back to article Air France offers two-seat deal for fatties

Air France KLM has decided to suggest to overweight self-loading cargo that they pay for two seats to accommodate their bulk if it is "deemed too large to fit into just one seat of a 43-44cm width", as the Daily Mail puts it. The Mail says that obese passengers will be charged 75 per cent of the cost of the second seat, but …

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  1. Mike Bird 1
    Flame

    Not An Obligation

    Maybe if the airlines provided seats that are realistic with legroom that someone taller than 5'6" can sit in without having their knees rammed up against the seat in front and a headrest that doesn't dig instead into my shoulders then this kind of thing wouldn't be suggested.

    I'm sick of airlines treating me like a one-size-fits-all component. I'm 6'3" have a 31" inner leg and I don't fit into their midget option seating plan.

    1. Dave Murray

      Strange

      I'm 6 foot with a 32" inside leg and I fit into airplane seats without too much bother.

      Odd that you're 3 inches taller yet your legs are shorter. You must have a freakishly tall torso! ;)

      (or maybe I just have long legs)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Happy

        I'm 5 10

        and have a 31" leg. that makes me a real freak I guess.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Grenade

          I'm a midget - 59.5 inches

          and there isn't enough room in those seats for me either, at 135 pounds. Plus what goes on with security, I am not planning to fly in the near future.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Happy

          5'10" with 31" inside leg too!

          Me too! Must make us appear like that singer in Jaba's palace in Return of the Jedi, the beachball on sticks!

        3. Steve Evans

          Odd...

          I'm 6 foot and 33" inside leg, and I can handle a Fly n scare trip okay.

        4. Roby

          Huh

          I am 5'10" and have 32 inch leg (and I wear 34 because I like some extra).

          The 6'3" gentleman must have freakishly small legs, or be of the generation that wears trousers that show most of your calves when you sit down. :)

      2. Joel 1

        they look short to me....

        I'm 5' 11" with 32" inside leg - guess your legs aren't so long as all that....

      3. Mike Bird 1

        typo ..

        for 31" inside leg read 33" inside leg.

        suffering from rage induced typo when I posted that.

  2. Red Bren

    For their own comfort?

    Unless Air France are fitting their planes with bench type seats, I can't imagine placing one buttock per seat is going to be very comfortable. This is for the comfort of other passengers who don't want rolls of lard spilling over from the seat next to them.

    Airlines should insist on seating all rotund passengers next to each other and let them sort out their comfort and personal space issues themselves.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Onionman
    Grenade

    About time

    While they are at it, why do I pay a bundle for overweight luggage when some fattard next to me might be carrying a few kilos less luggage but a third of a ton more lard in their underpants.

    They should start charging airfares on total weight carried. Give the fat f*****s an incentive to eat a few fewer pies.

    In case you think I'm bitter, it's thanks to a transatlantic flight ruined by a grossly obese whale wedged into the seat next to me.

    O

    1. Dave Harris
      Pint

      Abso-bloody-lutely

      Why do admittedly skinny fuckers like me get charged the earth for an extra kilo, while some lardarse gutbucket (h/t NTNOCN), who can barely restrain the equivalent weight of my entire luggage with his belt, fly on the same damn fare as me.

      Beer, because I need it to have a chance of sleeping if I'm sat next to one.

    2. Svantevid
      Unhappy

      Transatlantic?

      Try flying from Singapore to Zurich with a hambeast on the seat next to you.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    No title

    Good.

  5. Richard IV
    Coat

    And in the spirit of Ryanair...

    A further charge will be applied if the fatty wants the extra armrest lowered ;)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

      Priceless!

  6. lglethal Silver badge
    Go

    I expect a large number of rants against this...

    but anybody who has been forced to sit in a long haul flight next to someone who takes up half of your seat as well will defintiely not be amongst them...

    Now if only they would police the rules to stop people bringing on mountains of hand luggage and administer sleeping drugs to anybody under the age of 15* and flying would be considerably more enjoyable for everyone! =)

    * We can debate the exact age if we must but i suggest 15+/-3 seems a reasonable limit for annoying childish behaviour...

