A flight attendant working for a budget airline – probably Spirit or Frontier – shared that on a flight last month a mother and her 3 year old son showed up at their assigned seats and found that a ‘plus-size passenger’ was at the window, spilling significantly into the middle seat.
The child exclaimed, “Mommy, there’s only one,” pointing to the aisle seat, since there was no real space left in the middle. The mother apologized immediately.
Since the flight wasn’t full, the flight attendant reseated the mother and child, and offered the plus-sized woman a complimentary beverage. On a fee-based airline!
Just before the aircraft door’s closed, the woman rang her call button and loudly asked, “Are you going to bring me a seatbelt extension or are you just enjoying humiliating me?” That got the attention of the surrounding rows.
- The flight attendant explained that those are only provided on request. She immediately fetched one for the woman.
- As the woman deplaned at the end of the flight, she told the flight attendant she’d be reported “to the ADA.”
Hello, ADA? Yes, Karen here from the plane… please send her straight to jail.
The flight attendant is correct here. The Americans With Disabilities Act isn’t the relevant statute, nor is there ‘an ADA’ to report violations to. Instead, the Air Carrier Access Act controls. Obesity alone is not generally treated as a protected disability unless linked to a separate medical condition. And passengers who need accommodations – like a seatbelt extender – must request them. Airlines aren’t required to anticipate needs. And proactively suggesting accommodations can just as easily offend!
Here, the woman drew extra attention to her situation – if anything declaring loudly and drawing in the rest of the cabin would be what drove any humiliation. She could have asked discretely for what she needed. And she wasn’t required to buy two seats even though she extended into the adjacent seat. She should have said thank you?
A request for a seatbelt extension is typically treated under “special assistance” rather than disability as such. Generally, discrimination law requires accommodation. It’s not something that the person in need of the accommodation receives as a ‘favor’. However – and I should probably put on the flame retardant jacket before saying this – I do think accommodations should be appreciated and people ought not be presumptuous and assuming when making the request. Even where accommodations are required, there ought to be a thank you involved.
And there’s something about 3 year olds, though, that can’t help but speak truth. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.”
Too often demands escalate. I tend here to think of Munich Syndrome (appeasement increases aggression) leads to “Big Curvy Olivia” calling it discrimination that aircraft aisles are so narrow, posting video of herself struggling to get through a United Airlines Polaris business class cabin. But widened aisles would mean even less room for seats, which would surely be discriminatory to her, too!
Lol and the First Class cabin has much more space than economy pic.twitter.com/YCAh501hF3
— Ben Kew 🏌️♂️ (@ben_kew) May 18, 2023
Indeed, some ‘plus-sized influencers’ think that airlines should just give them extra space for free, the way that Southwest has done for years, but that means amortizing the cost of a flight across fewer passengers and a need to generate higher revenue from each one. (Southwest has had lower load factors so the marginal cost to them has often been zero.)
That’s just another form of cost-shifting – higher fares- albeit less directly than a single passenger stealing space from the passenger next to them because they don’t fit.
(HT: Paul H.)
Bout that time of the week… Fat folks on planes… classic! Do ‘dogs on planes’ next! It’s been a while…
FFS, the airlines should be putting the pax AND their luggage on a scale together and charging by the pound. When you buy your “ticket” it’s simply a holding deposit, the final amount is determined by the cargo tare weight of your chubby bumpkin plus all your indispensable accoutrements.
Heck, they could even make some extra coin by opening it up to wagering a la “Guess My Weight”. How much chunky on that monkey!
We all know if you asked her if she needed an extender or brought her one without her requesting it, there’s a good chance that would be wrong as well.
You know if you don’t like a topic you needn’t craft a Statler/Waldorf post?
My issue here is always with the airline, and why staff always looks the other way. Just like the kid can tell, FAs and GAs can always tell when a person needs two seats. Yet they pretend they don’t notice so they’re not accused of fat shaming. Instead they push the problem onto you and me to deal with it for 4 uncomfortable hours. Do your job. Either tell the woman “sorry, but you need to buy two seats”, or find another job.
