United to charge obese passengers double...

[BAFRIEND]

Should the airline charge obese passengers double ?

I agree with the policy.

 

[Fantine]

Specifics, please?

Define "obese."

Medicine.net says

A person has traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 percent over their ideal weight. That ideal weight must take into account the person's height, age, sex, and build.

And so, if a person is 5'4" and her ideal weight is 120 pounds, "obese" would be considered to be 144 pounds, according to that definition. And no, an 144 pound person shouldn't buy two tickets, because she can fit into an average airline seat very comfortably.

There are some people, a very small percentage, who can't fit into a typical airline seat, even uncomfortably, who can't fasten their seat belts without extenders....

If they truly can't fit into a seat, then they would be more comfortable flying first class, taking a train, or driving. People I know who are in that category generally drive to destinations anyway.

I have been flying on a regular basis for the past twenty years, ever since we moved out of NY. I'm going to be flying next week. Every time I fly the experience is a little more unpleasant.

Last time I flew to a business conference the only way to get a decent airfare was to make two stops (it saved my company $150.) One stop was only 80 miles from my destination city, and I had a two hour layover there....

A month later we went to visit family. We had two pieces of checked luggage, and had to pay $60 extra ($30 each) for the luggage...

Now I hear you'll have to pay for your cup of coffee...sheesh!

Attention, airlines: Oil is now under $50 a barrel. And consumers are sick and tired.

I would never, absolutely never, consider flying a distance of under 500 miles each way....and, at this point, even 700 miles.

Unfortunately, our extended families are on the east coast, and driving isn't feasible.

 

[BAFRIEND]

The airline will charge double if the person takes up more than one seat- ie it makes it uncomfortable for another person to be seated next to them.

Bottom line, the airline is charging them for the use of two seats which is fair because that is what they are using.

So, to define obsese in this case, Fantine- it is a person who is overwieght- not based on a scale- but based on taking up more than one seat.

 

[2Cosmic2Charlie]

One more reason for a good rail system in this country.

 

[SolomonVII]

Should the airline charge obese passengers double ?

I agree with the policy.

Airlines are a business responsible to their stockholders.
They should charge the per seat if they find that to be good business practice. If that opens up the market for obese people on other flights, that is fine too. If the person is too large for a seat, then they are responsible for the extra costs of an additional seat. If government disagrees, then the government ought to be responsible for footing the cost for their own policies.

 

[isabella1]

I think they should if they take up two seats.

 

[Tu Es Petrus]

Should the airline charge obese passengers double ?

Yes

I agree with the policy.

Me too

 

[Tu Es Petrus]

Specifics, please?

Define "obese."...

Fat
Tubby
Porker
Beached Whale
Mama Cass

Come on man, keep it real

 

[Lady Bug]

at first I thought that you had meant that anyone who was simply really overweight should pay double, but I'm glad to see that it means taking up two seats.

 

[EDB]

If you need more than one seat to be comfortable on a plane ride, then you should pay for the additional seat!

As an aside, I heard a reporter talking about this and she mentioned that one airline (I can't remember which one) required an obese passenger to purchase an extra seat and then gave them 2 seat not next to each other

 

[bliz]

Can you pay half price for two skinny peoole in one seat?

 

[JennyKatz]

I agree: if you take up two seats, you should have to pay for both those seats.

 

[Avatar]

So we're agreed then. Motion passed.

Move along now, nothing to see here.

 

[CrusaderKing]

And I think they should sit at the back of the bus...

Wait. Let's not go there. They can lose weight. The others couldn't change the color of their skin. Problem solved.

 

[Fish and Bread]

Seems a bit discriminatory to me. If you're overweight, they're basically telling you that you have to be twice as wealthy to fly.

Now, before everyone jumps all over me and says "But, but, if they can't fit in a seat....", you've got to understand the background here. The airline industry has been making seats smaller and smaller for years to cut costs, reducing leg room, and so and so forth. If they actually had wide comfortable seats for average folks, overweight folks could probably squeeze into one. The problem is the excessive cost-cutting they do at every turn to make sure their executives can take Scrooge McDuck like swims in giant vaults of money.

 

[Avatar]

Seems a bit discriminatory to me. If you're overweight, they're basically telling you that you have to be twice as wealthy to fly.

Now, before everyone jumps all over me and says "But, but, if they can't fit in a seat....", you've got to understand the background here. The airline industry has been making seats smaller and smaller for years to get costs, reducing leg room, and so and so forth. If they actually had wide comfortable seats for average folks, overweight folks could probably squeeze into one. The problem is the excessive cost-cutting they do at every turn to make sure their executives can take Scrooge McDuck like swims in giant vaults of money.

Not a bad point.

 

[Fish and Bread]

And I think they should sit at the back of the bus...

Wait. Let's not go there. They can lose weight. The others couldn't change the color of their skin. Problem solved.

Well, there are some folks who actually can't lose weight -- glandular disorders and such. That's been medically demonstrated, I believe, in trials where food intake is monitored and exercise monitored and so forth.

There are other folks who could lose weight, but because of chemical imbalances with lepin in their brains, would feel like they are starving all the time. So, it'd be a lot harder for them than the average person.

There is also probably a third group that could do it pretty easily. Even they might have a rough time if they are poor, though -- food that's bad for you is generally cheaper than lean foods like seafood and diet meals and stuff like that. A budget TV dinner is $1, but really bad for you -- a Healthy Choice meal is better for you, but almost $3. And you can do the same math on ground chuck versus flounder or nuggets vs. fish, or even spaghetti (Which has tons of carbs and sodium) versus some sort of leaner dish.

There's no real way to quickly tell who fits into which group anyhow. Even if we could, though, do we really want to get into the business of discriminating over the stuff like that?

I understand your point about something being chosen (Though being overweight really isn't chosen for a lot of folks), but things like religion are also chosen. How would you feel about an extra tax for Catholics because they tend to have a lot of children (i.e. more educational costs and such)? Discrimination is a nasty road to go down, even discrimination about things people can theoretically sometimes make choices about.

 

[CrusaderKing]

Well, there are some folks who actually can't lose weight -- glandular disorders and such. That's been medically demonstrated, I believe, in trials where food intake is monitored and exercise monitored and so forth.

The point was more satire and you missed it completely. The whole point I'm making is think about what you say before you advocate for something. It's the whole be careful what you wish for maxim. I was just echoing what a counterpoint to what I said would be.

 

[BAFRIEND]

Airlines are a business responsible to their stockholders.
They should charge the per seat if they find that to be good business practice. If that opens up the market for obese people on other flights, that is fine too. If the person is too large for a seat, then they are responsible for the extra costs of an additional seat. If government disagrees, then the government ought to be responsible for footing the cost for their own policies.

It also means that more fuel will have to be used for take off, the pilots might have to adjust trin on the aircraft, heck, it increases the change of an accident.

I agree, the obese people will have to go with another airline if they are upset.

 

[BAFRIEND]

Maybe they should be allowed to eat 2x as much at McDonalds and only pay half.