Obese on airplanes
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I think we’ve talked about this before?
I’m on a flight now. Rather, we just landed. My seat is next to a nice but very large man. There must be some solution for people who significantly encroach into another passenger’s seat space.
I do naturally feel bad for his discomfort but we were both sitting for the 2 hours with our arms contorted in front of us since there is no room.
I know what @Copper will say… if you’re oversized, buy 2 tickets. And I agree. Now to go crack my back…
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That’s my thought. I’m too tall for a regular coach seat so I pay extra for premium or business.
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@89th said in Obese on airplanes:
I picked Comfort Plus, and let’s just say it was Comfort Minus.
I just took a trip to Orlando on American, we bought the upgraded seats, not 1st, just upgraded. I was feeling generous since I paid for the tickets with miles.
If those are the upgraded seats, I wouldn't want to be in plain old coach. The leg room was barely OK, not great and I'm only 5'9".
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Everyone knows that feeling when you’re in coach and you’re waiting to see who’s going to sit next to you. Slightly hopeful when the small woman boards, terrified when the 300lb bloke starts walking down the aisle.
I’ve often wondered what it’s like to be that big guy, knowing everyone is looking at you thinking ‘please god no’.
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@jon-nyc said in Obese on airplanes:
Everyone knows that feeling when you’re in coach and you’re waiting to see who’s going to sit next to you. Slightly hopeful when the small woman boards, terrified when the 300lb bloke starts walking down the aisle.
I’ve often wondered what it’s like to be that big guy, knowing everyone is looking at you thinking ‘please god no’.
This is where empathy comes in handy.
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@jon-nyc said in Obese on airplanes:
I’ve often wondered what it’s like to be that big guy, knowing everyone is looking at you thinking ‘please god no
Yup, I feel bad for them. (Not bad enough that I hope they sit next to me, but still feel bad). Got to be somewhat embarassing for them.
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Folks, let's solve the problem. Even for small folk, seats gave shrunk.
https://maphappy.org/this-is-how-small-airplane-seats-have-shrunk-over-the-years/
If the government can mandate how much room a dog gets, they should be able to regulate seat sizes. At some point, it's a safety issue.
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Let's say you have a 120 coach seat airplane. You charge $300 a seat, raking in $36K. If you made them all two seat rows and sold them at $400 you'd net $32K, but you'd be saving a LOT of fuel, and you could take on more cargo. At $450 a seat you'd be breaking even. I don't think anyone would balk at another $100 to be comfortable.
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Education is extremely important.
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@Horace said in Obese on airplanes:
If you wedge someone in tightly enough, it's like a de facto seat belt, so it's actually very safe. Similar to japanese joinery that uses no nails or glue.
The same principle applies to legroom too. Make the legroom small enough and you wedge the legs tightly between two rows of seats, securing the passengers to their seats like de facto seat belts.
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I’ve really welcomed the decade long trend to have extra legroom in coach for a fee. Same with premium economy on long haul flights. Really makes a difference for me.
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Most of my miles are on United, and one thing that they did a few years ago was to go to a thinner cushion on the economy chairs. The inch or two width they saved on the cushion allowed them to add another row (or maybe two) of seats, even though they are now pretty uncomfortable.
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Yes, better material science and better industrial design allow thinner chairs/cushions without sacrificing comfort while allowing more seats to be added to an aircraft. Personally I like the new, thinner chairs/cushions better than the thicker ones from, say, 20 years ago.
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@Axtremus said in Obese on airplanes:
Yes, better material science and better industrial design allow thinner chairs/cushions without sacrificing comfort while allowing more seats to be added to an aircraft. Personally I like the new, thinner chairs/cushions better than the thicker ones from, say, 20 years ago.
I dont. For US domestic flight more than ~ 2 hours, I notice a difference (but maybe it is only me) in a bad way.
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@Copper said in Obese on airplanes:
If those are the upgraded seats, I wouldn't want to be in plain old coach.
I just received a refund from American Airlines.
The only explanation was:Refund for: Preferred Seat
Refund amount: 28.76 USDMy guess is that they changed equipment and I got a seat that wasn't preferred. That might explain the not so great legroom.
