I think that now obsesity

I think that now obsesity has become another culure in society. memory foam mattress

"A large part of the medical

"A large part of the medical fraternity sees obesity as a serious and complicated problem and throws disdain on the philosophy that it is all about excess eating and laziness." This may be the true reason but we cannot leave them to fend for themselves. Society must be considerate to them and encourage them for doing regular exercises and lead an active in their routine lives.paula deen cookware set

Airliners should be designed for people as they are

I think the obese passenger problem is squarely the fault of the airlines together with the aircraft manufacturers.

Data is readily available to show the percentage of body size ranges. That data could be used to allocate so much economy class floor space to DIFFERENT SIZED seats. Yes, it would reduce the number of bodies which could be crammed into economy class, but a realistic allocation to perhaps three different seat sizes, instead of the "one size fits all" designs in use today, would pretty well end this problem.

Aircraft should be designed for the actual clientele, as they are, not as an aircraft designer believes or wishes they were.

Obesity has assumed an

Obesity has assumed an epidemic proportion in the society due to faulty life style. Unless urgent and serious mass awareness campaign undertaken, this will be a cause of worry not only for the sufferer but also for others. How can air travel be spared? Thanks for the post. the diet solution program review

If a person cannot control

If a person cannot control his urge to stuff his pie-hole everyday to the extent that he or she becomes the size of a maskot at a rugby game, then it should not become my problem. And if I am seated next to such a person, it inevitably becomes exactly that since his or her overlapping flesh takes 10% of my seat space too. Do I get a discount for only getting 90% of my seat space?? No! Obesity is not a disability, its purely a weakness. 95% of obese people are obese because of bad diet and overeating. Very few actually have other medical problems that cause them to be obese.

So its simple, you want to over-eat, fine, but then understand that it will cost you more to fly. It will also eventually cost you your health too. So perhaps charging obese people extra will actually be a motivating factor for them people to lose weight. So in the end....Everyone wins :-)

A solution?

Perhaps airlines could offer larger seats for an increased price, but one that is not quite as high as business class or the price of two seats. After all, there is a reason why most people travel economy class even though they'd prefer business or first!

Do rules apply to everyone. If not then is this discrimination?

What about people with uncontrollable flatulence, crying babies, unusually tall or "big-buffel-rugby-player-types" or very elderly folk walking sloooowwly down the aisles??

Obesity

Obesity is a disability - the airlines should accomadate these people with bigger seats. Something to think about

Obesity in economic class

Same goes for arrogant people that sit in the middle seat and claim both armrests for themselves, stretched out to their fullest.

Obese Travellers

Hi, My sympathies to any small or normal sized person who has to sit next to an extremely fat or obese person in confined space for a long time. Besides the actual physical discomfort there are also emotional. psychological and mental discomfort: in short blackmail to be polite and considerate about the matter.

Certainly the airlines have some responsiblilty in recognising the diversity of passenger size. Tackling this together could be a bonding exercise between fat and obese pasengers, tall and big passengers and us little ones. It beats being forcibly bonded with obese passengers when their flesh melds with you and squeeze you out of space and air slowly suffocating you, sapping your energy and turning you an exhausted lump of jelly. Once seated, there is no way that this process can be stopped ecept by one of the two passengers moving to another seat.

It is not entirely about not being touched: it is about being burdened by that weight that begins to rest upon you.

fat people

I am not fat but I think people discriminate against fat people, it is still only one person, and a person with feelings, the economy seats is anyway small, and it the airway companies that want to fit in as many people as possible into a plane. Why not have extra seats for fat or big people, a six foot male or a pregnant can not sit comftable in to a economy class chair, and air fares is very expensive, let us not be rude about this, its the fault of the airway companies

Obesity in economy class

There are 2 sides to this story.

Why should you be squashed by a big person - you are entitled to the little bit of space you purchased with your ticket.

On the other hand: why should the obese person pay for 2 - that is discrimination against that person.

The problem is that the Medical World. It will not acknowledge OBESITY as an ILLNESS that needs to be treated. Big people don’t necessarily eat too much, they have a problem in their bodies. Their system does not break up fat - it stores it.

If we can get obesity accepted as a medical condition, these people can be treated.

Think how happy you will be if you board and everyone fits in their seats!

