Not a joke! A friend wants to use his FF miles as a gift to send his 400 lb brother to his homeland in Australia from NYC, but doesn't know if special arrangements have to be made to accomodate him comfortable for this long, or any, flight. Any serious suggestions?

Two seats.

+ seat-belt extender

Also need to remind the reservations agent when booking the 2 seats (if in economy class) that you need them to be located in a row with movable arm rests.

From a medical point of view, can this be considered a true 'gift'? I am serious.

There could be medical problems associated with such a long flight.

Plenty of heavy people fly places! I have weighed as much as 340 before, and still flown coach. No, I did not cross into my neighbor's "space" either. The guy should probably have two seats if he's flying coach, but I doubt he'll suffer any medical difficulties as a result. This all depends on his height, too. If he's 5-3, he's got a real problem.

There are football players and sumo wrestlers that size or bigger who fly all the time. Being 6-3 and fat is a heck of a lot better than being SHORT. Feel sorry for them, not fat people!

Konishiki, a former American, now Japanese, sumo wrestler, stood 6'3" and weighed in at over 600 lbs. When he would fly from Tokyo to Honolulu, he would be seated in first class in the first row (two seats).

As he was physically unable to enter the lavatory, part of the first class galley was outfitted with floor to ceiling curtains so that if he needed to use the lav, the curtains could be drawn for privacy.

Konishiki is still large and still travels. JAL and ANA on certain planes have sets of seats where the middle armrest partition is removable so that Sumo wrestlers can fly in comfort. They experience greater difficulty on other carriers which do not have removeable armrests.

Mr. Spudman from Idaho:

Ahem, short people must NOT take this comment sitting down...

Top 10 reasons it's GREAT to fly short:

* Fit in Y seats easily, with room to spare for sleeping or curling up with a good book
* No one bats an eye when a short person stands on a seat (first removing shoe) to access the overhead bin
* Standing all the way upright to stretch is a piece of cake, no matter what seat you're in
* Really easy to fit inside the blue room
*Nobody asks you to help them store their stuff in the overhead bins
* Your head doesn't have to rest where everyone else's does
* Tiny commuter aircraft...just my size
* Stuck in Y on an overseas flite? Grab a row of 4 open seats and stretch completely out for a full night's sleep
*Actually use the area under the seat in front of you to store a briefcase or bag and NOT suffer
* LEGroom! LEGroom! LEGroom!

And I'm sure my SHORT brethren and sisteren... can add to this list. I've spent my whole life short and frankly, it's great.

Spud- You must have flown in F and not in today's typical coach seat?! Anyone weighing 340 lbs. is fooling themselves if they truly believe they didn't infringe on their neighbors' space.

Sorry, sometimes I forget that there are women members too. My fault. I don't think short women it as bad as short men.

If someone short asks if I could reach something from a high place, I always help them -- so long as they agree to pick up anything I need off the floor.

Sport,

I fly coach about half the time, and don' t ever recall that being an issue. I'm very careful not to let any part of me cross the line into the next seat. Plus, I'm tall enough that I never use the armrests. The person next to me gets it for themselves. It has been a few years since I weighed that much anyways.

That said, I still avoid 737s like the plague. The Airbus is far more comfortable!

Y class to Sydney is a bloody long way no matter what size you are. To get back to the original question, two seats are certainly preferable but it would be cheaper to book one J class if you are using miles.

If you are certain that you are booking one Y class seat with miles then I suggest the following:

1) Do a stopover to get a good nights sleep. (United in LAX, Air Pacific QF in Fiji, Air Canada in Honolulu)

2) Contact csa and have notified on passenger record that your Bro is a good natured BIG Aussie

3) Request advanced seat assignment for at least a Exit row seat but preferably an exit row seat with extra leg room (depends on aircraft type)

4) Request some lounge passes for your bro from fellow flyertalkers. (depends on airline and generosity of FTers - If Air Canada is your airline from New York to Sydney with stopover in Honolulu using United points then contact me!)

Cheers,
Dave - London

The 400 lb guy is high risk for DVT (I am at 315lb!).

I just had a sports medicine doctor instruct me on the best exercise to combat DVT (econo class syndrome) : periodically flex the feet so as to pump the calf muscle. That's all.

It is something that I have been doing instinctively over the years but it was nice hearing it from a top medico.

"how does a 400 pound man fly?"

. . . humans can't fly