I was once traveling on an airplane
where each seat was full. One of the passengers
was extremely obese, and he required two
seats. He apparently had made no mention of
his size when he bought the ticket.

As it turned out, the crew had to
offer someone a free voucher if they
would wait for another flight.

Is it right for someone obese to expect to be accomodated
doubly, when they only paid for one?

2 seats = 2 tickets.
I would be quite upset if I had to miss my flight just because somebody was fat. If anything, they should have to wait for the next flight, because they are the ones who need special accomodations. Nothing against fat people, but a ticket buys you 1 seat. If they get 2 for the price of 1, why shouldn't anyone else?

It depends on how the tickets were written.

If they stated "Admittance for one," they are guaranteeing that no matter how fat you are your going to get a ride.

If the ticket clearly states that they are only selling seat space, the obese person should pay for two.

The real crooks, however, are the airline companies for making the seats so small in the first place.

No, I don't think it's right for an obese person to expect to be accomodated and having paid for only one seat. But, it was nice of the airline to be so accomodative.

But, it is wrong to be denied your own seat because someone obese is spilling over into your seat. In that case where the plane was full, why not bump the obese person to the next flight instead?

They would have, if there were no takers for the flight voucher from the airlines to the other passengers.

The offer was made to the other passengers first, because some people's travel isn't time sensitive, and it would be much easier to get someone who already fits into one seat, a seat on another flight. It may be a lot more difficult to find a flight that has two adjacent seats open already. However, if no one were to take them up on their offer, they would have bumped the obese person to another flight.

It's the airline's decision. If they would like to serve two seats per each fat person for the cost of one, that's their prerogative. It would probably be a better business move to charge on a per-seat basis, though.

And here's where it gets tricky: is obesity a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act? If so, the airline may be liable for lawsuits by "discriminating" against the obese person by charging them for two seats.

I can't find any specific case law on this, but the ADA has been upheld in numerous cases for hiring discrimination because of obesity. Anyone know of any pending cases for this?

It's discrimination. No they should not expect to pay double. It's unfair to pay for 2 when you are one person. And i agree with Moif ( ), airlines can be sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act with help of the ACLU or any other lawyer.

I personally do not agree with the idea that obesity is a disability
(though it can be disabling to be so overweight)...

The perspective of the airline, undoubtedly, was that it was better
to accomodate the guy then to stir up any trouble with potential
lawsuits, etc. They probably did the right thing, and saved themselves
millions in "damages".

Here's a scenario for everyone.

Southwest Airlines decides they won't discriminate against obese people. So all the obese people of the US decided they will only fly Southwest. Just for a hypothetical, southwest airlines flights are now occupied with 80% obese people who take 2 seats instead of one. Now a plane with 200 seats will have to use 160 of it's seats to seat 80 obese people. But they only sold 80 tickets to fill 160 seats. I know this is a hypothetical but you can see where it's going.

It certainly should be at the discretion of each airline. The obese flyer should not expect each airline to be so accomodating though.

Airlines for the most part are very accomodating where they can be. meals, where given, can be altered for vegans, kosher, tall flyers with longs legs can request seating by exits. so they do try. Seat belts COULD be extended. On a short flight recently a very large flyer was barely able to fasten his seatbelt.

Since each Airline's profitability depends totally on seats sold, giving away free seats does not pay bills. the obese flyer should be considerate of this "other side" to the story as well when they consider that they become nothing more than a liability to that business.

as far a obesity being an incurable disability requiring special treatment as far as laws go...I'm unsure. I do wonder though.

I think the case where someone takes up two seats is a no-brainer. The airline shouldn't be expected to give up a profitable seat just because someone can't fit in one seat. However, this only applies if the plane is full, which often isn't the case. For those that disagree--are you saying you have no problem if your seat is gone simply because the person next you, who required two seats, got there first? After all, the airline currently has no way of knowing this when they assign the seats. Which brings up another issue--should these people be required to inform the airline of their obesity in advance? Not only would this help resolve the seating issue, but I can also see where it might affect the loading of the plane (probably not important on a large plane, but possibly significant on a smaller commuter flight).

I think this level of obesity is fairly rare, though (I've seen some very large people fit into one seat). The trickier question if what they should do to compensate those who have to sit next to these people. Your seating space is already limited enough, and it is a fairly significant inconvenience when a good portion of your shoulder room and arm room is taken away simply because the person next to you is very large. I guess this is just part of the 'joys of travel'.

oh boy does this drive me INSANE! which is why I ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure when I book flights that I secure an aisle seat OR ELSE I am NOT flying. . Actually I do that for all our employees. As a small person I learned long ago that if given a middle seat it was 9 times out of 10 between two big men and they will invariably take both arm rests thinking weeeeeeee, free space!!! No more! rawr!

maybe these folks should swap seats with flight attendants? other than the extra space there really isn't anything special about flight attendant seats.

Tricky topic. Obesity is a disability, the scientific community (in this case drug companies) believe that genetics plays a role in obesity, and some people have gland problems that are out of their control. On the other hand, I am a big guy and if I were told in a discreet and professional manner that I would have to buy 2 seats or pay extra for a larger seat on the plane, I would not have a problem with that. Not everybody would take it so well, I'm afraid, and the lawsuits would pour in.

According to the ADA, accomodations have to be made for the disabled and the cost incurred by the business (within limits, but those limits are up for debate also). Ramps for wheelchairs, elevators for mult-story buildings, headsets for the hearing impaired, brail instructions, etc. The businesses that impliment these devices are not allowed to pass on the cost to those who use them, so it is a difficult situation.

Airlines might like to look into seating that would be more accomodating to obese people to avoid the problem, but I doubt they will unless a court orders them to.

Just remember that not all overweight people are gluttons and pigs, and as uncomfortable as it may be to sit next to someone extremely large, they are probably embarassed and I guarantee you they are just as uncomfortable as you are!

Not alway true. there was the case early this year on an woman who sat next to an obese man on a flight. She was crushed so badly by the weight of the man sat next to her that when the plane landed she had to be rushed to hospital suffering from internal injures! I reckon she was more uncomfortable than the fat man! But to be fair that was an extreme case and she really should have complained.

Personally I think that obesity is in 99.9% of cases is entirely avoidable, but as overeating can be the symptom of other problems such as deppression and has a physical impact it must still be vewed as a disability. If any disabled person has special requirements they inform the airline beforehand. If someone is obese and has to occupy two seats then they should have to inform airline. I'm sure if there is room they will be accomadated. If they don't inform the airline and there are no extra seats then although they may of fet too embarresed - tough. I see no reason why anyone else should be bumped to another flight. That said I would be for each flight to provide three or four seats designed to carry very large people. And I would of thought that there could be a strong legal case for forcing the airlines to do just that.