If obese passenger requires two seats on an aircraft who should bear the cost?

If an obese passenger requires two seats on an aircraft, who should bear the cost?

  • Total voters
    130
Tassadar said:
You dont even need the disabilities act ( or discrimination law in canada), why ?

Just read/listen to publicity , it is always stated that it cost xxx$ PER PERSON, so the contract is very clear, it is cost per person, not by weight, like freight, neither by occupying surface area.

And you will never saw a new marketing trip publicity, saying 25 $ per pounds to travel to europe, :lol: .
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Now I'm going to have to go hunt down the fine print in that contract. "Some restrictions apply" is probably there somewhere, I'm sure.
 
IglooDude said:
....which will require an extra seat to accomodate. :lol: Thanks for playing.
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Fine, I'll buy two seats for my whole family.
 
stratego said:
Fine, I'll buy two seats for my whole family.
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Ah, wait, sorry, I'd forgotten - compressed oxygen is a flammable substance, you're not allowed to bring it aboard. :nono:
 
The Last Conformist said:
Who said it would?

It might be, tho, if you would be inconvenienced by airlines closing or hiking prices - I'd be.
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Understandable. But, I guess you got that, what I meant is something different.

As you explained correctly the main reason (probably the only one) in favour of charging the fat passengers are the airline profits.
And as some people said they can sell whatever they want to whoever they want, although that is restricted by alot of laws, including the aforementioned anti discrimination laws.

Still, even assuming those wouldn't exist it should be their responsibility to check if they can provide the service they offer to a customer. So if they sell a flight to someone he should be transported on that flight without any extra costs. Unless he had to know (thanks to their measures) that the service isn't really available for people his size. But you obviously can't sell something that isn't available and then blame the customer. Only if he knew that he bought a ticket that doesn't fit him he can be held responsible, otherwise it is the responsiblity of the one providing the service.
 
@Hitro: My point was that someone will have to pay - Chieftess said neither the passenger nor the airline should, which realistically leaves the taxpayer. I was wondering if she had thought that one thru.

I've already explained why I think the passenger should pay; see the first page.
 
The Last Conformist said:
@Hitro: My point was that someone will have to pay - Chieftess said neither the passenger nor the airline should, which realistically leaves the taxpayer. I was wondering if she had thought that one thru.
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Okay, that's right, of course.
I've already explained why I think the passenger should pay; see the first page.
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As I explained earlier I generally tend to agree with that. You can also not expect that all clothes are available for all sizes. But you can expect that you know what size you get when you buy it.
 
Problem is, air tickets are often bought at a distance - online, on the phone, in a travel agenture -, unlike clothes, which people can usually see and try before buying. Realistically, obese people will simply have to ask how big the seats are.

If an obese passenger turns up at check-in with only a one-seat ticket, and there are spare seats in the plane, I see nothing wrong with charging for an extra ticket then and there.
 
The Last Conformist said:
Oxygen is only flammable in the presence of fluorine, and I really hope they don't have that on an airliner ...

OTOH, oxygen tubes make decent improvised explosives ...
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I'm certainly no chemist, but if pure oxygen is only flammable in the presence of flourine, why do hospitals (and other places) make such a to-do about no smoking around oxygen tents and the like? Or do you mean that pure oxygen is not flammable, in the same way that (say) pure methanol is not flammable, because both require flame and a third leg of the fire triangle in order to ignite?

[/threadjack]
 
The Last Conformist said:
Problem is, air tickets are often bought at a distance - online, on the phone, in a travel agenture -, unlike clothes, which people can usually see and try before buying. Realistically, obese people will simply have to ask how big the seats are.
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Here is where we disagree. I think the travel agency or the airline should inform the customer of that without having to be asked. It should be clear without asking what you are buying.

Either it is a flight, which would mean it would be solely the carrier's responsibility and is therefore unrealistic or it is a seat and then it has to be clear what "a seat" is. Otherwise they could make the seats so small that even "normally shaped" people would have to pay more or could simply not fly.
If an obese passenger turns up at check-in with only a one-seat ticket, and there are spare seats in the plane, I see nothing wrong with charging for an extra ticket then and there.
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Honestly, when there are spare seats I see no reason not to just give it to him...

