It sucks and it hurts but is it illegal?

W

Wingsofglass

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
342
Display Name
Display name:
Wingsofglass
I write this from seat 5D on a Skywest CRJ700 cruising along at 39,000 feet and 428 knots according to Foreflight. 5D is a window. Sitting next to me in 5C is a morbidly obese guy at 350+ pounds. His mass takes up at least 1/3 of my seat. Is this legal? I'm looking through the FARs but I can only find regulations that mention approved seats. Nothing that describes what an approved seat actually is. I fly a lot commercially so I'm used to being crapped all over by 121 carriers but forcing someone into a seat this small strikes me as against some regulation. Otherwise every seat would be this small.
 
It couldn't hurt to take a picture of your situation and mail it to the head office. Maybe you'll at least get some money for your "troubles" I don't think it's illegal though. Company is going to do whatever they can to make money. If they have to throw you $200 that's good for you and for them.
 
Wingsofglass said:
I write this from seat 5D on a Skywest CRJ700 cruising along at 39,000 feet and 428 knots according to Foreflight. 5D is a window. Sitting next to me in 5C is a morbidly obese guy at 350+ pounds. His mass takes up at least 1/3 of my seat. Is this legal? I'm looking through the FARs but I can only find regulations that mention approved seats. Nothing that describes what an approved seat actually is. I fly a lot commercially so I'm used to being crapped all over by 121 carriers but forcing someone into a seat this small strikes me as against some regulation. Otherwise every seat would be this small.
Click to expand...

Whatever you do... Do NOT use the word "disgusting":nonod::nono:
 
im 6'2/350 and CRJs are tough, but I can stay on my side of the armrest and buckled in. Your dude was either short at that weight, or weighed well above your estimate..

I avoid CRJs where possible. Miserable contraptions. :)
 
Most airlines require them to get the armrests down. I had to push that issue on a United Flight where some Chris Christy size guy was taking up half of my E+ seat. Unfortunately Mr. Lardo was a 1K frequent flier or some thing so they sucked up to him badly. Fortunatately there was still one window seat left further back.

Southwest has a great philosophy. They make the fattys buy two tickets, but refund one if the flight isn't sold out.
 
Make sure the arm rest goes down.
If the flight is not full, ask the flight attendant to either move the big guy, or find you a more appropriate seat.

A lot of the CRJs, I think it's CRJs, have a single seat down the left side and a double down the right side. When we fly alone we get the single, when the wife and I are together, we take the double side.
 
I had the luxury of flying US airways from Phoenix to Anchorage (7 hrs IIRC) with a guy who's fat was overlapping my arm and leg, Only solution I could come up with plenty of Jack Daniels mini-bottles to knock myself out, I woke up in anchorage, cold and covered in sweat down the left side of my body... DISGUSTING. This is reason 4,361 of 98,354 why I drive, fly my plane or walk to where I'm going before getting on an airliner.
 
BillTIZ said:
Make sure the arm rest goes down.
If the flight is not full, ask the flight attendant to either move the big guy, or find you a more appropriate seat.

A lot of the CRJs, I think it's CRJs, have a single seat down the left side and a double down the right side. When we fly alone we get the single, when the wife and I are together, we take the double side.
Click to expand...

CRJ's sit 2 and 2. ERJ's sit 1 and 2. Except the big ERJ. The Mini-AirBus with the engines under the wings. It sits 2 and 2.
 
Not only being uncomfortable, I'd feel endangered in the event of an emergency. You could pretty easily be stuck there because your neighbor wouldn't be able to get up and out quickly. Could easily be a life-threatening issue.
 
How do you think he felt sitting next to you? Crying babies, Body oder, People whose breath stinks so bad it knocks you out, the talker, the person who lays their head on your shoulder without permission, the person who goes to the bathroom 5 times an hour and you have to get up each time to let them out, mr aroma with the disgusting cologne, mrs aroma with that same cologne, the mom or dad traveling with unruly kids, the abridged ass hole who can't afford first class but flys in steerage class and acts like he is entitled to first class.......think about it.
 
Last edited:
Henning said:
No....:nonod::lol::nono: To the FA: "I paid for and require a full seat, I don't have one, you need to find me one."
Click to expand...

That's the solution. I'd have hit the FA call button very quickly. And no way the arm rest would go up. No way.
 
Well they do make seat belt extenders and I know for a fact that they are legal because it's stamped right on them - FAA TSO
 
I've been unfortunate enough a few times to have this happen on BOTH sides of me.

One full flight to Frankfurt, Germany, and I (at 5'9" and 175lbs) am sandwiched between an overly obese German and an overly obese American. I elected to get out of my seat and stood for at least 5 hours of the flight.

Once on the way home from Dubai I was in a window seat, squashed next to an overweight Indian who smelled like death. I was 1,000 miles away from Delta gold status, and I complained enough (politely, mind you) that the steward moved me up to first class.