Chortle Chortle

That photo is one of the funniest things I've ever seen!!

Don't you think people are

Don't you think people are taking this thing a bit far!!!! That's the trouble with the world - everyone thinks themselves better than everybody else - maybe the plane should have a special section for obese people!!! My goodness I cant believe that commented on the smell of people in a plane and if they have colds or symptoms of flu - maybe we need doctors to check out people before allowing them to fly - stop being so petty!!! There is enough nastiness in the world for people to go this far!!!

@ Anon from 08.17am

Dear Anon,

I am in no doubt that your response is to what you think you have read. Should you take the time to read the entire article, you will, perhaps, be able to tell that both sides of the argument are taken into account here.

Thank you for half-reading.

Regards,
Simon.

How about...

How about putting all the oversized flyers in the same row or rows? If they’re going to merge with the neighbouring passenger anyway, they might as well do it with a fellow fatty. That way neither of them can take offense or complain. Might be a good health warning/deterrent too. One such a flight and you’ll struggle to find an open treadmill at Virgin active. Just trying to think out of the box here.

I agree

If you take up more than one seat you pay for more than one seat. Simple.

I feel your pain

Dear Simon, one can only imagine what a burden it must be for you to wake up in a world of flawed people when you are perfect... and now to have to have them touch you as well! One wonders why you stopped at fat people, surely babies should be banned from flights? Smell tests for those who haven't showered. I think you need to go to a place like India for a while where there are so many people that your kind of selfishness simply cannot survive. Go... and have a good think about something my 4 year old understands: Sharing is caring. Barney wouldn't lie, he's a better person than you. P.S. I'm not overweight and bighting back, I just try and behave decently. We've all got to get through life together and help, not judge and reject. Can you honestly tell us that no-one else has ever had to suffer a bad time because of one of your mistakes even though it's not their fault at all.

I AM A THIN PERSON AND

I AM A THIN PERSON AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WRITTER IS ON ABOUT. HOWEVER IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT, THOUGH I FEEL THAT SOME ARE JUST LAZY. BUT I AM ALSO LAZY. MY SIZE WAS NEVER MY DOING, I RECEIVED AS A GIFT FROM GOD. SO I CANNOT BOAST FOR WHAT I DID NOT WORK FOR, MY SIZE THAT IS. BUT I ALSO CANNOT DEMEAN PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE THIS PRIVILEDGE. I ALWAYS BELEIVED THAT THE ONLY WAY TO STAY HEALTHY IS TO EXCERSICE. AND IF YOU NEED IT MORE THAN OTHERS THEN YOU WANT TO DO IT MORE THAN OTHERS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS LOVE AND TOLERANCE. IF SOMEONE IS SICK, THEY SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO BETTER THEIR LIVE, IN THIS CASE BY EXCERSICE. BUT ON THEIR JOURNEY THEY SHOULD BE GIVEN ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET. SELFISHNESS NEVER GOT ANYBODY ANYWHERE. BESIDES IT IS A TEMPORARY TRIP. THESE PEOPLE LIVE WITH THIS SICKNESS AND THEY DON'T NEED US TO HAMMER IT INTO THEM AGAIN.

Obessity

Fly Business and problems solved

Thin people need some compensation

If the person next to you is fat and spilling over into your seat, then you should be able notify the stewardess who must either give you a business class seat if one is available , or offer some other perk such as a discounted ticket or free hotel accommodation.

But my other pet hate even more so, lean back seats in economy class. If the person in front of you pushes his seat back far enough, you can hardly move.

Fly business class if you have trouble with people touching you

This is the biggest (or obese) bull I have ever read. Airlines have managed to cram so many seats in the economy class and instead of complaining about that, we buy them and then complain about fat people?

Please, if you have a problem with not being touched, buy a business class ticket

I once booked an aisle seat

I once booked an aisle seat from Hong Kong to Johannesburg - don't know why they bothered to ask. My traveling companion was upgraded to business class, while I got wedged in between two very fat men. Every time the plane hit an air pocket it was like joining the mile high club, without the fun. Bye, bye, Cathay Pacific...