Only if there aren't and he has to be upgraded to first class, for example, he should pay for it.
 
I voted, the airline. That's just wrong making the person pay for two seats. It's not always that persons fault he needs two seats.

Why do people always add Radioactive monkey crap to there polls. Not funny anymore.
 
Ben E Gas said:
I voted, the airline. That's just wrong making the person pay for two seats. It's not always that persons fault he needs two seats.
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So its the airlines fault for them being morbidly obese. I understand their are some medical conditions that prevent people losing weight or gain a lot, but those are few and far between, it is not the airlines responsibility to cut breaks for these people.

Maybe with the rise of obesity in America they should create new planes with bigger seats, to counter this issue, just charge more for it.
 
IglooDude said:
I'm certainly no chemist, but if pure oxygen is only flammable in the presence of flourine, why do hospitals (and other places) make such a to-do about no smoking around oxygen tents and the like? Or do you mean that pure oxygen is not flammable, in the same way that (say) pure methanol is not flammable, because both require flame and a third leg of the fire triangle in order to ignite?
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I was being nitpicky - pure oxygen doesn't burn (except in the presence of fluorine), but it's exceedingly effective at making other stuff burn. Flammable, unless I'm misinformed, means prone to burning, and is thus not (normally) applicable to oxygen.
Hitro said:
Here is where we disagree. I think the travel agency or the airline should inform the customer of that without having to be asked. It should be clear without asking what you are buying.
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Well, obviously the information should be available at the airline's webpage, but I think it's a bit too much require that they explicitly tell you if you simply call and make a booking - after-all, most customers have flown before and ought know whether they need an extra seat.

Travel agentures might be interesting - I don't think your typical employee would much appreciate pointing out to a customer that he/she is so fat he/she probably needs an extra seat. The solution, I guess, would be having seats of the relevant size in the agenture, and a friendly little sign saying "If you don't fit into this seat, you won't fit into a seat on the plane either".
 
IglooDude said:
I'm certainly no chemist, but if pure oxygen is only flammable in the presence of flourine, why do hospitals (and other places) make such a to-do about no smoking around oxygen tents and the like? Or do you mean that pure oxygen is not flammable, in the same way that (say) pure methanol is not flammable, because both require flame and a third leg of the fire triangle in order to ignite?

[/threadjack]
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He is in the wild field, oxygen in fact support combustion ( merk index).
 
CIVPhilzilla said:
So its the airlines fault for them being morbidly obese. I understand their are some medical conditions that prevent people losing weight or gain a lot, but those are few and far between, it is not the airlines responsibility to cut breaks for these people.
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If they truly have medical issues, they might be able to get the insurance, or the gov't, to pay the difference.
 
The Last Conformist said:
If they truly have medical issues, they might be able to get the insurance, or the gov't, to pay the difference.
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Which is fine, but the people who I think should have to pay more are the ones who choose to eat a lot with minimal activity and be extremely obese. The people with medical conditions don't have anything they can do about it. The people who choose to live like that its their own fault, hypothetically if it said that it is the airlines fault, they could lose 50% profit on a plane trip if they have to give everyone an extra seat.
 
@Hitro:

there are strict regulations on the seat: size, shape, resistance fo bending forces and striking forces, etc. Also, to minimum seat distance, max number on aircraft etc.

From that it is pretty clear what a 'seat' is: a chair for one normal person ov average heigth and girth.
The norms allow for the usualy variability here.

A friend of mine said, btw, that he always gets a free upgrade to business if they have a seat there - he is just under 7 feet tall and they feel sorry for him.
 
carlosMM said:
@Hitro:

there are strict regulations on the seat: size, shape, resistance fo bending forces and striking forces, etc. Also, to minimum seat distance, max number on aircraft etc.

From that it is pretty clear what a 'seat' is: a chair for one normal person ov average heigth and girth.
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I know, but that is, in the context of this theoretical discussion, a necessary thing to mention. Only if this is clear and known to every customer (I don't care what the EU has in some paper) it is allright to give them the responsibility.

And I think the seats should be bigger, but that's another issue. ;)
 
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