Aoyi]

The big issue in this is the airlines reducing their seat size and distance between seats for more profit (the same reason many companies no longer offer free snacks). I haven't grown since I was about 16. I'm 6'3'" and I fit just fine when I was flying 15 years ago. Now my legs are cramped trying to fit on those newer planes. Fortunately, I'm thin, so I don't face the other issues in this article, but the problem definitely isn't just with passengers being overweight. Its also the airlines reducing what the call a seat while raising the prices.

[Spectral]

The key discussion here is not on 400 pound mastodonts boarding a plane (I've never seen someone so fat they didn't fit in a seat, and I travel a lot), but it's more about how airplanes aren't designed for your average male anymore. The only ones screaming about their personal space here are 5 foot manlets with ego issues.

The average male is 5'10" in the United States. Most 5'10" men fit in airplane seats just fine if they're not obese. People that are two standard deviations from the mean (i.e., 6'4") have trouble, but have the option of purchasing seats with extra leg room - pretty much everyone fits basically fine into the economy comfort or exit level seats, so going first class isn't generally necessary. This is (by definition) ~3% of the male population, overhauling seating rather than these guys paying an extra ~$30 makes a lot more sense than overhauling everything.

Basically, we don't need to change things dramatically to accommodate a few special snowflakes.

- - - Updated - - -

What airlines really need to do is just sell oversized seats that are at a premium price (50% extra) that allow for the extra space by removing the seat in between, and simply have a weight limit on regular seating (also have a weight minimum for those seats so that others don't take the seat to have a more comfortable space).

They literally do this. With the exception of small planes for short local flights, pretty much all other planes have first-class (which isn't "first-class" in any meaningful sense on regional flights, but whatever) seats available that are usually only ~30-60% more expensive than normal seats that are tw seats in the space that normally has three seats in the rest of the plane.

[MasterOfNone]

Flying with a fat person sitting at your side is rather horrible.

No idea why they haven't put some weight limit on flying so you don't intrude on other passengers space.

they have...its a principal of aerodynamics. its just a matter of seating at this point.

[Deleted]

All this "fat shaming" is stupid.
Lose weight and you won't get "the looks". Maybe it should tell you that there's something wrong with YOU and not with US.

I'm not going to give half of the space I paid for to some cow that can't stop eating pizzas every day.

[Spectral]

The big issue in this is the airlines reducing their seat size and distance between seats for more profit (the same reason many companies no longer offer free snacks).

Airlines aren't particularly profitable. This does not increase profit margins - it decreases flights costs, which is evidently where the demand is.

I haven't grown since I was about 16. I'm 6'3'" and I fit just fine when I was flying 15 years ago. Now my legs are cramped trying to fit on those newer planes. Fortunately, I'm thin, so I don't face the other issues in this article, but the problem definitely isn't just with passengers being overweight. Its also the airlines reducing what the call a seat while raising the prices.

Airline prices are very, very low (article from the Atlantic). People that want some extra leg room can get the mid-tier seat options such as Delta Comfort+ that give an extra 4 inches of leg room for something in the ballpark of $30 for most flights. You'll get free booze included with that tier as well (depending on the airline). Frequent flyers generally get upgraded to these seats for free on all but the most crowded business flights.

[MasterOfNone]

Because weight is subjective? Do you honestly feel like a 240 pound man who is 6'4 should have to pay for 2 seats while a 220lb 5'0 female can get away with 1 seat?

weight is not subjective when it comes to aircraft. they can only carry a certain weight to maintain lift.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaliyah example

[Revi]

The key discussion here is not on 400 pound mastodonts boarding a plane (I've never seen someone so fat they didn't fit in a seat, and I travel a lot), but it's more about how airplanes aren't designed for your average male anymore. The only ones screaming about their personal space here are 5 foot manlets with ego issues.

As a tall man: It's fine. Traveling is extremely cheap now compared to any other time, and I can deal just fine with not having enough room and being a bit uncomfortable while flying for a few hours. If it's a longer flight, I just have to pay more for more leg room.

If they made all seats have bigger leg room (or bigger room for fat people), it'd drive prices up for everyone (fewer seats per airplane = more expensive seats). I'd be paying more, people people who don't actually need the space would be paying more.

Shouldn't make traveling more expensive for everyone just so it feels "fair".

[Floopa]

Airlines think the average flyer is 5' 7" tall with a 26-32" waist the way their seats are designed.

Male, 26, 5' 9", 30inch waist, weigh 62 kg

Seats designed for average healthy people is normal? Colour me surprised xd

[PosPosPos]

I doubt those olympic bodybuilders are going to fit in one seat as well, are they included in this fat shaming thing?

[Spectral]

I doubt those olympic bodybuilders are going to fit in one seat as well, are they included in this fat shaming thing?

People sure do love bringing up the 0.1% of the population that has giant shoulders from lifting every time there's a conversation about the morbidly obese.

[Deleted]

Male, 26, 5' 9", 30inch waist, weigh 62 kg

Seats designed for average healthy people is normal? Colour me surprised xd

Midgets. When will they learn?

[PosPosPos]

People sure do love bringing up the 0.1% of the population that has giant shoulders from lifting every time there's a conversation about the morbidly obese.

Probably because they aren't just 0.1% of the population considering it's in vogue here and every other male seems to have picked up bodybuilding and have a shoulder span that of 1 1/3 of a normal passenger seat*.

*Not counting the actual olympic bodybuilders yet, who probably can span across two seats thereabouts.

[Nitro Fun]

Probably because they aren't just 0.1% of the population considering it's in vogue here and every other male seems to have picked up bodybuilding and have a shoulder span that of 1 1/3 of a normal passenger seat*.

*Not counting the actual olympic bodybuilders yet, who probably can span across two seats thereabouts.

You live in fucking singapore, they're not that big.

[PosPosPos]

You live in fucking singapore, they're not that big.

Generally, when you sit on planes leaving for and from singapore, they tend to have a lot of singaporeans. Of course it's a statistical bias that doesn't apply to all airlines, but it's still true for us here and relevant when considering airlines in general and how often singaporeans do travel.

[soccershot]

I am 230lb 5' 8" yet I comfortably fit inside plane chairs in the country I live in but I guess I am in the area that people are talking about. These chairs must be so small and if they are, the airplane companies should be sued. Like I mean billion dollar sued so they actually take notice and fix the problem. Medically I am obese and it is up to me to become healthier but really. If YOU want extra space, YOU can buy the extra ticket. Other people don't owe you jack and you are a fool if you think that other people are going to go out of their way to make you comfortable. It is as simple as that.