Economy class seats

I note your comment about obese passengers with interest & I say to you , skinny malinks nice ..I am an average size south african male , who has travelled extensively overseas , however i get squeezed into these damn economy size seats , & always take the aisle , sso I dont interfere with my co passenger ...needless to say that I spend the evening fighting with the cabin crew because my broad , strong shoulders , not puny little wimps happen tp extend into the aisle ..
are you aware , skinny ma limks that Saa & many other Airlines reduced the leg room in economy by 2 cm /per row , multiply that by 100 rows & voila , simple mathematics says , hey , there ,se an extra 2 meters , that we can cram with at least another 20 seats ( across & back ) ..extra money whatever ..
so please don,t patronise me with your complacent damn skinny arse attitude , simply because you happen to fit into a seat thats designed for refugees from belson ..
Sam ...a normal , healthy male human being ..

I buy a second seat

I travel overseas 6 times a year for business, and fortnighlty within SA. Locally I buy one seat, but on long haul I try to buy a second seat but many airlines are not capable of processing this (online bookings do not allow it, so you have to book via an agent which is costlier to start with). Anyway 2 x economy to Hong Kong cost about R12000 versus R33000 for business class so even that is a bargain. HOWEVER despite guarantees of getting my second seat - on more than 50% of flights I get someone sitting down next to me with a VALID boarding pass allocated to that seat - while I hold one too - "Sorry sir the flight is full we cannot give you a second seat!". The airlines ARE NOT (yet) capable of processing this. It takes 4-6 months of argueing to get my second paid seat re-imbursed (minus processign fee and no interest!. I am obese - though my bum fits in the seat, my shoulders/upper body don't, and I am very tall so I need the second seat to have somehwere to put my arms and legs!). So how about getting the airlines to make this process of buying a second seat fair and easy, and not just moaning about the fatties who shoud buy a second seat?

Obesity in coach class.

I totally agree with the comments in this article. I recently flew from Philadelphia to Phoenix with US Air. When I checked in on line I was charged an additional $15.00 per seat for my wife and I - both of us are "normal" sized. The charge was justified by alledging that the seats were "premium". On boarding the plane, I found the seats to be exactly the same as all the others in coach. Then to add insult to injury, this REALLY large gu gets into the seat next to me. 6 hours of hell fllowed!

Obesity on airplanes

I have to admit I am overweight myself, though thank goodness not to the extent that I spill into someone else's seat in economy class. We travel frequently between Canada and South Africa for vacation purposes, and one year I ended up being next to a "spill over into my seat fat" person. My son was with me and only one year old at the time, so I had to keep him on my lap ( he didn't have a seat). My son was a lively little kid, as one year old boys tend to be, and kept kicking this fat person, not to be mean, he was just moving his legs, and this guy was "everywhere". Finally they gave fatso another seat and I had an extra seat for my son. Yay.

Have to say even being overweight to the "fat, but less than obese" extent that I am, makes traveling in economy class for long distances ( 10/11 hour long flights) very uncomfortable, and I don't even want to imagine what these people go through. On the one hand I realize what food addiction ( emotional eating) can do to you ( or else I wouldn't be overweight myself in the first place), but there has to be a point where people take responsibility for their own health and not let it negatively affect other people. If your fat spills onto other people on an airplane, it's time to go to the fat farm.

Your fat in my seat

I flew from JFK to Johannesburg with a gentleman who was very, very fat. So much so that the arm rest had to be lifted so he could spill onto my seat. He wedged himself into his seat and over into mine and couldn't easily get out when I needed to get to the aisle to use the bathroom, making me fearful for our saftety if we had to evacuate in a hurry. It was an awful flight. Why, when I paid the same for a ticket as he did, did I have to endure such discomfort? And what would have happened if I was also overweight and needed his seat room for my fat? His comfort was entirely at my expense and I resented that. The airlines need to address this as a matter of priority.

Obesity in Economy class

I totally agree with this and as far as im concerned obese people should be alocated the seats at the emergency exit so they are first out and dont slow up other passengers if an emergency should arise.

