United gets strict on ‘seatmates of size’
Policy requires large passengers to purchase extra ticket or stay behind

Effective today, United Airlines has a new official policy that affects “seatmates of size” and those passengers seated near them.

The airline’s policy — posted on United's Web site — states that if a passenger cannot fit into a single seat, buckle their seatbelt with an additional seatbelt extension, or put the seat’s armrest down, the airline will ask that passenger to pay for an extra seat or stay behind.

Spokesperson Robin Urbanski Janikowski, meanwhile, said the airline will first attempt to take measures to avoid the extra charge. “If there is another seat on the airplane that is next to an empty seat, we will re-accommodate our guest in that seat and there is no charge,” she wrote in an e-mail message.
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Until the company's posted policy reflects Urbanski Janikowski's message, passengers — large and small — should consider printing and carrying both the policy and the spokesperson's statements with them when they go to the airport.

The airline's policy applies to tickets purchased on or after March 4, 2009, for travel on or after today, April 15.

Citing “the comfort and well-being of all customers aboard United flights,” the policy states passengers meeting “one or more of these criteria” must either purchase a ticket for an additional seat or purchase an upgrade to a cabin with larger seats.

A customer who falls into any of these categories who decides not to upgrade or purchase a second seat may be denied boarding.

While Southwest and other airlines have had similar policies on their books for some time, not all airlines are as cut-and-dry about how they enforce those policies when a passenger needs some extra space.

American Airlines, for example, reserves the right to charge passengers for a second ticket, but does so only if it can find no other solution, such as re-seating the passenger next to an empty seat at no extra charge.

“If a flight is not full, our flight attendants may be able to change passenger seat assignments in order to more comfortably accommodate all passengers,” said American spokesperson Andrea Huguely.

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Second seat, same fare?
According to United’s new policy, if it is determined that a passenger is required to purchase an additional seat, then “the fare for that seat will be the same as the fare paid for the original seat ... even if the additional ticket is purchased on the day of departure, when fares are normally higher.”

However, if there are no additional seats open or if an upgraded seat is not available, then the passenger will have to wait until the next flight or until a flight with adequate seating become available. If no seats are available or if a passenger decides not to fly, then United will refund the price of the ticket without penalties.

One upside of the new policy? Those purchasing a second seat will gain that extra baggage allowance. However, because carry-on baggage policies are determined by the Transportation Security Administration, not the airline, the per-passenger carry-on restrictions remain the same no matter how many seats a single passenger ends up occupying.


Apparently they are not the only ones to have this policy.
[Edited 4/15/09 23:04pm]

Okay...I will only say this. Have you ever been the little person the big people aim to sit next too? I mean...its not fair for me to have to be smushed by a large person I dont know...and they switched seats and aimed to sit next to me because I am small, or to smush one of my children and make them uncomfortable for a flight that lasts several hours. When my daughter was really young, I used to be thankful for her car seat...it made it impossible for people to do this to her.

I think the policy is risky for the airlines, but it does need to be addressed. We paid for our seats, and we shouldn't have to share them with others.

StillGotIt said:

Ur entitled to that opinion StillGotit. I agree it is risky , apparently they are not the only ones, either way it does need to be addressed! Or they risk losing a lot.

StillGotIt said:

eh, its not too risky. people will certainly fly with them because of how the airline handles personal space on a flight.

You ever see what it does to a car with just two extremely obese people in it? Yeah the car can take it at the moment, but it will gain wear tear much faster.

you know what else drives me crazy on airplanes....screaming children or children that are all crawling under seats. When that news story broke a while back, I was applauding the airlines....some folks just think the world revolves around them and their children.....

I'll be more likely to fly with them because of the policy.
I sat on a flight this year where a guy 2 seats up from me in an isle seat,
and to switch seats with a guy that was too fat to sit in his middle seat.
I mean, fucking HUGE. And, what pissed me off about the entire thing was
the isle seat cost extra money to sit in--I know this because when I was
booking my flight, I wanted that seat as it was in front of the wing,
but it cost extra to select the seat.
So some guy paid extra to select the seat, only to get up so some other
fatter guy could get it cause for being too fat to sit in the middle.
The fat guy also made it terribly uncomfortable for the one in the middle
seat.

If that was me, I would've gotten downright nasty with the guy. He
knew he was too fat to sit in that middle seat. I overheard his loud
ass talking about his favorite airports, etc. etc. He obviously travelled
alot.

Ultimately, the seats should be larger. They're not terribly comfortable for
regular sized folks. But they're not larger. And when you get folks like
this dude (who is not the first person I've witnessed in a situation like this)
having....erm... his cake and eating it too, I just have no sympathy for that.
Loose weight or pay for the extra seat, dufus.

The isle-seat fat guy actually made it difficult for the flight attendants to
navigate, he spilled over into the isle.


Go ahead folks--lambaste me. I don't give a shit. I know I'm right.
[Edited 4/15/09 23:20pm]

it will probably get to the point where there will be a line of same price wide seats for only the extremely large customers, and people will have to prove at time of booking that they need it - maybe a medical certification or be on some kind of register (put there by their GP for instance) to prevent normal folks who want to be comfier booking those seats.

