Ok how about this for thought . I am currently about a size 6 perhaps even a little below in Australia which is sort of like a 0 American equiv. sometimes 00 . (And I don't want any comments about needing to eat a burger . I have already had Macdonalds Mcmuffin , Hashbrown and two cans of soft drink by 8 am this morning. ) I was perhaps 2 kilos heavier when I returned on a plane from the UK a month ago. I find the seats almost inadequate for my butt. When I try to shuffle into my seat before take off I have to do some careful maneuvering to get in without hitting those seat dividers and getting relatively comfortable. I'm only 5'3 and a bit and I find it inadequate . Because the seats are that way. Even an average sized man , (and when I say average I mean one who is not tall or overweight even though that might not be technically average these days) encroaches heavily on my space with his legs and shoulders . Not broad ones either .

So yes , the seats ARE NOT adequate or appropriate regardless BUT I must say if you've been on a plane before and you didn't fit comfortably in that seat and you had bits hanging over, then the person next to you who has paid the same price as you for a seat and has to then share part of their seat with you .

If you knew you wouldn't fit into the seat then you should have to pay for extra room. Or smaller people should get a 5th or 4th off the price of their ticket should you be sitting next to them . Yes you might say you have to deal with the discomfort of small seat but so does the person next to you with their already inadequate seat being made even smaller by you.

It should be based on weight but by girth . Waist , butt AND shoulders!

tax people with babies. They're even more annoying.

Yes, I would love to be charged double! Oh wait, no I wouldn't. My bad.

It can't really be done via weight. Just not a good idea. Otherwise those 6'2" rugby players are going to be more than a little pissed off.

It also means that short fat people, who could be just as troublesome, will get away with it when tall fat people (who may actually be less troublesome for their fellow passengers) will be forced to buy a second seat or go to business class.

So we have to, what, start measuring people at check in? Oh yeah, that's going to end well. Public Humiliation cases from people who aren't fat but have to be measured anyway. Way, way longer check-in times. I mean, they're looking for ways to reduce check-in times, but now we want to charge people more money for longer check-in times? Hmm... I don't think that's going to go down well.

It's also going to be different for different airlines. I had not a lot of fun sitting in an Air New Zealand seat a couple of years ago, but had no problems at all fitting into an Air Korea seat - both economy class. Admittedly, the AK seat was on a far larger plane, but that shouldn't matter.

I'm not happy about causing problems for my fellow passengers, especially if it's going to be on a long flight. But if my bosses told me I was flying out to Australia tomorrow (extremely unlikely but possible) then there'd be nothing I could do. Lose weight overnight? Who doesn't wish they could do that?

The Airlines have a vested interest in making seats smaller and closer together - the more people on a flight, the more money they make. Of course, people aren't getting any slimmer, by and large. If they were, this article wouldn't exist.

So sitting next to a fat person isn't fun. I can accept that. Bad enough on the bus, appalling on a 12 hour flight.

My preferred solution would be this: If you can't easily fit in the seat with room to spare, you'll be given a second seat. Either for free or for a fairly minimal cost, *provided* there's room to spare on the plane. If not, you'll be waiting around at your own expense until the next flight (if that's the next day, find a cheap hotel). That might sound insane, but if there are empty seats on the flight, then the airline has either made their money on them already, or won't be making any money on them at all.

It's in their interests to keep passengers happy. Providing not only the fat person but those near them with enough room to be comfortable will keep them happy.

Is this really workable? Possibly. The airlines already assume that some people won't show up for a flight. That's why they over-book them.

The problem, of course, lies in whether the next flight has spare seats or not. If it doesn't, then do you make the person wait around for the *next* flight, or do you accept that waiting around for a few hours was sufficient 'punishment', and give them the second seat?

Also, just one thing to remember: It may suck for you, but it also sucks for the fat person as well. If the seats aren't wide enough it's possible it actually hurts to sit in them.

Anyway, just some random musings from a fat person.

Oh, one more musing: When are we going to ban/tax noisy things on aircraft? Like people who shout. Or small children, who cry and cry and cry and just won't stop? They don't just annoy the person sitting next to them, they can happily drive several rows of people insane over the course of a long flight.

@ Mark #28: "How about a test seat at the check in?"

Or... a full replica of the plane layout at check in? Everyone can be surveyed and have their width and comfort assessed at once.

this is completely unfair i'm 125kg sure i'm a big person wide shoulders etc but i'm not obesed and would out perform most of all you skinny runts at the gym or on a running track but yet i will have to pay for an extra seat when my size is completely out of my hands and as for the people going on about the extra baggage you get charged for are you forgetting that its your dicision to what you pack i cant exsactly pull my leg off for the flight to save weight now can i!!

I agree but they would probably need to do it on your measurements as opposed to weight i.e. if you have a waist greater than x inches etc then you need to pay for an extra seat - or something similar.

Because as many people have said, just being 100kgs doesn't make you to big for a seat. I play rugby and am close to 100kg and just under 6ft but I fit comfortably into an airline seat with no "over hang"

Sharon #26 you say thank god airlines must give a free seat to people who cannot fit in a normal seat. Why should a business be left out of pocket because of a person's size? the problem lays with the passenger, most people can fit into a seat, but people have stop taking care of themselves, got obese and no longer fit into the standard chair. Like the hospitals. Should businesses be left out of pocket because of this?

Yup - bang on the fat tax. Is going to make everyone more healthy anyway. Not sure about the weight thing tho - 100kg would count out a lot of sports people (if you have even the most basic of lugage). Don't think there would be any rugby players less than this.....

How about a test seat at the check in?

I completely agree with obese passengers ebing charged to upgrade to larger seat! Not only is it their own fault for not being able to fit into the seats (which are a pretty standard size, it's not as if they've shrunk dramatically in the last 10 years), but it shouldn't fall on your average size person to have to put up with being sandwiched between the window and a tree-trunk of a leg! Being a frequent flyer, I can think of numerous times I have had involuntarily share half my seat with an overly large butt cheek. I've paid the full fare - why should I have to give up half my seat?

Thank God I live in Canada where it is not PIC to be overweight.Our airlines must provide an extra seat free of charge to obese people. We pay for the flight from point a to point b not the seat from point a to point b. If their 17 inch seat do not accomadate us the problem lies with the airline and not with the passenger. Maybe they should be more concerned more with passenger comfort and provide real sized seats instead of trying to add more child size seats that barely holds a size 10 person. 53% of americans are in the overweight/obese catagory. Why would they not try to meet their client target needs instead of trying to ostersize them?