I fly Southwest almost exclusively. If you want to use the senior fair, send them a copy of your drivers license and you can print out your boarding pass early./mm
Posted by: maureen1900
Date posted: Wed Mar 3 19:46:56 2010
Message:
The most miserable flight I have ever had was in 2003 on Ryan Air from Ireland back to the states. We flew for I believe 8 hours. As soon as we took off and seats could be reclined, the lady in front of me reclined all the way. I am 5' 8", but very short waisted with very long legs. After a couple of hours, I was literally crying in pain (have had previous injury to my knees). The back of her seat was actually laying on my knees. My husband, who is 6' 2" finally changed seats with me - his legs are a little shorter than mine.
I could not believe how close the seats were to each other; we were crammed in like sardines. I will never take a long flight again until I have saved the money for first class. So it might be a long time.
Posted by: julia
Date posted: Wed Feb 24 14:38:31 2010
Message:
The story is about director, Kevin Smith. He had purchased two seats on a later flight - apparently he usually purchases two seats. He asked to take an earlier flight and SWA had one seat left on a flight from Oakland to Burbank. For whatever reason, once he boarded the plane, it was determined he didn't fit - I haven't heard the details - perhaps it was a middle seat and nobody wanted to move to give him an aisle seat - who knows? The pilots determined the situation was not workable and they bumped him to a later flight.
I am a thin person. I am always willing to take a middle seat so people can fit in and sometimes, as Americans get bigger and bigger, and airlines squeeze more and more people onto flights, it becomes increasingly uncomfortable to sit, unmoving, between two large people on long flights. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but obesity is a serious health problem in our nation and a growing problem in the Western World.
Posted by: Janie
Date posted: Wed Feb 17 14:50:41 2010
Message:
What I heard on the news this morning was that he had his seatbelt on and the armrest down, so I guess he must have been spilling over into the next seat around the armrest. It would be good to have a picture of it to see who is really right in this situation.
I also heard that Mitt Romney asked someone in front of him not to recline his seat but the person refused. So that became a news story just because Mitt is a public figure. So who has the right of way here? The recliner or the one behind him? I've had reclining fliers who have reclined far back and I'm small but it was still uncomfortable for me. However, since I'm a rather 'switch that fight' person, I just suffered in silence.
Replies: (list all replies)
There's a bit more to the story, Janie. The guy slugged Romney. I heard that it was during takeoff and in thant instance, the guy should have had his seat in the upright postition. But it might have been better if he'd called the flight attendant./mm
Well, I suppose there a just a lot of angry people in this world. I prefer to stay out of their way than to challenge them. J.
Posted by: dandyfop
Date posted: Wed Feb 17 13:23:23 2010
Message:
Well, airlines are basically selling space. Not everyone can fit in that predetermined space- and as we all have heard- Americans are fat and getting fatter. Even if the airlines did provide larger seats to fit a larger society- the thought that as we get ever fatter we just expand everything to fit us is troubling. And airlines are in a business to maximize their profits- to squeeze as many of us in as possible.
OTOH, I can't see how it can be good for a person to force themselves into a too small seat. Beyond comfort- seems for some people it might be a safety issue. I think airlines should have some larger seats available for these people- and as larger seats they should cost more.
Posted by: Mrs. B. Harris
Date posted: Wed Feb 17 12:49:43 2010
Message:
Let's not cheer Southwest just yet. From what I've read the director, Kevin Smith, did buy two seats, but because he was flying standby Southwest put him on a plane with only one seat available. Then they kicked him off because he didn't fit.
Replies: (list all replies)
What I heard was that he had purchased two seats on a later flight, but wanted to get home earlier so flew standby on the flight in question./mm
Posted by: Tosca
Date posted: Mon Feb 15 22:15:58 2010
Message:
My sister is heavy, and this is a big problem for her.
First of all, some planes have seats she can fit in, and some aren't. She has to be an expert on planes to know which flights she can take. And sometimes she doesn't have a choice. For every flight she takes, she checks the seating arrangements and always takes chooses a row that's empty. If a flight looks nearly full, she will change to a different flight. When she gets to the airport, she always has the agent double check to make sure she isn't sitting next to someone if it's not necessary. Most airlines are very kind and make sure everyone is accommodated. One airline makes her buy two seats, but they return the price of the second seat if there were extra seats on the plane. She tries to fly that airline as much as possible.
When you buy a ticket, they don't ask how much you weigh. Or maybe if the airline said "If your weight is 300 or above, please buy a second ticket". Of course, you could be 300 pounds and 6'9" tall and could fit in the seat width-wise just fine. And you could be 4'9" at 200 pounds and not fit in a seat. So maybe they should have you measure your butt while seated to make sure it would fit within the arms. I don't know. But it's not fair to sell someone a ticket and then kick them off the plane. I saw the guy on tv. He was big, but I have seen much fatter people walking around an airport. My sister will never even try to fly Southwest because she doesn't want to go through the humiliation of getting kicked off a flight.
It's not easy being heavy and flying. And it's not easy having to share a seat with someone spillling over. I don't think Southwest handled it well. There's got to be a better way.
Replies: (list all replies)
Tosca, you make some good points. I have a nephew who is 6'10
(those darn quotes) and has to travell for his job. So this is a problem for him as well. And he's actually thin. I do feel that the airlines should take into account all of their customers and not expect someone to give up part of their seat to accomodate a heavy passenger. Many people will not complain, but just sit there and suffer. I commend your sister for being so conscientious in seeing she does not inconvenience other passengers. I don't think this guy gave a hoot. He claims he had purchased two seats on a later flight but wanted to get home earlier so flew standby. Anyway, he's getting a lot of free publicity for his new movie./mm
Having passengers measure their butt (and waistline) to make sure it will fit isn't such a bad idea. After all, they specify dimensions for carry on bags to fit the plane's equipment, so why not for passengers? When your legs are too long it's another issue altogether. Extra-long legs don't inconvenience other paying passengers. The only person who suffers is the long-legged passenger. eom/D
I've had people with long legs sit in back of me, and ask me not to put my seat back. It's no big thing, but one could say that does inconvenience other passengers.
My nephew always tries to get the seat behind the bulkhead for that reason./mm
And he has that option. No extra money...just try to get the bulkhead. Heavy people don't have any options but to shell out the $ for a second seat. Heck, plane flights cost enough. Can you imagine having to pay double that every time you fly? I know people look at overweight people as weaklings who could get the cheaper seat if they just lost 100 pounds. But think how hard it is for you and me to lose 10 sometimes. It's not that easy to lose over 100 pounds.
Tosca, my sister is heavy too. She has no metabolism. Growing up, I could eat everything in sight and not gain an ounce. She could walk past an M&M and gain 10 pounds. It's killing me to lose 30 pounds. I can't imagine having to lose what amounts to a whole person. (Mrs. B. H.)
Posted by: katiesbeach
Date posted: Mon Feb 15 14:42:43 2010
Message:
One of the most miserable flights I was ever on was when two double sized men sat on either side of me on a plane. (Obviously I was in the middle) BOTH of them spilled over in to my seat and I could not move. They were both reading the paper and both of their arms were OVER the arm rest that should have been shared by me. I think the flight attendant knew it, but there wasn't anywhere to move. Each of those men should have had two seats.
Replies: (list all replies)
At least those two guys
When I lived in Australia, I always flew first class when I came back to the States. I had a favorite seat. One time I didn't get it and was pouting. Then a guy came in and sat in the seat next to my favorite seat. He was a big guy. He took off his shoes, rolled us his sleeves, spread out, went to sleep and snored for fourteen hours. I was so glad I wasn't sitting next to him./mm
