Day 47 – Flying Large

I just read this article on airlines either being forced to allow two seats for the price of one for those obese passengers or charging them for two seats. In Canada there has been a supreme court ruling on the accommodation of severely obese passengers on Canadian Airlines, essentially giving them a free extra seat.

Yesterday, United Airlines announced it would begin charging obese passengers for two seats.

One commenter to the article said that it would be onerous on the person sitting beside an obese person if they only had one seat.

I take a different viewpoint. Look at cars, they are generally relaunched or updated every 3 – 6 years and every new model tends to get bigger in many ways. The seats particularly have been better bolstered and widened to accommodate (especially western) passengers because of increased weight and size. However over the regular sized seats and cabin area if you want it changed in some way, say heated seats, leather, lumbar support, bench seats, buckets, you’ve got to pay for it.

On planes, you cannot relaunch and upgrade the seats as often, but if you want two seats, then pay for it regardless of your size.

However, I am 6’4” tall and I am regularly cramped with my knees against the seat in front of me – before it has been reclined. Should I not get extra legroom, I would have a better case than an obese person saying that this is truly something I cannot control!

Anyway, I guess this like many things is systematic of the larger problems we have today when it comes to weight, body and how to deal with the changes.

It would be too easy to say just get off your ass and loose that weight and pay for only one seat. I know that some people have a legitimate obesity problem that normal exercise and diet cannot fix. However, that’s not true for every obese person. A ruling from our Supreme Court that is all encompassing and comprehensive makes it too easy for some to ride the system.

The next time I fly with my kids I’m going to ask if I can only pay for half a seat for each of them – they’re so cute and tiny.

Workout was great today; I worked my arms until they felt like phantom limbs, not quite there and full of lactic acid. Great burn.

See you tomorrow.