I like to/from Asia. They're smaller, and take up less room! Except I have to listen to them "slurping" their soup, belching, and talking at me with their mouth full. Yuck.
 
Captain said:
CRJ's sit 2 and 2. ERJ's sit 1 and 2. Except the big ERJ. The Mini-AirBus with the engines under the wings. It sits 2 and 2.
Click to expand...

I love those little ERJs! Being on the 1 side is fantastic :). Window and aisle all to yourself.
 
Back in the day, I was on a DoD DC-8 charter from NYC to Glasgow Scotland. There was an open seat between me and the guy on the aisle. An Army cook who had obviously been sampling his dishes for many years came down the aisle looking for the last seat.

He stopped, looked at the guy on the aisle who was about 6' 200, looked at the seat, looked at me, 6' 190, looked at the seat again, said "S**** it" and got off the plane.

The guy on the aisle and I gave each other a thumbs up and relaxed in relative comfort all the way. Not gonna happen today. ;)

Most airlines that I fly require the armrest to be lowered and if it cannot be done, the biggy is shown the door or required to buy another seat. No clue about FAA rules.

Cheers
 
You have to make an issue of it before takeoff. If the other passenger is going to take up 1/4 of my seat, I want money off my ticket.
 
I always get up and approach the flight attendant, before take off and out of ear shot of my 'neighbor' to request another seat, it's always worked so far, exactly twice.


-VanDy
 
More reason to pay for AvGas. Upcoming trip in a week- Wintertime GA! :)
 
Wingsofglass said:
I write this from seat 5D on a Skywest CRJ700 cruising along at 39,000 feet and 428 knots according to Foreflight. 5D is a window. Sitting next to me in 5C is a morbidly obese guy at 350+ pounds. His mass takes up at least 1/3 of my seat. Is this legal? I'm looking through the FARs but I can only find regulations that mention approved seats. Nothing that describes what an approved seat actually is. I fly a lot commercially so I'm used to being crapped all over by 121 carriers but forcing someone into a seat this small strikes me as against some regulation. Otherwise every seat would be this small.
Click to expand...

Nothing illegal about your situation. It is what it is.
 
flyingron said:
Most airlines require them to get the armrests down. I had to push that issue on a United Flight where some Chris Christy size guy was taking up half of my E+ seat. Unfortunately Mr. Lardo was a 1K frequent flier or some thing so they sucked up to him badly. Fortunatately there was still one window seat left further back.

Southwest has a great philosophy. They make the fattys buy two tickets, but refund one if the flight isn't sold out.
Click to expand...


Actually they (SW) don't.
They suggest that the overweight proactively offer to buy a second seat, but don't require it. (someone said they discontinued practice last summer).

Why do I know? Like WingsofGlass, I suffered the same fate on Southwest this past Thursday.
After complaining to Customer Service, they did offer apologies and a $75 voucher for my next flight; but said that they were advised against "offending potential customers" and could not mandate appropriate accommodations for either the offending nor the disrupted passengers.
-- Such is life

(( BTW, the offender must have had a BMI of at least 70, and was taking up almost 1/2 of my seat ))
 
Last edited:
Bobcat1 said:
Nothing illegal about your situation. It is what it is.
Click to expand...

I'll get off the plane if they don't have another seat for me. I did that once in the back of a United transPac 747s with squish seating to begin with. I just got up before they closed the door and told em that I wasn't about to endure that from SF to Sydney. Luckily I was strictly carry on. They put me on the next flight to Melbourne, my destination anyway, business class.
 
Bobcat1 said:
Nothing illegal about your situation. It is what it is.
Click to expand...


Maybe not illegal.. BUT.. If I ever get stuck next to an obese person, male or female, who is encroching on MY seat,,, which I paid money for.. I will "accidently " spill my entire coke on their shirt, then I will order another one and that one will get spilled on them too... Ya wanna be fat,, buy TWO friggin tickets.... Ya , I know, that will cut into your twinkie funds...:lol:
 
I have encountered this once, my assigned seat on a Delta flight ORD-IAH was a middle, and the window and aisle were occupied by a man and a woman who were each morbidly obese, not merely plump. They were pretty much touching without trying.

The FA was very sympathetic, found me another seat (Aisle), but I would not have accepted that seat, simply not a rational choice to have done so.

There was and is no need to be ugly about it, though.
 
My mistake here was not saying something to the FA as soon as I saw the situation. Never again. I fly commercial a lot. Over a million miles on Delta alone and I can't remember the last time I wasn't Platinum or Diamond. I find a certain zen mindset is needed to survive this lifestyle so I'm fairly tolerant of most of the miseries of commercial flying. But I never should have let this one slide. I'm going to complain and I'm sure Delta will compensate me somehow but this was really a safety issue. The thing that bothers me the most is as PIC I would never let a passenger sit in anything but an approved seat and what I was sitting in was a seat which was 1/3 inop due to lard and thus I was angled in a way the seat was never certified for.

