Airline Seating Daze

Posted by: on Mar 20, 2015 | No Comments

@irasez

AIRLINE SEATING DAZE

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs on airline travel, you know that one of my major issues is people who really don’t fit into one seat. I know a few folks who were not happy with me when this subject has come up in the past but I’m sorry. When you are 30, 40, 50 or more pounds overweight and your thighs barely fit between the arm rests, you need 2 seats.  To review my opine on this subject, take a look at http://www.irasez.com/your-baggage-you-iras-total-airline-weight-formula/

Going to back to my recent trip to the JVI (that’s the Jewish Virgin Islands), and the same flight covered in the last post regarding crazy bitches and their over-sized carry on luggage, we are going to tackle another over-sized issue.  And this one is a twofer.

I was happily seated in seat 12F. Across the aisle from me was a young man sitting in 12A. We were the only ones in our row, until the last group of passengers boarded. A very nice Israeli gentleman took 12D, the aisle seat in my row, while 2 very large woman followed behind him. My first thought was “please, not 12E.” Luckily for me, they had 12B and 12C. Not only were they easily a combined 100 pounds overweight, they had a baby with me who come on board lungs ablazing.

You should have seen the look on the face of the poor guy in 12A. If it were me, I would have gotten up and walked off the plane. He was smushed like a sardine in a tin can. The heavier of the 2 women was sitting on the aisle and I was pretty sure the flight attendants were going to have an issue getting the beverage service cart past her seat because her legs did not fit where they should have. Luckily for our friend in 12A, the flight was not full and he was able to switch seats. From the looks on their faces, I’m sure these 2 woman understood why.

I understand that being overweight is a constant battle for many folks. Believe me, I see plenty of folks fighting that battle every time I’m in the gym. And I realize that for some folks, this is more than health issue. It’s genetics or chemical or whatever causes obesity, other than over eating and/or eating all the wrong foods. But the fact of the matter is airline seats, which keep getting smaller and smaller, are not designed for overweight people. These daze they are barely designed for anyone much bigger than me (6 feet tall and 180 pounds). My legs barely fit behind the seat of the passenger in front of me and I’m never happy when they recline all the way back.

I think it’s up to the airlines themselves to deal with this issue. If I remember correctly, Southwest Airlines had a 2 seat policy at one point for passengers who couldn’t fit comfortably into one seat. That works for me.

As I’ve said before, if your luggage is overweight or oversized, you pay extra. Well guess what?  If a passenger is oversized (I believe a “passenger of size” is the PC term), they should pay extra as well. Harsh, yes. Discriminatory, maybe. Common sense, as always.