Maybe airlines should request your weight on booking your ticket through the travel agent or directly with the airline. this way they will know the exact weight of the people and luggage on board a plane. (obviously at check-in the airline employee can judge your weight or request you stand on the scale.

obesity

who would want to sit uncomfortable meanwile they paid full price because someone big is sitting net to them.so it clear and straight forward that obese passengers must book double seats for them to sit so that it doesnt make other people unconfortable.

travel in Africa

I travel a lot into Africa and come across this problem on a regular basis. When its 40 Deg C outside and the aircon in the plane doesn't work I don't want the heat of another body falling onto me.
But as annoying is the amount of hand luggage some travellers take onto the plane. Perhaps they should also be charged extra as when this happens you cannot store your single briefcase in the overhead lockers due to this selfish behaviour.

Big and tall

I have the same problem. My backside fits in the seat just fine, but my shoulders don't seem to do the same. Do I pay extra for the shoulder room?

Obese Passengers on Airlines

I have a problem with the view that obese passengers must pay more than others. The Canadian policy of one passenger one ticket is the correct approach in my view.

The problem is, where does one draw the line with so-called size challenged people. I am a very big man, but not an obese man. I am 1.99m tall and I am very broad shouldered and have a 140cm chest. I weigh approximately 120kg, but I can assure you I have not an ounce of fat on my body. I am extremely fit, exercise daily and have a very healthy diet.

If the standard for seating is defined by an average person, I am way outside of that norm, but certainly not fat or obese. If I am not asked to pay extra why should someone who is also large, but in another form ie. wide rather than just tall and big like me.

The answer is not about cost, its about accomodating that fact that we live in a world where people are diverse and different. I have enough difficulty coping with the problems of my size as it is. Dont now start a campaign against people just because they are larger than the Chinese midgets that are supposed to fit into a normal economy class seat.

By the way, I started flying Business Class because of my size years ago. But not everyone can afford that.

obesity

how do they get out of the emergency exit ?

Obesity in econ class

This makes sense. I do not like people touching me either; I have as much right to my paid 'space' and why should I be affected by anyone else's body size - about as much as I would accept anyone putting their feet in my foot space! Even though I am not rake thin, I don't invafe other people's space. Its about time something is done abouot this.

Disability?

Too many people fall back on the "disability" excuse, rather than taking accountability for their poor choices. There are far fewer real medical cases, than there are self-inflicted cases. I really do object to others' poor choices negatively affecting me when I travel.

The Economy class seating is sardine-like already, and I would specifically support an airline which showed concern for the comfort of the majority of passengers, rather than the tip-toeing around the delicate sensibilities of the obese. I will endeavour to travel with AIr France KLM in future because of their policy, so thanks for this information.

Obesity

I, for one, have no sympathy for obese people. Their own actions led to them being that size, people are quick to point fingers at smokers' "disgusting habit" and tell them that they are to blame for their health problems...but the same should go for obese people! they made the decisions to eat all that food and not exercise, i feel nothing for them having to pay double on an airplane or anywhere else for that matter! and there are very few legitimate health reasons for being overweight. they often claim they have an overactive thyroid, but being severely obese is the main cause of an overactive thyroid so they caused this health complication. The bottom line is, other passengers should not have to be inconvenienced because of some peoples' lack of personal willpower!

Size Matters

I have been one of the unfortunate ones to be stuck next to oversized strangers on both international and domestic flights. I find it extremely uncomfortable sitting next to strangers who "spill" into my space, which I paid for!!! I am overweight myself, but do not spill into the next person's space - if you're too big to fit into a seat comfortably, surely you can't fit into a seat at the cinema either?!!!! Those of us who have to sit in a seat someone has "forced" themselves into, often end up sitting in broken seats - and we pay the same, full price but only get a partial "service" - That's NOT OK.
Unless you have a valid medical excuse to be that large, you are maintaining your size by overeating and making travelling a very unpleasant experience for those around you

SAA Staff

"A study we did found many complainers are one off flyers, on our cheapest fares, regular passengers typically spend more per ticket and seldom complain." This is because the people flew SAA once and said "never again" you are losing a large sector of return customers because of your bad service and rude hosts.

'Bigger' modes of transport?

I can sympathize with this as I've using various modes of transport in, and to and from South Africa. With the first option, the bus is usually the choice - here I pay for a seat, but often get granted a mere two-thirds (if I'm lucky) of the seat - thanks to the person (sometimes with a runny nose-baby with sticky fingers on the lap) next to me. Do we opt for slighltly bigger seats? Two seats for the price of one-and-a-half?

