COMMENTARY | As Thanksgiving weekend closes, people choosing to fly have paid 20 percent more than 2010 for fares in top routes, according to the Associated Press. Seats size, though, hasn't expanded 20 percent, and some obese passengers are making it worse. It's time for the Federal Aviation Administration to mandate airline consistency regarding people who're too large to fit in one seat. Because 33.9 percent of adults who are older than 20 are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the obese will continue to make the already negative experience of flying more tortuous.
One example occurred to Arthur Berkowitz earlier this year that's recently come to light. He had to stand on a seven-hour US Airways cramped flight from Anchorage, Alaska, to Philadelphia because of an obese man, who was allowed to get away with it, according to The Daily Mail.
The FAA needs to mandate airline checkout counters have tape measures. Agents should have access via computers on the size of the seating of airplanes each passenger is scheduled to fly on. If they suspect a passenger may be too big to fit in any seat they potentially will use, they would have the authority to measure the suspected person to verify that he or she could fit into the seat.
If that person is found to not be able to fit in the seat, he or she will be required to purchase two seats, if available. If none is available for any segment of a flight, that person will be denied boarding. Anyone who prints their boarding pass online and has no checked luggage would get this "screening" at the departure gate.
All purchased tickets would contain notices advising passengers that they are subject to being measured at the airport if they are suspected of being "two seaters." Obesity is not the problem of the non-obese, even though US Airways made it Berkowitz's problem; and thus, this carrier should be severely punished by the FAA.
Those who choose to lead unhealthy lifestyles or are obese through unfortunate medical conditions may feel they are being picked on. But when these people squeeze out the passenger(s) next to them, they infringe on the comfort and safety of others. The airlines should be immediately put on notice by the government to be more consistent about their seating policies as Christmastime looms.
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