Seated next to a really overweight person - what to do?
#331
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 394
I totally respect that, and agree with it. I wish more people didn't care about why people were fat and didn't make snide (or worse) comments about things they know nothing about.
#332
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,278
I don't know if you thought my comments were "snide (or worse)", but they come from the same position as this. I don't need to know any background - the person responsible will know, and their behaviour should be appropriate no matter what that background may be.
#333
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Nashua, NH USA
Programs: Seashore Trolley Museum "flight attendant"
Posts: 1,990
If there are no empty seats then come out and suggest that they ask for volunteers to free up an empty seat for you.
There are oodles of other things they can do to fix the problem but in the name of the KISS principle don't rattle off the whole list.
Before the door closes the ground complaint resolution officer at your request should come through it to view the situation if an empty seat was not found for you prior to this.
Last edited by AllanJ; Apr 21, 2017 at 7:01 am
#334
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Don't ask if. Instead tell. Don't give them a chance to answer no to a question (can do anything) whose real answer is yes.
If there are no empty seats then come out and suggest that they ask for volunteers to free up an empty seat for you.
There are oodles of other things they can do to fix the problem but in the name of the KISS principle don't rattle off the whole list.
Before the door closes the ground complaint resolution officer at your request should come through it to view the situation if an empty seat was not found for you prior to this.
If there are no empty seats then come out and suggest that they ask for volunteers to free up an empty seat for you.
There are oodles of other things they can do to fix the problem but in the name of the KISS principle don't rattle off the whole list.
Before the door closes the ground complaint resolution officer at your request should come through it to view the situation if an empty seat was not found for you prior to this.
Remain calm but resolute. Accept no other answers, pleas or solutions. Do not let them badger or threaten you. Do not let them provoke you into a confrontation. Do not leave the plane voluntarily.
#335
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If they want me to take a later flight they can pay Denied Boarding Compensation.
#336
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The 777 flew for years with 9-across seating, and the cost that was passed on to the consumer was not so high that people were unable to fly. The 747 also flew with 9-across. The 787 was designed to fly with 8-across seating until the airlines decided they could wedge another seat in if they were willing to make it an really uncomfortable ride. Setting a 19-inch width and 31-inch pitch benchmark, with nonconforming products to be taxed, is not going to raise fares by much, but it will certainly increase comfort by a lot and reduce air violence as well.
#337
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: in the vicinity of SFO
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Major quibbles:
* There's no one single "fare," but several-to-many buckets of fares for any given flight.
* Any one of the fares on a given flight is already the airline's best guess (within the limit of the time and tools available to their revenue management team) of either what the market will bear, or enough under it to generate a certain level of demand at a certain point in advance.
* In either case, if the airline attempts to pass the costs on to passengers, it will impact demand. Whether on the net, increasing prices increases revenues will depend on the particular routes. Of course, unless the tax is tied directly to the ticket, the airlines don't have to link their price increases to the actual underlying cost on any given seat.
* If the airlines remove seats, it will impact supply. It increases marginal cost per seat (although less than linearly; reduced weight, more free cargo volume, and fewer empty seats will make up somewhat of the difference.) OTOH, different routes and different fares will have very different responses to changed supply.
Overall, I don't think it's readily predictable (at least coming in from the outside, without access to airlines' internal revenue modeling) how much of the added cost would get passed on vs. come out of profits, nor how that cost would be distributed around routes/fare classes.
#338
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Absolutely. Furthermore, if an airline requires me to leave a flight because of some POS who can't sit beside me without the arm rest being raised they can expect to have a more to worry about than just DBC.
#339
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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Overall, I don't think it's readily predictable (at least coming in from the outside, without access to airlines' internal revenue modeling) how much of the added cost would get passed on vs. come out of profits, nor how that cost would be distributed around routes/fare classes.
#340
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: LHR, HKG
Programs: gate lice
Posts: 315
This probably isn't the first FT thread that addresses POS in same way.
Airlines should offer the option to buy a second seat next to yours for the same price. Make it an option you can add during checkout, and even include a diagram illustrating how many inches is available for a particular plane's seating configuration. If you occupy two seats, you should pay for two seats or upgrade to a higher cabin. This option could also be helpful to people with guitars or cellos, or people who simply want a 2nd free seat next to them.
Pax ought to be able to fit between both armrests fully down -- in fact, we should have a model seat to see whether pax can fit, in the same way we have little metal boxes to see whether carry-ons can fit. If the pax can't fit in the model seat at the airport, then said pax should have to pay for a second seat -- not the same price as he paid at time of booking but the cost of a new ticket just prior to departure. That'll incentivize POS to plan ahead.
Airlines should offer the option to buy a second seat next to yours for the same price. Make it an option you can add during checkout, and even include a diagram illustrating how many inches is available for a particular plane's seating configuration. If you occupy two seats, you should pay for two seats or upgrade to a higher cabin. This option could also be helpful to people with guitars or cellos, or people who simply want a 2nd free seat next to them.
Pax ought to be able to fit between both armrests fully down -- in fact, we should have a model seat to see whether pax can fit, in the same way we have little metal boxes to see whether carry-ons can fit. If the pax can't fit in the model seat at the airport, then said pax should have to pay for a second seat -- not the same price as he paid at time of booking but the cost of a new ticket just prior to departure. That'll incentivize POS to plan ahead.
#341
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,334
I can't find it now, but I read a blog where a person of size was discussing tactics that might be used to avoid having to pay for two seats. So, while many here are viewing a person of size buying two seats as the solution, others are viewing this as the problem.
#342
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oxford, Mississippi
Programs: Delta Silver thanks to Million Miles; Choice Plat., point scrounger everywhere
Posts: 1,594
I can't find it now, but I read a blog where a person of size was discussing tactics that might be used to avoid having to pay for two seats. So, while many here are viewing a person of size buying two seats as the solution, others are viewing this as the problem.
#343
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: 4me
Posts: 11,953
There are a number of blogs which suggest that the COS raise the armrest and say, "I think we'll both be more comfortable with the armrest raised." Well, logic dictates that BOTH passengers won't be more comfortable with the armrest raised, since the COS is engaging in this behavior in order to steal half of the other passenger's seat. It is this type of behavior, and the airlines' refusal to establish and enforce rules to stop it, that infuriate the flying public.
#344
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,186
Originally Posted by Rebelyell
There are a number of blogs which suggest that the COS raise the armrest and say, "I think we'll both be more comfortable with the armrest raised."
Originally Posted by TomMM
I would have no problem replying "No it won't" and lowering the armrest.
#345
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: EMA (how boring) but BHX is more convenient.
Posts: 2,334
There are a number of blogs which suggest that the COS raise the armrest and say, "I think we'll both be more comfortable with the armrest raised." Well, logic dictates that BOTH passengers won't be more comfortable with the armrest raised, since the COS is engaging in this behavior in order to steal half of the other passenger's seat. It is this type of behavior, and the airlines' refusal to establish and enforce rules to stop it, that infuriate the flying public.
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