@kaliel and too little

kaliel you are clearly a stand-up commic cos your wife has clearly set a new medical precedent, developing deep bone thrombosis in 11 hours flat. This is one for the international journal of medicine. Too Little, now here is someone applying sound logic and exposing double standards. If the same author found herself sitting next to pierre spies she would be so busy chatting and flirting, then raving to her friends about the most pleasant flight EVER.

Still better that walking

Toughies, airliners can't offer their services and then decline some (the fatties) right of passage. I've sat plenty next to fatties and it's not the end of the world. I was forces into 2 years of conscription fighting wars in neighboring countries, THAT was innapropriate and unpleasant. And can the evacuation BS, if that passenger plane goes down your survival stats are about -100%. So next time give the fatty a hug.

So true

If fat people get an extra seat next to them, shouldn't tall peaple get an open seat in front of them? I'm not to fat for an economy seat, I'm just too tall. And unlike fat people, I can't change that.

Sheesh people

Why can't there be a number of 'obese' seats that take up the space for 1 1/2 seats. That way they only have to pay 50% extra for the extra space they take up. And the 50% refund if the plane isn't full. And of course an extra 10 kg luggage allowance too to just make things fair.

Dik ous are a danger

My pretty, slim and very polite wife got wedged into a window seat by a monster dik chick on an 11 hour flight to London. She shriveled up in the corner, managed to doze off and developed a deep vein thrombosis in the UK thereafter. She had to inject a couple of grands worth of anticoagulant for 3 months to get rid of the thing and decrease the risk of it embolising into her lungs. Can we sue the fat chick for the cost? Can we sue the airline? I say super fat and big people should stay off planes or do the right thing and buy two tickets. If you are pregnant past a certain date you cannot fly - it is a health risk, the same should apply to dik ous.

Two little questions

Question 1: would not a Springbok rugby player be too big - on average - to fit into an economy class seat? Would not such a rugby player encroach on the space 'belonging' to his neighbour? Would such a rugby player then be classed as 'obese' by the airlines?

Question 2: by FAR, and I mean VERY FAR, the most offensive person I've ever had to endure during a flight was the lowlife who obviously slept in his clothes, got up without washing, shaving or cleaning his teeth, and then sat and stank next to me all the way from CT to Jhb.

Give me a nice clean fatty any time. Trust me on this.

Sit through a flight from

Sit through a flight from Heathrow to Cape Town, sitting in a middle seat, with a guy next to you taking half your seat, and we can talk again.

However, this problem is purely the making of the airlines. If they had any kind of initiative, they'd make sure all of us, tall and short, fat and thin, would have a comfortable flight.

What if

What if somebody actually starts their own airline called big and tall, with double wide seats, and tons of legroom, and charges normal rates? Surely all Big and tall people will gladly fly with them thus ensuring similar fares, especially if they are run properly and not mismanaged like SAA they could even be profitable?

However what interests me is, what if Big and Tall airlines says we can only accept bookings from people weighing more than 100kg or are at least 6ft tall, other people can go on standby and only if seats are available a day before flight will they be confirmed? I would mortgage my home to bet that each person who has complained about big people today would cry DISCRIMINATION

what if

What if somebody actually starts their own airline called big and tall, with double wide seats, and tons of legroom, and charges normal rates? Surely all Big and tall people will gladly fly with them thus ensuring similar fares, especially if they are run properly and not mismanaged like SAA they could even be profitable?

However what interests me is, what if Big and Tall airlines says we can only accept bookings from people weighing more than 100kg or are at least 6ft tall, other people can go on standby and only if seats are available will they be confirmed? I would mortgage my home to bet that each person who has complained about big people today would cry DISCRIMINATION

Boo Hoo

BOO HOO, its life as mentioned in the earlier comments, I dont want to pay tax to fund your spawns education at school, I dont want to pay tax to fund the Police force, cause you cant afford private security, I dont want to pay tax to fund your hospital stay cause you dont have a medical aid. I dont want to pay tax to fund lazy people (who in most cases happen to be thin) RDP housing. Come up with a solution to these problems and I gladly pay for two seats, if not I'll steal your seat and commit to not bathing two days before flying HAVE A NICE FLIGHT.

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