  7. Richard Jukes

    WHY OH WHY?

    So I'd need to buy another ticket for an additional 6cm of arse space? Nah dont think so, I'll just squish the guy im sat next to, no window seat for me thanks!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You are so fucking lucky...

      ...that current air security laws stop me carrying a taser if you tried that with me.

      As it is I'll just wait til you're asleep and set the ham sandwiches on you. It worked for Mamma Cass....

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What about?

    What about refunding those people who have to sit next to the fat sweaty person, who is being kind enough to share some of their fat with you that is overflowing from their seat, if they are unwilling to take up the offer of a second seat?

  9. Code Monkey

    Dinner

    Does that include a second dinner?

  10. The Original Ash
    Thumb Up

    By god...

    Common sense overriding political correctness!

    I never thought I'd see the day...

    1. Psmiffy

      You can dream

      but you will never see that day. I fear mankinf in general has left Common Sense behind somewhere.

  11. Dan 10

    Depends on the aircraft....

    On something with only 2 seats adjacent (i.e. between the window and the first aisle), buying 2 seats would be enough, but otherwise, a larger person actually causes problems for occupants on both sides of them, so that's 3.

    I'm not saying this is right or wrong or having a go at fat people, just stating a fact. No flames please!

    1. Velv
      FAIL

      Flawed logic

      With three adjacent seats, two of the seats only have an adjacent seat on one side, so it is only a problem for two adjacent people 33% of the time.

      Four adjacent seats has 50% problem.

      And having been on an Air France Dornier 328 recently, what happens if the only seats left are the singles?

  12. Chris Miller
    Thumb Up

    Copied from Southwest Airlines

    See information for 'Customers of Size':

    http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html

    An excellent idea if it means I don't have to spend my next flight squeezed into my seat by some exercise-dodging lardbucket.

  13. Edwin
    Dead Vulture

    Did we not do our research?

    There's some detail missing here that suggests this story is bogus.

    Such as is this "real" full price (e.g. 15x what any sane person would pay) or 75% of the purchased fare?

    In addition - if you show up at checkin (or boarding presumably) and they have a seat to sell you, then presumably the seats are available anyway.

    Finally - in addition to the spokesdroid denying the story, KLM's FAQ also denies that corpulent passengers buy a second seat.

    That having been said: I think airlines ought to come up with a solution for large pax. I hate it when my neighbour spills into my seat.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Every airline

    Every airline should make this mandatory. Anyone who has had to suffer sitting next to one of these behemoths for a long haul flight will tell you that its not fair when you have their rolls of flab resting on your lap for the duration of the flight.

  15. Andrew Taylor
    Pint

    At last

    Welcome news to any normal-sized person who has paid for a seat and had to share half of it with someone's excess lard.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A great idea

    After a long haul flight sitting next to a lard bucket who took up his seat as well as most of mine I am all for the fatter members of the public paying for the extra space they take up/stolen from other passengers.

  17. Stone Fox
    Thumb Up

    too bloody right.

    Now if only we could get TFL to implent the same policy but make it mandatory for all London public transport...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Seriously!

      Every now and then, depending how bad my luck is, there's that one fat F....r getting on the Northern Line mornings and squeezing himself into these tiny seats, of course right next to me...

      bah.

      They take double the space of others, so pay up!

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Why not compulsary?

    I mean seriously? If you don't fit in a seat, why the hell do you have the 'right' to sit on me for the duration of the trip? (Yet if I complain I'm an arse hole and offered nothing.)

  19. lansalot

    hang on...

    If I get stuck next to some Billy-Bunter, spilling out over his seat - do I get a rebate for only having access to 50% of my cushion ?

    Fair's fair ! ;-)

  20. Tom 15

    Fair enough

    Moral of the story, don't be obese

  21. npupp 1

    re: Not An Obligation

    Perhaps they'll suggest to tall people an upgrade to business/first class, for comfort, refundable if not full ;)

  22. Dave Murray
    Boffin

    Fuel

    Should make em pay more for the extra fuel used. :D

  23. marvin p a
    FAIL

    Seatbacks upright and armrests down

    'Massive' FAIL. Airline seats aren't deisgned to join together to make one seat... unless these larger people don't mind an armrest up their jacksy upon take-off and landing or sticking into their blubbery backs during the flight it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference I would have thought! Just as well they all have a jolly sense of humour... according to the stereotype.

