Seats getting smaller, people getting bigger.

G'day

I know this might be a touchy subject, but I'm sure its happening to more and more of us who fly on a frequent basis.

I have absolutely no problem with 'oversize' people being charged for a second seat if they're not capable of remaining within the confines of their own seat.

After all, the passenger next to them paid for their entire seat... they didn't pay for 75% of a seat to give 25% to somebody else who spills over into it!

That doesn't stop the airlines handling the situation with grace, for instance (e.g. on flights with lighter loads, proactively moving larger flyers where there are pairs of spare seats at no charge), but personally speaking, on a full flight where the passenger has only booked one seat, unless the overweight passenger wants to personally compensate me for the portion of my space their gut is occupying, they can either purchase two seats or sit somewhere else where a pair of seats are available.

My calculation works like this: if I've paid $200 for a seat on flight, and some fatso has spilled into 15% of that space, they can pay me $30. Doesn't sound fair on the overweight person? Well neither is them taking over space that other people have rightly paid for when they're too cheap to buy a ticket suited to their needs.

I am a believer of larger people paying for a second seat or seat in a premium cabin. I also think local airlines need to be stricter with this. It really is unfair on other passengers who are seated next to someone that is clearly far too large for an economy seat.

Its a tricky one, eh?

Scoot has a heading "extra cuddly guests", where they encourage booking 2 seats: "If you are a guest of size and do not feel comfy in a single seat, you can book 2 seats for yourself with advance adjacent seat assignments - the usual fare and seat allocation fees for 2 guests apply"

I recall also seeing that they could refuse boarding if a person was oversize and only booked one seat, but can't find that now. Maybe deemed not PC.

It is my pet peeve, I can handle all sorts of things on planes, noisy people, pax with oversized cabin baggage, the talkers, the whingers, the recliners, the people that have to go to the toilet every 30 mins, but I can’t stand people spilling over into my seat space, whether it arms and shoulders or fat rolls squeezing under the arm rests, buy two seats or one at the front of the plane or airlines should provide a slide out screen which can be put up between the seats. After enduring back pain from sitting on a 4 hour DRW - BNE flight in an awkward angle leaning into the aisle from an overwheight person in the middle seat the airlines should be compelled to ensure a comfortable trip for all passengers.

On a recent flight from NAN there were 3 pax in the middle section. Flight crew moved the Aussie from the middle to another seat and the 2 Fijians left were still touching! Just as well the flight wasn't full!

I think that these are all valid suggestions.

Airlines should be much stricter on these people as it is simply unfair for the person that has to deal with them.

In saying that, airline seats are not shrinking to an extent. The same seat width was found on the B707 when tourist class was introduced, so as far as seat width goes, I believe people have been getting bigger and seats are staying the same size. The only number that is shrinking is seat pitch. That is your legroom, and the seat cushions being replaced by slimmer slimline seats.

Well anyway, I do agree, overweight should have to somehow have to pay for more room, without having the seat next door having to suffer.

I agree with most of the comments above that people who spill over to another seat should have to pay for the adjacent seat.

One of the strangest reasons I have been delayed before is that there were so many oversized people on a flight from London to Rome that there were not enough extension seat belts. It took 20-30 minutes to go and find more.

Maybe that is the way to determine if someone needs to pay for an adjacent seat. Do they fit in the seat belt and make the seat belts a suitable size

It is certainly not ideal, and I have been on the receiving end of being seated to very large people who have spilled over. Not sure what a "good" solution is though. Weighing and size checking could be considered discriminatory. I think airlines would struggle with publicity over this if not handled properly considering the world population especially in richer developed countries has tilted over to the overweight demographic.

It's a bit more than 'tilted over' to the 'overweight demographic.'

Different subject but I purchased a $2800 seat for the Singapore F1 GP last month and had someone who was so big that it was impossible to seat next to him for the two day program. What do we do in this day and age ???? Where possible I book business class seat or premium econ to guarantee a stress free flight. Love to know what airlines will do as this is a major headache for them ...

You guys should see that regional flights in wa for the miners. The seating had to be resized for an average body weight of 85Kgs. Doesnt sound much but not sure what the average KGs alloctaed to normal airlines is. Many miners are well over 100Kgs and many I work with are 140-150Kgs -- extender seat belts are more common than not !!!

One of the hazards of asking for exit rows especially the centre seat is that you can get stuck between 2 very large people.

surely its a matter of safety as well, i had a "person of size" fall on me as he struggled to get into his seat. once in the seat irt was obvious that he was way too big for it. I asked the crew to move me to a seat with the room I paid for. With some difficulty they moved me but not before the guy got very upset that I didnt want to share my seat with him. our carry on baggage is checked all the time for size and weight, hows about we do the same with passengers !