On the plus side, it's a little more motivation for the TBM850/PC12 which will solve all my problems.
 
SCCutler said:
I have encountered this once, my assigned seat on a Delta flight ORD-IAH was a middle, and the window and aisle were occupied by a man and a woman who were each morbidly obese, not merely plump. They were pretty much touching without trying.

The FA was very sympathetic, found me another seat (Aisle), but I would not have accepted that seat, simply not a rational choice to have done so.

There was and is no need to be ugly about it, though.
Click to expand...
In Jan of 1986 I was in 25F in a 727 from BOS to SEA to take the board exam. 25E was the ONLY remaining empty seat on the airplane. Lumbering down the aisle is this IMMENSE woman, for whom the aisle gu in "D" got up for. She instantly flipped up both armrests and plopped down saying "gott get some room. I spend five miserable hours curved against the outside skin.

I HAD to be on that flight to make the exam. There were NO seats left to exchange.

I put down money on an airplane later that year. I wan't ugly, I had to be in proximity for 5 hours. But I sure did feel violated. I have since resisted all 121 airlines, and Untied Airlines, in particular. And YES, I spelled that correctly.
 
Last edited:
Silvaire said:
Well they do make seat belt extenders and I know for a fact that they are legal because it's stamped right on them - FAA TSO
Click to expand...
Seat belt extensions are not permitted in the exit row, so if you're seated in the exit row there is less of a chance of having the obese passenger next to you.
The bulkhead seat normally has an armrest that is in a fixed down position, which keeps the larger passengers from being able to sit there.
For that matter any row that has the tray table built into the armrest will keep the passenger on their side, the arms are another story.
Complain before departure to the F/A and get the gate agent involved and I'm sure you'll be re-accommodated.
 
Unfortunately, in this PC environment we live in, the ones who encroach on others have more rights than those who are encroached on. I find fault with the FA, on this one. They had to see your situation, and if there was an alternative seating arrangement it should have been offered to you in a way not to offend the horizontally challenged individual lumbering next to you.

Doug
 
There's no reason to be impolite about it with the FA, whether the passenger sees impolite should be dictated by how rude they are.
 
I did not say be impolite to the FA, but I find fault in that I think they could have been more proactive.
 
Lucky flight...I just got in last night, PVG-DTW, DTW-ATL on a 777-200 with the 3-3-3 seating. I had an aisle in the middle row, the middle seat was empty, AND we got in early (more about that below), so it was a very comfortable flight. I think I've only had an empty seat next to me three times in the (hundreds?) of commercial flights I've had. DTW-ATL was half empty.

On another note...usually from China they follow the great circle, flying up into Russia, across the Bearing Strait, across Alaska, and down through Canada, etc. Last night we left PVG and flew almost straight across, AND we arrived early! Anyone know why? Maybe sitting in the jetstream, or just a strong tailwind?

Delta changed how the flightplan is displayed in the entertainment center, so I couldn't see how strong the tailwind was. The arrival time didn't work either, it showed 44:44 to go for the entire flight. :dunno:
 
stagecoachco said:
They should have one of those things they have to see if your carry-on will fit...If you can fit inside this box, then you need to buy a second seat!
Click to expand...

Ha! That is an awesome idea! :yes:

I love the mental image. Maybe they could work it in together with the x-ray scanner at security. Just make the scanner smaller. If you can't get into the scanner, you can't get into the airport. End of story!

:rofl:
 
stagecoachco said:
They should have one of those things they have to see if your carry-on will fit...If you can fit inside this box, then you need to buy a second seat!
Click to expand...

Great idea...:):yes:...


But............................

The Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Fattys, AKA as SPCF, will get a court order and have it removed from the terminal..:rolleyes2::rofl:

Their hurt feelings are worth more then the space they poach from OUR airline seats.:mad2::mad2:
 
Last edited:
stagecoachco said:
They should have one of those things they have to see if your carry-on will fit...If you can fit inside this box, then you need to buy a second seat!
Click to expand...
Kind of like the sample roller coaster seat at many amusement parks that allows you to see if you fit in the seat before wasting everyone's time standing in line only to find out that you don't fit in the seat of the Super Dragon Roller Coaster.



For years I've been saying that the cost of a ticket should be based on how much you weigh.

You pay by the pound and that way it's fair for everyone.
Why should the skinny guy pay the same amount for his airfare as the obese guy?
After all, it's the larger guy that is causing the plane to burn more fuel.:yes:

Todays special is New York for $5.00 per pound.
Arrive at the airport with your excess luggage and twinkie eating self and step on the scale. :hairraise:
Sir, your total weight for this flight is 450lbs. and that will be $2,250 for your flight to New York today. :eek:

It's about time the skinny guys catch a break and quit subsidizing the cost of the larger guys ticket. :nono:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top