  24. David John Walsh
    Coat

    Firstly I'm not self-loading.....

    look to my other posts as to why...

    anyhow - at least by this method they are shedding some extra pounds......

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    about time

    Having been forced to sit squeezed between the window and one over weight obese lard tub, too often to care to remember, I only wish they had put this into place a decade earlier.

    if someone weighs thrice as much as me, they should either pay more, or stop haraasing me if my carry on luggage is 1 kg over the limit

  26. Don S.
    Thumb Down

    " If the plane is not full, they can get a refund"

    If the plane is full there is no second seat for them to buy?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Terminator

      Refund, or squashed neighbours

      You're right:

      1. Plane has at least 2 available seats: lardarse gets a refund.

      2. Plane full, i.e. has no spare seats, then lardarse doesn't get a refund, and passengers sat next to him/her get squashed and get nothing in compensation. Or will the airlines use lardarse's supplement to distribute equally amongst squashed neighbours?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        Nah

        1. If the flight is fully booked or over-subscribed, then they don't get a refund. They've paid for the extra seat so they still get it. By paying for an extra seat, they prevented another paying passenger from boarding.

        2. If the flight is not fully booked then they do get a refund because the extra seat that they have paid for would have been empty anyway.

        It's logical innit?

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Rebate!

    Hmmmm can I have a rebate from the amazingly fat woman who sat next to me on a flight back from Austria once who was ooozing under the arm-rest and into my seat? I mean, she didn't even buy me dinner first!

    OOoo fatism begins! WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

    Let's be realistic. This isn't aimed at people carrying a few pounds they (or their partners) might wish they weren't. This is for the chronically obese people who genuinely don't fit into a normal aircraft seat. It's not just for them, it's for the people who have to sit next to them too.

    It costs more to fly them, I don't want to have to pick up that extra tab, so they should pay. And before someone tells me that "It's genetics" or "I'm big boned" it's not. There are a few hormonal issues that might do it, but in the very vast (oh the pun) number of cases it's simply due to too many pies. And if it's medical, then I'm sure the airline would be accomodating (the puns keep coming!)

    I'd probably better don my flame proof suit now...

    1. bluesxman
      Megaphone

      "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"

      Good point -- they'd better make sure they charge for fat kids too. That might actually encourage the parents to stop shoveling shite down their necks.

      Don't stop at planes though, a fat-tax in other areas (I'm thinking public transport and the medical care) might give the uber-uber-chunky section of the populace the financial incentive they need to put down the fork.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't understand

    If they arrive at the check-in desk and are deemed to be too large, then it's too late to sell them an extra seat if the flight is full, and if the flight is not full then they won't be charged for the extra seat anyway, so why bother?

    Or is it really a frequent occurrence that the last seats are sold a few hours before departure?

    And if the passenger doesn't fit in a seat and refuses to buy a second seat, or can't because the flight is full, then how do they fly, while complying with safety regulations?

    1. lglethal Silver badge
      Coat

      It does make sense

      Most flights are actually over sold but the airlines assume (rightly so) that a certain number of people are not going to turn up to the flight - there are big long algorithms that control this and the amount of overselling. Its standard practice.

      So when the fat person turns up they will have to buy a second seat (as part of the overselling) and should not everyone turn up and the flight isnt full then they get there money back... Its entirely probable that the airline wont know if there will be spare seats until check in is complete. Hence the refund AFTER the flight...

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    picture

    http://failblog.org/2009/11/25/seating-comfort-fail/

  30. thejackle
    Thumb Up

    Missed opportunity?

    I thought Ryan Air would have been first with a lard tax.

    How will this be judged, will each check-in desk have standardised container for fitting your arse into. "Sorry Madam - you hand luggage is fine but that ass is going to cost you extra!"

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