StillGotIt said:

Co-sign.

I don't care who thinks this is some form of discrimination either. As a small person I'm forever being expected to just scooch over to make room for somebody else. Fuck that. If I paid for my seat on a plane, why should I have to be squashed into the cabin wall -and this HAS happened to me -on account of some overly large person? Make them pay for the extra seat if they need the extra room.

If anyone else wanted extra room for whatever reason they'd have to pay for it.

Wow can't believe United have only just introduced this to their policy. The airline I work for has been enforcing this for years, basically if U don't fit in ur seat with an extension belt, bad luck, purchase the extra seat or be offloaded. I've had to offload many guests due to this factor and it may not be a pretty sight when they overeact and claim it's discrimination but hey rules are rules and everything counts especially when Ur in a depressurised cabin thousands of kms in the sky.

It's also quite funny when these same folk ask to be seated in an exit row seat because of the extra leg room. Unfortunately for them they cannot be seated in these rows as they are conditional seats and guests seated there are required to open 20kg doors and assist guests off the aircraft in the event of an emergency. Therefore they must be very fit and able to do this but as they are overweight and require extension seatbelts it is against policy.

It all comes down to safety but so many peeps take this for granted, just like scoffing over having to turn their cell phones off during flight. It's quite logical that they're basically in an aircraft that contains more then 30,000 litres of aviation fuel and radiowaves do interfere with navigational equipment and the atoms up there.

StillGotIt said:

I am with you on that, I like my personal space and on a plane I have paid for that space and am not prepared to put up with someone leaning all over me etc - I generally fly long-haul UK to USA and these flights are 6 hours and upwards. I refuse to have some person I don't know crowding me for that period of time.

Also how am I being treated equally, if I have paid the same price as them for my seat but their arms, legs etc are occupying some of my seat. I hate when I'm having to sit on one bum cheek cause the person next to me is crowding under the armrest into my seat.

Lastly, if my bags are overweight I have to pay extra to have them onboard, I don't have a problem with someone overweight having to pay extra to fly - unless their weight is out of control because of a medical problem which they can prove - I say pay up, drive or stay home!
[Edited 4/16/09 4:51am]

Neophyte said:

TOTALLY agree. no more forced contact with strangers who steal my space!

maybe i would change my mind if i experienced it but i havent.

will knowledge ur truth changes.

we fat people have to pay more for everything else, so why not this?

why can't the airlines do what movie theaters and performance venues do?

why can't they have some seating set aside for 'seatmates of size' - like, have seats that can be modified into "doublewide" seats, and have one or two rows made available in case people request it? i mean, what about people who are confined to motorized wheelchairs? what about people who "take up room" because of an apparatus connected to a disability?

i understand in a situation where someone tries to get a ticket last minute and there's only one or two seats left on a flight. you can only do so much in situations like that. but if someone gets their ticket well in advance, i think the airline should be more accommodating and less callous.

Anxiety said:

Anxiety said:

that was my proposal too see my earlier post

and to beat folks trying to abuse the system, will oversize passengers have to have some oversize ID to make their booking?

ZombieKitten said:

can you fake being overly obese?

Anxiety said:

over the phone you could and when you present in person there will be a right kerfuffle!

Anxiety said:

Thank you.

You may be pleasantly surprised to know that Air Canada has recently adopted just such a policy. You may be less surprised to know that certain folk threw a hissy fit over even this.

I suspect that some people are just so miserable, they can't stand courtesies that make other people less miserable.
[Edited 4/16/09 19:40pm]

ZombieKitten said:

i guess you could show up in person wearing a fat suit and then once you board the plane you could take it off in the lavatory, then walk out and yell "i'm THIN! it's a MIRACLE!" and have a whole row to your skinny little self. maybe even get on oprah.

Anxiety said:

it's worth a try people have done dumber things for less

Lammastide said:

Lammastide said:

It's especially sad considering those courtesies make EVERYONE less miserable.

No fat person WANTS to crowd anyone's seat any more than anyone wants someone crowding into their seat. They'd(we'd) prefer a seat that fits them(us) as well.

I believe Air Canada's stance is the best. Make accomodation for everyone to get a seat they fit into.

united rarely has competitive prices anyway, at least not in my experience.

Anxiety said:

united sucks hot sweatty monkey balls.

Vendetta1 said:

Vendetta1 said:

Yeah, but you're not fat

Nor are you, Carrie

You're both gorgeous curvaceous ladies.








So there.

MrsGoodnight said:

Co-so there

Lammastide said:

that is a really good idea i think the day will come when airlines will have to admit that 'one size doesn't fit all' and will have to provide large seats for extra large folks who don't fit into regular seats.

i think most of those planes were designed and built back before the obesity epidemic that hit the united states. back then, there just weren't that many people who special needed accomodation.
[Edited 4/17/09 5:28am]

XxAxX said: