Airlines Charging Overweight People For Two Seats

I would like to apologize for this post being late.  I know Buck and I usually post on Fridays but I was out of town and the internet connection where I was did not work so well.

For this week’s Because I Said So Buck and I are going to discuss one of the topics that was aired on The View last week.  It’s a topic that has been going around the news and internet lately.  What do we think about airlines charging larger people for two seats on an airplane. Buck is a big man, where I am very small.  Seriously, when I met Buck I felt like my neck was going to break while I looked up at the sky to talk eye to eye.  I wonder if our thoughts on the subject will be different…

My first reaction to the question is I absolutely disagree.  In many ways I almost feel like it’s discrimination to people who are larger in size.  I also hate how many have referred to them as fat people.  Whether they are obese or just larger in size genetically there is no need to be cruel.  Then I started really thinking about the subject.  Looking at all the variables such as seat size, comfort for all on the plane and even the cost of flying.  When your luggage is over 50 lbs most airlines charge a fee.  It’s not just because they want more money for going out of their way lifting something heavy.  It’s because the more weight on a plane the more it costs in gas to fly.

I remember once my child turned 3 I cringed at the fact I knew I now had to pay full price for her to fly.  Most families will drive to their vacation destination over flying everyone there because they just can’t afford it.  If you have several children then that starts to add up quickly, even if you get a good deal on airline rates.  Is it fair for a 30 lb 4 year old to pay the same as a 300 lb man? I am honestly torn on the issue.  I wish there was a way for the airlines to make it fair for everyone.  Maybe start charging prices depending on weight range.  Like X amount per ticket for 0-100 lbs, Y amount per ticket for 101-200 lbs, Z amount for 200+ or even a different way.  Obviously this could get tricky and might not be easy to accomplish.  There would be times where the airlines would second guess what someone told them.  There are people out there that aren’t honest and I know the airlines doesn’t have time to actually weigh everyone who enters the airport.  I don’t expect anything will change.  But wouldn’t it be nice?

Another solution could be changing the business class section to allow for larger people since the seats have more room.  Of course they would have to charge coach pricing and not serve meals or treat that seating area as First Class.  This would cause the airlines to lose money on those seats.  So again, although this would be nice for all, I don’t expect it to happen. Also not all planes have a business class section, some only have coach and first class.

The airlines need to start thinking how they can come up with a solution.  Double charging and giving two seats to a larger person doesn’t truly provide them with comfort.  The seats are still small and they must either straddle the two seats or just sit in one while the other is empty.  I understand there needs to be a solution to make sure everyone is comfortable on the plane in all seats as well as being fairly charged.  I also understand the airlines needs to make sure they charge enough while taking in consideration of the fuel charges.  However I think they make more than enough money to off set charges somewhere.  Don’t you?

I’m headed over to read what Buck thinks, you coming?

Have a topic or question you would like to hear our views on? Have you always wanted to hear both sides of a topic or answers to a question, unbiased? You can submit topics or questions via comments or even anonymously to djane (at) mommadjane (dot) com. We will pick questions at random and blog on one topic per week.