My first question, if I were the airline’s legal representation, would be if the beverage was water, coffee, tea (either “unsweet” or herbal only), carrot juice, or otherwise anything else that’s sugar free.
This could have happened on any airline. I feel for all three passengers being in a difficult situation.
The fat shaming here by (what I am assuming are all men) is disgusting. It isn’t necessary to make fun of or bully people because of the way they look. While her attitude stood a lot to be desired, I’ve known large people – men and women – who have medical issues and cannot lose weight. Speaking of shaming, most of you here should be (a)shamed. I quite literally am embarrassed for you. Try a little kindness.
I love a kid’s honesty. Is refreshing in a world full of snowflakes.
As with cargo, certain items should only be shipped via ground.
Years ago, my elderly mother — who, shall we say, “widened with age” — was flying with our family. She settled into her seat and immediately began complaining to my wife and me that the airline had shrunk the size of the seatbelts. The more we explained, “No they haven’t — let’s get an extender”, the more loudly she complained. A very sweet and patient FA helped us out, but even after she was buckled in, she kept loudly complaining to us about “how much money do they think they save with smaller seatbelts?”
@Thing 1 — I feel for you. Caring for aging parents, especially those that are ‘less than appreciative,’ that is real work. *sigh*
The gravitationally challenged person crying about a seat belt has bigger problems to worry about.
6.6743 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
Spilling over into two seats should cost two fares. Why should the rest of us be burdened with paying for their lack of calorie control.
@anon — Nice sunglasses.
It would be rude and obnoxious of me to say this woman should have been offered space in cargo where her attitude would not bother any humans. I totally agree with what you wrote especially in re to being appreciative and offering a simple thank you. Or should we expect the airlines to leave extenders at every seatback to add weight which burns more fuel and will leave to increased pricing especially when it becomes a souvenir du jour and they are stolen?
Big however: As boarding was underway the FA’s could/should have noticed the likelihood of this woman’s needs and perhaps offered one, though always at the risk of someone feeling insulted. Crews do not have crystal balls, and many passengers lack common sense and courtesy.
Fat asses seem to “think” they are special, when in reality they are just slobs. “F” them.
An entitled person in a spiteful world (per the comments). The easiest way to have this as a nonissue in most cases is to spend only a little and buy airplanes with slightly longer seatbelts (the seatbelt fabric is fairly cheap). I know from personal experience years ago that all airplane seatbelts are not the same length. Some are quite short and others are sufficiently long. I also know through personal experience that some flight attendants are better at getting seatbelt extenders for you, even when asked politely. Some will forget you asked. I also know from personal experience that you can buy a seatbelt extender that is as robust as the ones on the airplane. Further there are only two types needed to work on almost every commercial passenger airplane designed in the Americas or Western Europe.
The old parody group Capitol Steps had a song in 2001-2 on their CD Between Iraq and a Hard Place called “You Cant Fly with Giant Thighs” sung to You Cant Hide Your Lyin Eyes.
A hilarious song
“The fat shaming here by (what I am assuming are all men) is disgusting.”
Blaming all men, nice.
“Try a little kindness.”
Try it yourself, manhating princess. This is VFTW, not “How I hate all men because they fat shame me and the other fat women.”
I’ll take an obese person next to me anytime over a woman with feminine hygiene odor and issues. God almighty. The most horrific smell on an airplane.
If a person is so large that they cannot fit into an individual seat, then they should book 2 seats or sit in a larger seat up front.
When booking, the potential passenger should be asked if they can fit into a single seat or if they need adjacent seats.
I don’t feel the need to fat shame anyone. On the other hand, a person of such size should also be sensitive to the need or fellow passengers and not to encroach upon their space. People pay for a seat with its space, not a fraction thereof.
Suppose passengers with morbid obesity, classified as Class III obesity (a body mass index of 40 or higher), buy plus-size clothing for their travel. Before their flight, these passengers also purchase their own FAA-approved personal seatbelt extender. Would airlines object to or deny the use of a passenger-owned seatbelt extender?