Passenger of "size"? Here are the rules, by airline

Posted by George Hobica on Monday, December 7, 2009

By now we've all seen the photo of the very large passenger sticking into the aisle of an American Airlines single aisle plane. Was it real? Some kind of Photoshopped hoax? How could they even have let him on board?

Many airlines now have some kind of language in their travel info pages concerning when and if a passenger may be required to buy an extra seat, or may be so large as to be denied boarding. But others don't make this information easy to find, or haven't quite made up their minds about how to handle this weighty topic.

Continental, for example, states that,

"A customer flying in the economy cabin who is not able to safely and comfortably fit in a single seat is 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. The customer may instead choose to purchase a ticket for First Class/Business/BusinessFirst®, or elect to pay for an upgrade to the front cabin if there is availability to do so. Continental Airlines is not required to provide additional seats or upgrades free of charge.

A customer is required to purchase an additional seat or upgrade if they do not meet one of the following criteria:

The customer must be able to properly attach, buckle and wear the seatbelt, with one extension* if necessary, whenever the seatbelt sign is illuminated or as instructed by a crew member.
The customer must be able to remain seated with the seat armrest(s) down for the entirety of the flight.
The customer must not significantly encroach upon the adjacent seating space. See our seat maps.

Continental Airlines will not board a customer who declines to purchase a ticket for an additional seat or upgrade for each leg of their itinerary when required."

Southwest Airlines says that the armest is the "definite boundary" between seats, which measure 17 inches in width. You're supposed to book two seats if you think you won't be able to live within those bounds, and if it turns out all the seats didn't sell on your flight, you'll get a refund for the additional seat. Seems fair. In fact, Southwest says that 97% of passengers end up getting a refund.

United has similar rules .

Perhaps what's needed are "sizer" seats near airport check in desks, just as airlines have sizers for carryon luggage. "If you can't fit into this seat, you need to buy two of them."

Categories: Air Travel

The other day I flew Continental from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale. The woman sitting in the window seat was grossly obese. When I got there she had all the armrests up and her body spilled over halfway onto the middle seat. The rest of the seat was taken up by her huge purse. She had an odor too. Her belly rubbed up against the seat in front of her. I had the aisle, and thank goodness no one had the middle. She could hardly breathe and made gross noises throughout the flight as she dozed. Sorry but that was a horrible experience for me. And I used to be heavy myself, so don't think I am clueless. Wish I didn't have to go through this to visit my family....

by OhDonnnna on Thursday, December 10, 2009

I had this happen to me on Southwest. I guess I should have known their policy better. I was traveling with a bloodclot, and managed to get a bulkhead ailse seat so that I would have more legroom. At the last minute, an extremely large woman boarded, and all that was left on the plane was middle seats. So she sat in the middle next to me, and overflowed into both my seat and the woman at the window's. As soon as she sat down, she asked for a seatbelt extender, so she *knew* she was oversized. She *tried* to put the armrest up, and I pushed it back down. She still took up a good portion of my seat (spread *under* the armrest*) and her broad arms & shoulders. I spent most of the flight leaning into the aisle, which is VERY bad for my back. I guess I should have complained to the flight attendant, but I'm not sure what they could have done at that point. I personally don't think she should have been allowed to board at the last minute unless she'd bought 2 seats, and they could confirm there were 2 seats together for her to occupy...

by sayhello on Thursday, December 10, 2009

Just yesterday I flew next to a tall and large person who upon sitting down flipped up the arm rest between us and said, "Let's lift this up to give us more room." I lowered the arm rest and replied pleasantly, " I am fine and I do not want to do that." This passenger took up part of my seat, his/her seat, and part of the person's seat on the other side of her/him. The passenger remarked about being too tall for the seat. The plane was full - and I, who had paid for a seat that I did not have to share with anyone, did not get what I had paid for. I think that's the point. Passengers purchase a seat for themselves and do not purchase a shared seat.

by not alone in my seat on Wednesday, December 09, 2009

A very large young woman had the window seat next to me. She took me by surprise when she asked to put the armrest up so I didn't refuse. Major mistake. It was summer so we were both wearing shorts and t-shirts. She ended up halfway on my seat and we rode skin to skin from our shoulders to our knees for 3 hours. I didn't want to embarrass her so I did not complain but I will never let anybody put the armrest up again.

