…or to put it more succinctly, trying to fit 500lbs of lard into a single economy airline seat.
A photo of a plus-sized passenger struggling to fit between the armrests on a plane has sparked a fierce debate over whether obese travellers should have to pay for an extra seat.
The man was snapped by a fellow traveller as he squeezed into his aisle seat during a flight from Helsinki to Copenhagen on Monday.
‘This guy sat behind me on my flight from Helsinki to Copenhagen yesterday,’ the man who took the photo wrote on Facebook.
‘I felt sorry for him and the guy next to him in the middle seat, both of whom must have felt very uncomfortable for the short flight. Maybe it’s time for airlines to address situations like this in a thoughtful and sensitive way.’
And the pic:
There are two points to be made here. The first is that while it’s true that airlines have shrunk their economy-class seats to the point where even a heroin-addicted model has to squeeze into it, if they had to cater to dimensions like the above, they’d have to install fucking sofas.
The second point is that when it comes to situations like the above, there is no debate: Fatso and his elephantine buddies should have to pay for two seats (in his case, maybe even an entire row). And by the way: Helsinki to Copenhagen? Catch the train, Doublewide. In the goods carriage, if necessary.
Finally, there’s no need for airlines to address this in a “thoughtful and sensitive way” because if they can’t refuse service to people of this tonnage and volume, they should at least be able to charge for the extra weight — as they have no problem doing with oversized luggage — not to mention having to turn the main cabin into a de facto cargo hold.
And I say this as a man who once was almost reduced [sic] to asking for a seatbelt extension. (Thank gawd that’s in my rearview mirror, never to return.)
It’s bollocks. Fatties should have to pay more for their additional accommodation inside the limited space of a flying aluminum tube. End of statement, period, THE END.
We desperately need to uproot the the communism that has been quietly foisted on us, and which, being a little dense and a little lazy, we have not opposed.
You pay for what you consume. That is all.
Fat fucks, alcoholics, smokers and drug users, motorcycle nuts and car nuts need to told in a loud scream that they are not fucking getting the same price for health insurance as slim, abstemious, non smokers, non-druggies, non bikers and car nuts (subhuman though people who don’t like to be fast-movers may be)
As a side note, have you ever done a post on roads you’d most like drive in a nice or car or on a road bike? I nominate Alberta Highway 40, the whole thing and BC Highway 93, from Castle junction in Alberta to Radium Hot Springs. In Summer if you please, which is from July 15th all the way through August 15nd. Might be snowy otherwise. I love this place, but the climate …
Why would anyone in any state of “right mind” wish to do anything in today’s Canada?
” Helsinki to Copenhagen? Catch the train, Doublewide. ”
You may wanna check your map, becuz that trip would require a ferry across the Baltic. I know such ferries exist becuz my boss took one from Helsinki to Stockholm a few years back on a vacation he and his wife took through Fennoscandia. Yes, that’s a real word denoting Finland, Sweden, and Norway. This map nerd says “hi!”
I just looked it up and a ferry would take 35-32 hours vs less than 2 hours by air, plus flights go for as low as $60, but seeming to average around $110, vs the cheapest ferry ticket I could see being $180, but seeming to average around $210. I can see why he’d choose a flight, despite his oversizedness.
FWIW, there was a train option also, but it was over $300 and would take an estimated 35 hours, as it had to go through Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Germany with many train changes. Again, I can see why he’d choose to fly.
Holy FUK! Look at that blob of shit. Jayziss. There is no excuse for that.
That slob is altering the center of gravity and therefore the safety of the flying tube.
Fuk him, and everybody like him. Have weight limits, say, 250 lbs. Maybe 300. Over that? Walk that fat off, fat fuk, then we’ll talk.
ISTR that in the early days of commercial flight, all passengers had to “weigh in” so that the pilot could compute the CG of the plane, and seating was adjusted to the best balance.
Not-so-early days, too.
The last leg of my family’s flight in 1988 from Germany back to the States was a puddlejumper from DCA to PHF. Everybody on the flight had to get on a scale so the weight of the passengers could be balanced.
Just the other day, I was looking at ways to get to the Dry Tortugas while my wife and I are in Key West three weeks from now. The ferry was already fully booked, so I looked into flying there. The expense of it (over $900 for the both of us, with only 2½ hours on the ground before we’d have to return) ended consideration of that idea, but one thing I noticed was that they mentioned weighing the passengers before boarding. The seaplanes used on that flight are probably even smaller than that puddlejumper from 36 years ago, which might’ve held 15-20 passengers.
the seats simply do not accommodate people of that size. If an airline wants to throw in a couple obese seats at elevated priced then go for it. Imagine being assigned to the seat(s) next to folks like him.
It’s bad enough to battle over the arm rest but the seat should be undisputed territory
I don’t look anything like that guy but it’s still hard enough to fit my 23″ ass into an 18″ airline seat.
Bloody hell! That guy is wide enough – side to side, or front to back – is so large he had to more than just brush the seat on either side just getting down the aisle! When your spare tire would fit a semi you damn well better have to pay for two seats. Look at it this way, fats, If you slim down you won’t be paying for two airline seats, and you won’t be spending so much for groceries. You’ll live longer too.