Airplane Photo Reveals Disturbing Reality for Large Passengers
Faced with a prolonged business slump, the airline industry has been cutting corners for the better part of a decade now -- much to the disgruntlement of passengers. Perhaps the most frustrating penny-pinching measure has been the reduction in seat size, a move aimed at squeezing more people on-board and thus marginally boosting revenue. Though it makes the average traveler feel more like a sardine and less like a valued customer, for larger passengers, the crunch is that much worse. A new photo illustrates just how bad it has gotten.
As The Telegraph reports, a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight recently photographed an obese passenger to show her manager how dire the seating situation was for him. She then sent the photo to a blog on the aviation news website Flightglobal. It's unclear whether or not the man knew he was being photographed or if the photo has been altered, though Kieran Daly, who writes for the blog, claims he received the photo "with absolute assurance" of its authenticity.
As the image shows, the man apparently paid for only one seat, which clearly wasn't enough. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that the airline let him board. Southwest Airlines, for one, has a "customer of size" policy that requires passengers of a certain size to purchase two seats. American has not adopted this policy, though it does cryptically encourage customers to "recognize ahead of time that they may need to purchase two seats." For their part, American has said it's investigating the issue, and reiterated in a statement that its "primary concern is for the safety and comfort of its passengers and crews."
Granted, no one's sure whether or not the plane took off with the man in this position. If it did, it would be pretty appalling; the elevated safety risks for him and everyone else on the plane are obvious (just imagine hitting a wicked patch of turbulence). The photo alone speaks to a growing (and embarrassing) reality that airlines will have to face: no matter how many extra seats they try to squeeze on-board, people are getting bigger, and whistle-blowers with cell phones are beginning to take note. Compromising comfort for financial solvability is one thing. Safety, though, is quite another. [From: The Telegraph]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mikey Alberico said 9:00AM on 12-03-2009
*Note to Amar Toor: Perhaps the REAL alarm here SHOULD be the fact that Americans are getting FATTER!! Airlines are for-profit business concerns, just like railroads & buslines & eateries & football stadiums with narrow seats, etc etc. It is not their responsibility to widen seats just because human beings don't have the sense or discipline to care for their own bodies first. Most fat pigs are fat pigs by choice, NOT because of medical angst or because they were "designed" that way. So, how about noting instead the MORE alarming trend here -- that we're growing out of control?!
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Nunya said 9:00AM on 12-03-2009
This man clearly should have purchased two seats. Unfortunately for me, this story does not paint the picture that the airline industry needs to increase their seat size, but it tells us that Americans (I am assuming he is American) need to wake up to the obesity epidemic. Making the seats larger does not make Americans healthier.
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Angela said 10:08AM on 12-03-2009
This man should be required to purchase two tickets. Look at the poor guy sitting next to him. I mean, he's gotta' be able to read the writing on the wall about what is going to happen when the drink cart rolls by. Sort of like when the Captain of the Poseidon saw the giant wave coming at him, but he was powerless to.... Well, you get the picture.
Anyway. Let's imagine you are on a plane listening to the mandatory safety instructions. While you are looking around obediently for the emergency exits, you see THIS GUY sitting between you... and the escape route. Whatcha' gonna' do? I can't tell you what I'm gonna' do. I'm going to customize my escape options. Meaning? If the plane goes down, I'm climbing over this fat bastard like a quarterback scrambling over the pile-up on the 1st yard line on Super Bowl Sunday!
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joeomar said 11:09AM on 12-03-2009
I'm sorry but this picture doesn't illustrate the problems of airline seat sizes or obese people AT ALL. This guy is an EXTRAORDINARILY fat person. NO seating configuration would have worked for the person in this picture other than seating him in two seats. Is this article actually trying to imply that ALL airline seats should be configured to support someone of this enormous size? Yeah, Americans are getting too fat and airline seats are looking pretty small. We're not all getting THAT fat.
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JESUS SEES ALL! said 11:30AM on 12-03-2009
america is fat! plain and simple! lose some weight! i have no sympathy for over-weight people! not near the amount that claim to have health problems that contribute to obesity ACTUALLY do... they are just lazy and keep stuffing their mouthes with empty calories.....
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Arius said 12:10PM on 12-03-2009
You self righteous thin farts can go ahead and condemn the writer of this article for pointing out the cheapskate airlines not accommodating larger passengers, that the airlines are for profit businesses blah blah blah but your carping isn't going to change the fact that the armrest you're putting your forearm on was previously stuck up some fat mans' greasy ass crack.
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StefanMichael825 said 12:32PM on 12-03-2009
And why wasn't he moved to the two empty seats directly behind him?
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rob lavergne said 3:18PM on 12-03-2009
i have flown next to an overweight person and even though having the armrest put in the up position i had to scoot over and squeezed to the opposite side. this trip was the worst trip for me. if the plane was not full i would have ask to be moved. pass on the lunch because the trey could not go down, but bubba just placed the tray on his stomach and ate! next time i will get up and ask to be move right away or be placed on a different flight. crushed from atlanta
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