Woman wedged between too fat people in plane flight

I didn't talk to her, I'm just assuming. Its also possible that she had travelling companions that backed out last minute, but as you mentioned, likely those seats would have then been filled by standbys or something. All I know is she had the whole row to herself on an otherwise full flight, and was dressed like she'd planned it that way.

 

fitting people like sardines into a tin can is the way to drive away customers

 

Yes, having the plane fly half empty seems like an incredibly good use of limited resources.

 

Airlines should just give everyone more room in coach. Seats are too close together anyway.

I was giving advice to people afraid they are going to be sat between to fatties.

 

The skinnies aren't the problem.

 

There are a LOT of customers who have very reasonable body forms who do NOT fit well in an airplane seat outside of business class.

I'm barely over 6', and the leg room and head room are an issue.

Even just using a tray table is not comfortable. If someone in front of me chooses to move their seat back, they are riding on my knees for the entire trip. And, that is painful. Plus, seats are too narrow for adult male shoulders.

The sardine complaint is very real. It makes the issue with those who carry a lot of weight a serious issue.

On top of that, these planes are wonderful containers for sharing airborne disease when people are crammed in like they are.

 

I don't fly. But if I did, what would be foremost in my mind is traveling 600 miles an hour, several miles above the earth. So to me, just getting to my destination would be a luxury.

 

Yes, a lot of people are concerned about that.

The way I look at it is that air travel has become astoundingly safe - safe to a point that would seem impossible. We have the NTSB, the FAA, manufacturers and operators cooperating to make that happen, causing air travel to be safer and safer essentially every year. One can look up the safety record, as many want to know. I'll not link as there are different views on how to count, compare, etc.

That's for scheduled commercial flights. It doesn't include taking a ride with the nephew who just got a pilot's license!! General aviation has a pretty bad record as there is FAR less training, the planes are cheaper, those who break rules don't lose their job, etc.

It's really hard to compare commercial air safety stats to other activities in ones life. There are various opinions on how to do that, and none of them are convincing to me - other than that they all say "safe".

I fly reasonably frequently and don't give it a second thought. There are so few accidents that I feel it's more like worrying about an earthquake or something - possibly not exactly accurate, of course!

 

Calls a safe mode of travel the "aluminum tube of death." Rides a motorcycle... lol.. sorry, but you might be off on what is risky and what isn't.

 

If the engine on my motorcycle should stall it does not fall out of the sky.

If I should wreck on my motorcycle I have a very good chance of survival. If an airplane crashes there is a very very slim chance of survival.

 

A little dated, but generally still true:



So you're about 3000 times more likely to die traveling the same distance on a motorcycle, compared to a commercial plane. And about 30 times more likely to die in a motorcycle than a car.

 

I'll take my chances. I've engaged in a lot of risky and unsafe behaviors in my life. Sometimes I scratch my head that I have made it this far.

I have been an airplane one time and I'm not saying I would not do it again but it would not be my first choice.

If you wear all of the gear on a motorcycle it goes a very long way to protecting you.

When I see people not wearing helmets I can only shake my head. It's their choice and every Man has a right to kill himself however he chooses

 

Maybe the plane could reserve some specific wide seats for individuals who are anatomically wider, and not charge them the full "business class" price.

Right now, business class seats usually cost two and a half times what a regular seat costs.

This has nothing to do with cost of providing those seats, but is a business pricing strategy from the airlines, trying to get people who have more money to pay higher prices.

It would be kind of like a reserved handicapped parking space. Except maybe fat person would only have to pay 50% more rather than 250% more.

 

The seats absolutely have gotten smaller. My mother is comfortable-my mother is 5' tall. My stepfather is a little crowded. He is a "towering" 5'7". He once flew with a co-worker who is thin (a toothpick with about a 27" waist) but 6'3". After not being able to move his legs for more than four hours, the guy had to be CARRIED off the plane; he couldn't walk.