Originally Posted by Pismocrab
Perhaps airlines could employ a sizing chair in a similar fashion as the carry-on sizing box?
I can see the marketing spiel now...
"New, from the people who brought you the Size-Wise carryon measurement
system...a revolution in passenger width measurement...Wise-...!"
Just making light here - I do remember the days when the planes weren't so darn cramped, and when transatlantics not only had better width and pitch, but also a bar/lounge in them. Now, the pitch is so bad that two-year-olds can kick the seat in front of them - for those who haven't been there, two-year-olds can't be reasoned with, and by FAA reg, can't be checked as baggage. Of course, the FAs used to resolve the issue by trying to help harried parents by distracting the child with books, or little metal wings, or maybe even taking them up to see the cockpit.
In a similar fashion, GAs used to try to block seats next to portly passengers, and this often worked b/c the flights weren't always overbooked. And those flying next to a large passenger, well, sometimes they used to take the conservative assumption that their seatmate had one of the dozens of underlying medical conditions that cause uncontrolled weight fluxuation, and they made the best of it. I don't remember anyone worrying about safety issues in connection with large passengers - I don't reacall any headlines mentioning fatalities due to being wedged in by a large pax.
All the way around, flying has become very uncivilized - airplanes are truly just busses in the sky these days. I would have expected three-class domestic service to make a comeback, and I also would have expected reasonable fractional jets or charters to appear, but for now, enjoy the busride.