TommyC80

Getting ready to take off from CLE. Dude next to me has his fat roll hanging over the armrest and an inch into my seat. Am I out of one by asking the FA to have him removed from the plane?

Doesn't he have to fit entirely within his seat?

sbm12

Yes, you can say something. No guarantee that they actually act on it, even though they are supposed to.

Steph3n

no, just able to sit with a seatbelt extender.

However worth asking for some help

LAX1K to AmWest

I am laughing, and apologize for it, but makes me remember of a flight my friend was on the edge of his seat the whole time.. the guy picked up the middle divider and sat on 1/2 of his seat and he was half in the aisle... of course FULL FLIGHT.. but the FA was really nice to him, free drinks and they followed up after the flight and was either a future upgrade or miles... can't remember.. but can ask.. especially if it is painful!

KarlJ

I'd say if that armrest is down, and he can get by with an extender... you just need to deal with it. Really, about all you can do is see if maybe someone smaller would be willing to switch seats. You have a better chance of that happening than trying to have someone ejected.

ande777emt

If the armrest goes down, and he fits with an extender, not much you can do. If he doesn't fit with the armrest down, claim your seat belt wont fit as he is probably over it, and claim it is not safe for you to fly without a fully functioning seat belt. I did that once on a UA flight that was full in Y but had room in F and I got bumped to F and $100 from UA. The crew was profusely apologetic, however I will note that it was a CRJ-700 from YOW-ORD, so it was technically speaking an OO operated flight for United Express.

USFreak

Okay, I am overweight (216 lbs to be exact) and this is why I ALWAYS choose the A seat on the RJ flights. I may need to lose 20 lbs but I know when not to infringe on anyone's personal bubble and that includes an airplane.
Sorry you had to deal with that on your flight.....not fun.

zippypinhead

About a month ago I boarded a RJ flight to find the seat next to me occupied by a POS with the armrest up.... and about half my seat occupied.
I let the FA know I wasn't going to sit there without embarassing the POS. She waited until the plane had boarded and re-seated me in the only other open seat.
Then some poor SOB on standby came on board. His only choices were to sit squeazed for an hour and a half or fly the next day...
I felt so badly for him I was almost willing to trade seats for a while... almost

AllanJ

>>> Then some poor SOB on standby came on board.

One proper way of dealing with the situation is for the flight crew to put off a standby. (The standby may or may not be given the choice of squeezing into the half-seat.)

Another proper method is to have the larger person sit on the edge of the seat row and into the aisle. This requires that the armrest at the aisle be movable.

>>> you just need to deal with it

It's the airline's duty to deal with it. Compensation is yet another way.

marklyon

I'm a fat guy. When on the RJ's I also always book the A seat. It's just common sense.

I don't like being up against you any more than you like being up against me.

On the larger planes, as long as I have an aisle seat, I don't tend to bother the people next to me.

sharmaintl

Recently wrote a blog post on RJ's and seat size: Regional Jets – a Chiropractor’s dream

lhrpitlhr

anyone who is that huge (i.e. require a seatbelt extension) must have *some* feelings about the situation - total ambivalence is not an option surely.

The 1st flight you take where you need an extension must surely provoke some moment of personal reflection.

I've seen some fairly enormous people get on the (cramped) Q400s and you have to feel sorry for the person squeezed next to them.

buckeyefanflyer

This is especially a problem in a RJ. At times, I would rather take a connection using mainline aircraft rather then flying in a RJ on a nonstop flight. I had a similar experience last year. The plane was completely full and I was sitting by the window on the right side of the aircarft and the huge guy was in the isle seat.

dergon darkhelm

Not quite true.

By CO's policy, the person must buy an additional seat if they fail to meet any of the following criteria:

Voice your complaint to the FA.

cova

Agree - CO has a policy which should be enforced. You should never be forced to sit next to someone who must have the arm rest up.

Either they buy an extra seat or out they go - that simple.

I was on an RJ from CLE-DCA last month - and a very large woman boarded. She had purchased two seats. She needed two seat belt extensions. But she had done exactly what was required - so no issues at all.

Even though there were empty seats - she planned ahead. I was next up to have my boarding pass scanned when she arrived in a large wheel chair with a friend . The friend handed over 3 boarding passes for the 2 of them.

On the RJ they were across from each other - the friend in the A seat. I was 12A - they were 13 A/B-C. She made it made it back - sideways - a little tight in the aisle but still made it.