The Best Airlines for Plus-Sized Passengers
Ariana Arghandewal July 19, 2018
Flying economy is difficult enough for the average passenger. Plus-sized passengers have it even worse. A few weeks ago I wrote about airlines with the least amount of leg room and it really opened my eyes to this fact.
Luckily, not all airlines offer a terrible flying experience. Some of them offer seats that are relatively more spacious and don’t penalize plus-sized passengers by requiring them to buy additional seats. Here are the five best airlines for plus-sized passengers:
1 – Air Canada
Air Canada has a generous policy for plus-sized passengers traveling within Canada. Since obesity is qualified as a disability, passengers can request an extra seat free of charge. That’s pretty awesome, considering some airlines require passengers to purchase an extra seat if they do not fit in one.
2 – Delta Airlines
If you’re traveling domestically, Delta gets props for being accommodating to plus-sized passengers. This airline is one of few that do not require plus-sized passengers to purchase an extra seat. They also makes an effort to seat larger passengers next to empty seats.
3 – WestJet
The Canadians are really stepping up when it comes to accommodating plus-sized passengers. On long-haul flights, WestJet’s 767-300ER offers seats as large as 20 inches with 38 pitch (Unfamiliar with pitch? Check out this guide). That’s by far one of the largest seats and should make long-haul flights much more bearable for plus-sized passengers.
4 – JetBlue
JetBlue’s economy class seats are larger than most legacy carrier’s, but their Even More Space product (i.e. premium economy) offers even more value to plus-sized passengers. For as little as $10 each way, passengers get early boarding an a seat with 38-inch pitch. Check out this FlyerTalk review.
More importantly, JetBlue doesn’t require plus size passengers to buy an extra seat. That decision is left entirely at passengers’ discretion:
We never require a customer to purchase an extra seat. We feel that our customers are better at determining what would be most comfortable for them. If they feel an extra seat is or isn't needed, we trust them to make that decision.
— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) July 18, 2018
5 – Southwest Airlines
What makes Southwest Airline such a great choice for plus-sized passengers is the seat size and self-selection option. Seats on Southwest’s 737’s offer around 17-18 inches of width, which isn’t the largest but they do come with 31-inch pitch, which is decent. That sounds doesn’t like much to you premium cabin snobs (guilty) but it’s pretty substantial for a domestic airline.
The cherry on top is self-seating. Southwest passengers can choose their own seats when they board their flight, with boarding group being the only restriction. Passengers who don’t want to stress over logging on at the exact moment when checking becomes available can usually buy up to A-group for as little as $15. That’s a small price to pay to ensure your comfort, even on short flights.
Comfortable seats and generous extra-seat policies are important to everyone, but especially plus-sized travelers. The airlines above are just some of the few that offer these benefits. We all share the friendly skies and it’s good to know that everyone is comfortable and taken care of when it comes to travel. That being said, I would love to hear from you all. Are you a plus-sized traveler? I would love your input about which airlines you’ve found to be accommodating and comfortable to travel with. Please share your comments below.
I think we are mixing up seat width and pitch again. For most plus size travelers, the extra seat pitch on JetBlue's Even More Space won't help. I am 6'3" and for me the shoulder width is always the problem more so than seat pitch (31" is bearable but not comfortable).
They could easily solve this. Make the last row a 2x2 row or 2x1 or what ever it may be. You are loosing max 2 seats from the plane but gain 4 extra wide seats. Those that can not fit in the seat as the opportunity described above gets moved to that seat. If nobody needs them then the standby passengers get them or the last people with no seat assignment. You can have a request put in and you would need to be able to fill the requirments to get that sear. Like waist size over a certain amount.
Do not fume at the ground staff. Ask them for help. If they said get off, then get on the next flight if you have the time. In my case, I got an upgraded seat in domestic first class.
Agreed with jrpallante... it’s nice to not have inflexible rules but rather look at individual cases, but what recourse is there for the adjacent passenger whose space is being encroached upon? Removing the bystander rather than the offender sets a pretty bad precedent, IMHO.
Not sure I agree with the above poster...it is not totally the passenger's fault that airlines are pushing higher and higher load factors..which gives gate agents and cabin crew less and less discretion concerning moving and accommodating passengers of size.. I'm 6-5" my waist easily fits in an economy seat but my shoulders are about 26" across...when I'm in a tight seat say another large guy next to me I twist my shoulders..and I just do my best... I agree that morbidly obese people have an obligation to make some effort, and of course if the airlines just put 4-6 oversize seats in each plane this would work fine...the nominal cost of the lost revenue would amount to about 1 dollar per passenger but think of the good will that this would engender to the airline...they could probably even add this as a requirement to the COC