I've flown a lot and I've not been wedged between 2 very overweight people before. But I have been inconvenienced several times being beside one where the "excess" was flowing over the armrest onto my side. I'm going to say that I see at least one occurrence of this on vast majority of my flights.
I complained to Delta online and was told I could raise my hand and get reseated somewhere else but com'on, it should be the airlines responsibility to do that proactively vs asking a paying customer to initiate an embarrassing request for both passengers. That's just BS and taking the easy way out. And by the way, what would happen if there were no seats available or only less desirable ones.
I don't know what the right answer is but yeah, if someone needs a belt extender, that should be a sign. If there are no choices available, then the inconvenienced customer should be compensated for the full price of the flight and then some. They can optimize flight schedules, fuel costs, passenger loads etc. but they can't/unwilling to solve this problem.
Let me state very clearly so there is no mis-understanding, I believe overweight people should be allowed to get on planes. It is the airlines responsibility to make sure they and customers around them have basic comfort.
Like how the excessive runway wait times were (I've been on a couple where we sat on the plane for 5+ hours), I think this will take Congress to legislate some sort of law here. Unfortunately, this does not impact near as many people as the runway BS, and it won't happen. So these social media "protests" are likely the only avenue to apply some pressure.
Airlineā€™s stunning flip after woman says she was trapped between overweight people
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A conservative commentator shut down after her foul rant about sitting between two overweight people on a short flight has received an unexpected token of goodwill from the airline.
Sydney Watson, a right-wing American-Australian political journalist who is no stranger to controversial subjects, took to Twitter last month in an unruly campaign arguing: “If you need a seat belt extender, you are TOO FAT TO BE ON A PLANE”.
Her offensive comments came after she was seated between obese siblings on a three-hour American Airlines flight, during which she claimed she was being touched throughout.
She claimed in a lengthy Twitter post she had been “WEDGED between two OBESE people” on the flight, which she argued was “absolutely NOT acceptable or okay.”
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Weak response and apology. Weak $150 trip credit BS.
Quote:
At the time, American Airlines responded by saying it didn’t discriminate against body types.
“Our passengers come in all different sizes and shapes. We’re sorry you were uncomfortable on your flight,” the Twitter account for the airline replied.
In a surprising update revealed by Watson on Tuesday, it appeared the airline had a change of heart.
In an email sent to Watson on Monday, a representative said they “sincerely regret the enjoyment and comfort” of her flight was “diminished due to another customer exceeding their seat’s space”.
The representative informed Watson she would have been entitled to move seats had there been an alternate option available on the flight.
In a “gesture of goodwill”, she was issued a $150 Trip Credit.
“I can understand your disappointment with the situation not being remedied to your satisfaction,” the email also read.
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