Airlines Put Squeeze On Fat Fliers

As More Americans Become Overweight, Some Say Carriers Should Make Seats Larger

(CBS)  United Airlines is the latest carrier to penalize overweight passengers, by charging them for two seats if they can't fit comfortably into one and there are no other seats available.

But have airlines failed to keep up with the growing size of American fliers?

United Airlines says it created the policy after receiving 700 complaints last year about overweight passengers, reports Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen. Advocates for the obese say it's discrimination.

"Given that about 34 percent of Americans are obese, why not make one-third of the seats larger?" asked Rebecca Puhl, of Yale University.

Between 1960 and 2002, the average American male has gained 25 pounds. The average woman added 24 pounds.

Yet, sizes of seats on planes have basically have remained the same.

United's policy is directed toward people who can't fit in a single seat. The criteria: if a passenger cannot close the arm rest, or cannot fasten the seat belt with and extension.

Marilyn Wann, a weight diversity trainer and author of "FAT!So?: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size," talked to Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez from San Francisco about the hefty issue.

United Airlines officially responded by saying the new poicy "was created for the comfort and well-being of all our guests on board,m and is in response to the 700 complaints received last year from customers who did not have a comfortable flight because the person next to them infringed on their seat."

Although Wann admits she's "really not interested in pushing up against someone" sitting next to her on an airplane," she's looking at the -- bigger picture.

"The airlines are in the business of transporting human beings, not freight," Wann says, "and they need to find a way to accommodate all human beings."

Wann, a frequent flier, for work and for fun, says she knows firsthand that there are seats in first-class and coach that will accommodate taller passengers, but none for wider passengers.

"And instead of us feeling welcome by this entire industry, we're made to feel very unwelcome, in fact, to the point where we're not supposed to participate in the kinds of activities that everyone else does by traveling," she complained.

"Do you think it would be fair if the airlines weighed all their passengers and luggage and based the price of the package accordingly?" Rodriguez asked.

"I think thin passengers should be in solidarity with me if they get to pay less and I get to pay more. But only charging the fat people double is ... is punitive. And to do it at the moment when you're already at the airport, you already need to travel, is almost bait-and-switch. I get to the airport and I don't know whether I'm paying an amount that I agreed to, or an amount that I may not be able to afford, or that my company may not want to pay for me."

Wanns calls this "very discriminatory, daunting and scary" and says it can affect people who are "limited in their lives because of this policy."

"I appreciate that thinner people want a chair and they want to sit in it comfortably without someone else pushing in," she said. "I just want the same thing, and I want that for all of us. I don't see why we should be pitted against each other by an industry that hasn't figured out how to make money and be hospitable."

[dlh4]

I can not believe so of the rude comments I have read on this topic on many different sites. I am an overweight person who flies only when necessary. People should stop and think before opening their mouths. Do not just assume that an overweight person is overweight by choice and that they can't put a fork down. I don't eat hardly anything and because of 3 rod fusion of the spine I am no longer able to do any exercising other than walking and combine that with hypothyroidism, weight loss is near impossible. I would love to loss weight I have tried weight watchers several times and lost a couple of pounds but because of not being able to excerise the weight is not coming off. I already feel self conscious about my body and I don't need people who don't even know me calling me fat and unable to control what I eat. Look at your self in a mirror before you throw stones. What do you do to offend people around you?? Have you looked in the mirror are you the perfect weight, have you ever notice what you smell like?? Do you smell of cigarette smoke or have body odor. Why aren't the airlines making people like that pay more because people have to sit next to them. What is I was to call you smelly or stinky how would you like being labeled in unflattering terms?? The airlines need to stop shrinking the seat size or put in seats that only can be sold to overweight passengers and not someone who just wants the extra space!!

[eastend4]

Discrimination is a "word" used by people who don't want to face the real issue. If someone is too large for for an airline seat they should pay for two. If they don't like it they don't have to fly. If an overweight individual goes to a store to purchase an outfit they pay extra should we also say that is "discrimination"? Larger clothes use more material, a larger airline seat (2 seats) cost more money; what is the problem here. Rest assured I don't want someone touching me because they are too big for there seat, and based on the over amount of complaints there are many other people who feel the same way. If you are larger and fit into this catagory I'm sorry if you feel angry about this, but do something about it I did and so have many people. You don't have to live that way you choose to therefore if it cost more to fly because you don't fit in the seat then that is what you chose. One suggestion for the airlines: Create a couple of aisles with larger seats however charge for them, and then once they are filled someone would have to buy two seats. There really is no easy,nice answer this is a difficult situation; but one that can be corrected by watching what one eats, and daily excercise. It is a life change not a "diet" once a person realizes this every day gets better and healthier. The bottom line too big for a seat you pay for two.
Just like you put luggage in a box before you enter to see if you can put in the overhead, maybe you will have to sit in a chair to verify that your body will fit, if not you will either not be able to fly or you will have to buy another seat. We all pay for our space and if you are in mine then you have to pay for more. Sorry that is the way it is.

