bwiadca

Hi All,

Yesterday I flew LH418 FRA-IAD on Lufthansa 747-8. I was returning home with my boss and we had isle seats. When we got to our seats we saw that middle seats in our rows were occupied by morbidly obese teens. The window seats were occupied by their classmates (they were returning from European school trip). We had isle seats in both rows. Well, we had half seats in both rows.
After the boarding was completed my boss took last available isle seat on the opposite side of his booked seat. As the flight was probably 98% full, there was no more isle seats available for me to move to.

The arm rest between me an my obese seatmate wouldn't go down. She was taking half of the seat of her classmate and almost half of my seat.
The entire flight I was being pushed (not on purpose) towards the isle, by her body. That was horrendous 8 hours.

If somebody will say that it was her medical condition, please stop. In her backpack she had probably gallon of ice tea, chocolates, candies, cakes and more junk food.
I didn't want to make any fuss over it during the boarding process, so didn't ask FA for alternative seat. I didn't know if she had medical condition, but after seeing her diet, I only had regrets to myself for not asking to be moved.

Do I have any case with Lufthansa?

DoTheBartMan

The arm rests must be down for take-off and landing. If the other passenger's physical size prevents that from happening, the passenger would need to be moved to a wider seat or be denied transportation.
If Lufthansa crew didn't identify and address the issue during the pre-departure safety check, they did not follow regulations. Had you spoken up before departure, they would have had to address the issue.

cfischer

You should have complained to the FA during boarding. Since you did not there is no record of this and it will be difficult to claim anything here IMO. If the arm rest cannot be lowered it is a significant issue that should have been flagged.

Gnopps

I agree with this. While it doesn't sound like a pleasant journey, the issue should have been raised (discreetly) with a FA during the flight - otherwise LH has no chance to correct the problem.

Often1

The time to have dealt with this was before the cabin door was closed, preferably immediately upon recognizing the problem.

This can be handled discretely by finding a FA rather than using the call button in the other passenger's presence.

This is a safety issue even more than a comfort issue. Not only must the arm rests be down, but crowding you is dangerous in the event of an emergency evacuation.

While the FA ought to have dealt with this issue without you in the first place (and the GA ought to have recognizes the possible problem before boarding) safety issues befall all of us.

If the other passenger cannot fit into the allocated space, that is a matter of geometry and not a medical issue. Why the other passenger is obese is irrelevant to you as the affected and now unsafe passenger.

oliver2002

The other pax could have purchased an EXST if s/he didnt't fit in the regular seat. That said ou should have politlely requested either to be reseated for your own safety.

Air Rarotonga

LH 748 has 244 Y-cl seats... If the flight was at 98% full in Y-cl, there have been 4-5 emtpy seats... But if you did not contact the flight crew about your problems, you won't get any refund afterwards... You should have pointed YOUR problem direct to the in-flight crew to find a solution that would have fit you!

Air Rarotonga

Thank you!!!

8420PR

I would guess all the empty seats were middle seats, which the OP could not refuse (unless they paid money to reserve their aisle seat). Depending on your preference half an aisle seat might still be better than a middle seat, so ultimately the OP could have been in a no win situation.

bwiadca

Thank you all for your input. I didn't know it was safety issue if the arm rest cannot be lowered down. Now I know.
And yes, all the seats that were available were middle seats. I had middle seat on that flight once before and then back pain for few weeks. I'm not the shortest person.
Before the boarding, my boss checked if we can buy upgrade to premium economy. Unfortunately it was 100% full. If LH didn't want ~$2000 per person for the gate upgrade to business we would have taken it. Anything under $1000 per person would be acceptable.
Anyway, I'm taking this flight again in 4 weeks and will pray for having semi-normal seatmate.