Flying ‘salad dodgers’ create new meaning for ‘wide body’
Air France’s decision to require obese passengers unable to squeeze into a single seat to book a second one superficially might not seem like such a dramatic event but widespread publicity shows that it may have a lot of future implications.
“Bloody hell, there has been an upset to turn the cosmos on its head; white is the new black, up is now down,” wrote one blogger, who added:
“Flying salad dodgers must book a second seat…Air France-KLM has waded into the controversial territory Ryanair didn’t quite have the stomach for – namely charging overweight people more for their seats.”
With airlines generally slavishly copying other carriers, there’s little question Air France’s stipulations about “customers of size” will spill over in the US and internationally.
There were dozens of other news stories on the subject, many of which pointed out that this was a long overdue move. However, a variety of airlines have already addressed the issue.
United adopted a tougher policy last year after receiving more than 700 complaints from passengers "who did not have a comfortable flight because the person next to them infringed on their seat," said a United spokeswoman.
Their policy: passengers who are too large to fit comfortably in single coach seats began to be required to buy a second ticket or upgrade to business class, where seats are larger — applicable in cases where United’s flight attendants could not find two open seats for them.
United’s flight attendants, who have the delicate task of enforcing the policy, have traditionally sought to find two adjacent seats, free of charge, for passengers who spill over their seats.
"We’ll first try to re-accomodate you on another seat on the flight," said the spokesperson.
If the flight is full, obese passengers risk getting bumped.
No-frills airline Southwest has a “customer of size” policy that insists passengers who cannot lower both armrests buy a second ticket which is reimbursable if the flight is not full.
American Airlines does not have such a requirement but urges passengers to “recognize ahead of time that they may need to purchase two seats.”
Airlines already offer extended seatbelts to larger passengers to comply with safety rules but a number of other carriers now insist obese customers buy an extra seat.
France’s national airline Air France said the issue not only involves comfort but also safety. Overweight passengers pose a safety hazard to other passengers.
A famous photo showing an enormously obese man whose bulk is blocking half the aisle distributed by Flight Global (and accompanying the many stories on the issue) created a huge wave of attention.
The new Air France rule becomes effective Feb. 1.
By David Wilkening
David
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