[AnonymousChicago]

I don't agree with people being ambushed at the ticket counter and I understand it's difficult enough to pay for one ticket, it is also unfair to those sitting next to obese passengers. I have, on occassion, had to sit next to a person who was spilling into my personal space. Why should I endure such discomfort, because of an issue they need to address. And yes, while there are certain circumstances that may increase weight, let's face it - America is fat. Fat because of fast food, large portions, sugar overload, pop, what have you. The airlines should ask weight at the time of booking a flight whether on the phone or online - If an obese person lies and gets charged an additional rate at the gate then it is no one's fault but their own. Someone mentioned people not discriminating against anorexics, but I don't know where they have been. Celebs who look too thin are featured on magazines all the time and accosted for their unnatural weight. Either one is a disease that needs to be addressed, but that anorexic still isn't going to be bulging into my chair and assuming they can just "have" the arm rests. The only people really complaining are the ones who will be paying for the extra seat - Go see your health professional and see what can be done to allow you a healthier lifestyle and we won't have these problems. I know plenty of people who are overweight and there are lots of excuses - it's genetic, my metabolism is slow, I probably have a problem with my thyroid - Maybe, but I guess it's not that I see you with dessert whenever we go out - eating portions double my size all day long?? Be realistic and take a close look - it's like any other disease where excuses are made to protect yourself. Oh, and the idea of enlarging seats?? That is ridiculous - while everyone would enjoy more personal space on an aircraft the thought of them spending millions upon millions to make special "wide" seats is absurd - why endulge a disease? I can understand maybe a row for those with wheelchairs, but because you're overweight? No way.

[y-bloc]

Discrimination is something else. If people who were born too tall to fit the seating were taxed that would be another story all together. Being obese is the result of lifestyle choices, is an illness, and can be changed. If we pander to excess weight we normalize it. Fat folks should be able to fly, but to actually indulge the vastly overweight with permanent changes in infrastructure is absurd. Find a way to lose the weight. Get help. Just do it. You won't just be saving jet fuel, but food and and medical costs, as well as a lot of personal grief. Those are all things that I have no desire to pay for for you. Buying my own ticket is work enough. And when I do buy my ticket I want to be able to sit more or less comfortably in it. That I might be sitting next to someone who burps, has a green mohawk, snores, smells like smoke or has a crying baby on his lap bothers me less than getting squashed for the duration of a 9 hour flight.

[vak103]

Typical AMERICANS! SELFISH! RUDE! NO HEART! Treat everyone the WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED! America The Beautiful....majority of the people that resides...Uncaring, Selfish, and cruel.

[finzleft]

Consider this. If the flight is full, is there anyone who believes that the airline would bump passengers and fly with a less than full flight? Or would they charge obese passengers for an extra seat, when there was no extra seat available? If so, would they give a partial refund to those sitting next to the obese passenger?
I think that it's more likely that these new regulations would ONLY apply when there were extra seats available. In other words, if the airline HASN'T sold out the flight, they'd be more than willing to let obese passengers pay for some of the empty seats. And if the flight is full, then they'd be quite content to ignore the regulation.
I see these new rules as nothing more than a ploy for the airline to get more money for the same services, much like additional costs for luggage and for meals. In this case they're simply taking advantage of the prejudice against obese individuals in order to add to their profits. I think that they'd do better to intersperse a few extra wide seats available at a premium charge in order to be able to accomodate their larger customers.

[rlw11]

I travel quite a bit for work and can tell you that there are any number of annoying things about other people on planes. People who seem to think that there little kid fidgeting by kicking the back of seats, cracking gum, showing up drunk, etc are all things I experiance pretty much on a weekly basis. As a matter of fact, I am sure that there are people that don't even realize that they are annoying other passangers or making the flight uncomfortable in some way to those around them. I am of the mind that maybe those people should also be charged a fee. To those on this commenter board that seem to believe that people who are obese only have to walk a bit and eat healthier to change that fact, that is a bit unrealistic quite frankly about others situations. Yes, there are in fact people that are overweight that could make better choices and lose quite a bit of weight. But what about people with PCOS - obesity is actually a symptom of the disease, or people on meds - particularly those that control mental health disorders, that cause them to gain weight no matter what they eat or do, or perhaps the people that are in some way physically impaired and are unable to even walk at a high enough rate to get their heart rate up. United - which charges for darn near everything - is trying to make a buck. Sure, there are people that need two seats to accomadate them - but the option is not usually available at a discounted price so that means that anyone that is obese may not be able to afford to travel. There is also no listed requirement of what the limit is - which will create some very difficult moments for the airline and the passangers. In all, this is a poorly planned annoucement and will be detrimental. Why the next thing you know, an airline may just decide that if you are over a comfortable 5'9", that you will have to be charged extra for another seat as there is a decent chance that you are eating up someone else's leg space.

C'mon people...this is not discriminatory...its about simple math and physics. Anybody consider you pay full seat price for a little kid, too??? Why is that you may ask? Its because you pay for the space you take up. If a kid sits in a seat, no one else can sit there and so the charge is the same. If you are larger than the current seat width (for WHATEVER reason), understand you will need to pay for the space you take up. Yes, this means more cost for some, but larger clothes cost more, too. It comes with the territory. All this talk about increasing the width of the seat is interesting but some fail to see the ripple effect...wider seats mean less total seats on the aircraft - that means fewer passengers over which to recoup costs and make profit to keep the airlines in business. That translates to higher prices for everybody, not just the folks who take up more space. And all this talk about profiteering by the airlines, now I don' t like all the five and ten dollar charges either but they DO have to make money to stay in business. I don't want any more taxpayer dollars bailing corporations out. IBOTOOMLINE: f you are a large person, you need to understand there are may be costs associated with that. Buy a business or first class seat, or buy two seats in coach. Maybe negotiate a discount on the second seat space???

I am so sick and tired of obese and smokers being blamed and penalized for everything. Health Insurance companies are doing it, government is doing it in the form of taxes, now airlines. Can't America see that all of these are put in place only to charge more money? It comes down to GREED - plain and simple. I'm tired of people assuming that obese people are obese because they want to be. Does this mean that anorexics WANT to be unhealthy, yet they are NEVER disciminated against. If the consumer allows these rate increases to continue, before you know it, there will be toll booths on all roads and each toll booth will have a scale - if your car wieghs too much, you'll have to pay more. Oh wait, I forgot, thin people own SUV's too, so guess they would have to pay more to drive on the roads. Yeah, I can just see THAT happening.

We go around saying how we are sending the tv industry and models are sending the wrong message to our children by being too thin, yet, they see what the commercial industry is doing those who are not thin. Please, give me a break people. Time to grow up and accept everyone for who they are. The bill of rights gaurantees us against discrimination. Doesn't that account for anything anymore?

[Ianwong777]

As jet fuel is the biggest cost involved in any flight, it would seem fair to me that airline tickets should have some sort of VAT based on weight. This applies to both human weight and luggage weight. Perhaps it is time to charge by weight as we do with postage and freight. After all, I don't think it's fair for me to be healthy and to have to pay for someone else's poor lifestyle habits. (this applies to health insurance too, in the form of higher premiums for smokers etc.) Nor do I think I should pay for someone transporting half their wardrobe on my flight. Flying has become a commodity so why not treat it as such.

[mizdaria]

Airlines are a business. If one person cannot fit into one seat, the airline should not bear the cost. If we force airlines to make their seats bigger to accomodate a third (and growing) population, everyone will bear the cost. I do not want to pay more than I already do because a third of our country cannot control their weight to a point where they cannot fit into a seat. Let's see...who else should change? Movie theatres, dentists, doctors, malls, parks, schools, furniture manufacturers, cars, buses, trains?

[MMMII]

"As far as "pushing up against someone", that doesn't just happen with overweight people. I get it all the time from businessmen who decide they need to read their paper and cross their legs. they get into my 'personal space' because i'm small and they have room to stretch. So really, what's the difference???"

In that scenario you have the option of asking them to un-cross their legs or not to bump into you as they turn the page. Who knows, maybe if you asked then this wouldn't be an issue for you. The difference is that when someone is spilling into your seat you don't have the option to ask them to get out of the space that you paid for.

If a person knows that they can't meet the new criteria they should purchase two seats at the time of purchase. If that is not an option due to financial reasons then maybe an alternate form of transportation is in order.

[pubhealth2009]

"Airlines have seats for tall passengers? Oh that's right, they are call EMERGENCY EXIT ROWS."

what about the first row of seats on the plane? They are not emergency exit rows, as you shouted, but instead offer leg room for people who need it.

It is discrimination--unfair treatment of someone based on their weight. I do think we need to address obesity, but i do not agree with penalizing or humiliating someone because of their weight. It's wrong on so many levels. Try putting yourself in their shoes... you are asked while onboard a plane, to purchase a ticket because you are overweight. Not only do they do this in front of everyone, they hold the plane. Whispers, snickering, and laughing at the expense of someone else is just cruel. I've seen it happen on Southwest Airlines.

As far as "pushing up against someone", that doesn't just happen with overweight people. I get it all the time from businessmen who decide they need to read their paper and cross their legs. they get into my 'personal space' because i'm small and they have room to stretch. So really, what's the difference???

[kenilworth71]

This is bad news for all fliers. First we saw the airlines start charging for seat selection of a "preferred seat", or maybe any seat, then charging for checking bags. I remember when they wanted you to check your bag and not put it in the overhead. Now charge double for overweight people and it looks like that is defined in a loose way. It doesn;y say anyone over 400 lbs, 300 lbs, 200 or maybe even 150. My daughter thinks people over 150 are heavy. So all someone had to do I guess is complain after you have been sandwiched into a middle seat that you are invading their space. Then you have to pay up. Why not just pay the person beside you. AT least someone in need of money would get it. We need to just stop flying. Last week I went to SanFrancisco and felt like I was being shipped somewhere, not travelling. And on top of that I sat by someone in need of a bath. WHat about people that just stink. Can we make them pay a stinky fee? Our whole society is just a bunch of winers and every company out there is trying to find any reason to sodomize us further every day. Soon they will have a reason to charge us all extra. Maybe ugly counts too, if someone doesn'y like the way you look, pay for an extra seat, then they don;t have to look at you. Anyway...enough of this rant. SOrry, its just unbelieveable.

[MMMII]

Airlines have seats for tall passengers? Oh that's right, they are call EMERGENCY EXIT ROWS.

Instead of "seats for taller passengers" another point of view could be that the extra space between the seat and the row in front of said seats are there so that people of larger sizes can easily evacuate the aircraft in case of an emergency.

All I can do is applaud United Airlines for this long overdue move and hope that all other airlines follow their lead!

[itsallgrey]

Even if it were true that fat people can lose weight (not all of them can), that's not really the point. All I'm asking is to give them the opportunity to make necessary arrangements when they make their flight plans and not ambush them after they've already arrived at the airport or, worse yet, are already on the plane.

[doctorzaius89]

"Wann, a frequent flier, for work and for fun, says she knows firsthand that there are seats in first-class and coach that will accommodate taller passengers, but none for wider passengers. "

Um...yeah, because you can't do anything about your height! Fat people can lose weight!

[itsallgrey]

I'm so upset about this I can't think straight! This is going to affect a very dear friend of mine in a few days when we travel for the trip we planned two days ago (to bury her mother!). When she scheduled that trip for us, she already asked the United attendant if she could purchase an extra seat and he said she couldn't do that! Now, she has no choice but to wait until she gets to the airport--actually on the plane if I'm understanding this right--and then she will be embarrassed when they tell her she can't take that flight because she's too big. And, it's going to affect me, too, because I'm traveling with her. We will then have to wait I don't know how long for another flight, not to mention how it's going to mess up our connecting flight. Then, we'll go through the same thing on the flight home. This is SO UNFAIR to her...she's already dealing with grief ...she's a human being and she deserves to be treated like one.

[zipperfalcon]

First - how much of a discount do the airlines give to a thin person ? Thought so - its just another way to increase their revenue.

If customer satisfaction and comfort is their honest reason for this plan - they could make everyone happy by having two or three seat widths, kind of like they do for taller passengers who need more leg room. Charge a little more for the wider seat and a little less for the narrower seat and everyone would be happy.