by ausrtriangirl on Tuesday, December 08, 2009

I am a plus size person with broad shoulders married to an average size person with broad shoulders too. He likes window seats and I like the aisle so invariably when we fly together and a flight is filled, someone sits between us, as happened at Thanksgiving when we flew Jet Blue to the Bahamas and back. I felt sorry for the person sitting between us, but our girth did not encroach on his space, our shoulders did. I've never flown Southwest and doubt I will b/c of the "cattle call " process but having watched their show Airline, I would always cringe when they pulled over an obese passenger to say they had to buy two tickets, which surely caused embarrassment to the passenger. We recently flew on Skybahamas and to purchase our tickets to/from Exuma we were required to indicate our weight, probably b/c Sky uses smaller aircraft. I personally had no problem doing that. Maybe other airlines should do the same. Sure, I know everyone fudges on their weight, but if s/one shows up at check-in and clearly looks larger than they indicated when they purchased their ticket, then the airline staff would have the clear right to question them further and request they purchase another ticket - embarrassment or not. I agree with the person who mentioned that the seats on planes don't really fit the average person. I am short and even I have had my knees pushed into the seat in front of me. We recently flew on Jet Blue for the first time and for a mere $25 each we had several inches more of pitch and that did much to make our flight as pleasant as possible. The TV screen in the seat back was also a nice touch as was the pleasant staff and the free snacks.

by tntscrapper on Tuesday, December 08, 2009

I once had to suffer the thigh of a neighbor passenger. By the time the flight landed my thigh was soaked in this person's sweat. It was horrible beyond words. Isn't it about time the airlines offered larger seats in coach. How difficult would it be to have two larger seats sporadically positioned in coach? Maybe 20 out of the 150 could be larger. This would reduce the humiliation for all concerned.

by Elibeta on Tuesday, December 08, 2009

I did my own experiment in buying two seats. (The seat prices were low enough that I could afford to buy extra real estate in the name of research.) I discovered that the airlines not only have little experience and expertise in their own policies, but when I attempted to purchase a second seat for two flights the ticket agents had a difficult time. One assigned me seats in two DIFFERENT ROWS. Also, once at the gate with my two tickets, the gate agent advised me to alert the crew. It turned out I needed to alert EVERY flight attendant on board, because each time one did a seat count they thought my extra seat was up for grabs. If the airlines are going to set regulations and expect "people of size" to purchase two seats, the process should be no more difficult than any other ticket purchase. I think that online purchase should have an advisory that states the policy and offers the extra seat purchase ("If you do not fit into one of our seats, you must purchase an addition seat; see policy at xxx.xx. Do you need to purchase an additional seat yes/no?") Ticket agents need a similar easy-to-use interface. Of course, there are other suggestions made to accommodate POS that have been set forth, but it appears to me that the general public (at least those who comment on sites like this) have no charity towards the obese and no wish to see accommodations extended. Indeed, even Southwest's policy of refunding the extra seat charge if there are empty seats on the plane has generated outcry from those who feel the obese deserve not only to pay for the "crime" of being fat, but derision and name-calling, as well. It is ironic that the majority of ALL Americans, even those who make fun of the fatties on planes, have problems fitting into a 17-inch wide seat, which is smaller than the minimum width established for train seat widths in a Harvard study done in the 1950's (which found 18" was the least amount of room needed to fit an American behind).

by Margery on Monday, December 07, 2009

The biggest problem with all of this is that many airline seats don't even comfortably accommodate average-sized passengers. I am neither clinically obese nor extremely tall, and I barely fit into a Continental Airlines 737 seat, especially if it's a middle seat. My hips hit the armrests and my knees hit the seat in front of me. Also, I wonder how the airlines plan to address government, military and corporate "passengers of size"? I'm pretty sure government travel regs don't allow for purchase of a second seat. Could it be that some of this "passenger of size" vigilance might be biased against the leisure traveler? You know, the one who doesn't pay as much to fly?

by NancyP on Monday, December 07, 2009

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Passenger of "size"? Here are the rules, by airline

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