Sit on it!

Note: Its my undersvanding that the ACLU has stepped in as of now. Until a ruling,I will not fly SoWest airlines for such a discrimanatory behavior to make a dollar.

I absolutely appreciate comments made here in response to the article following:

"The airlines should just do a retrograde - make the seats larger and more comfy, or with more leg room (like how things used to be!). They are getting smaller and smaller. I'm not a large person by any means, and even I get uncomfortable in those seats. The issue is simple, if the airlines started charging larger people for 2 seats... they they have to define some sort of measurement cut-off, and that could include pregnant people, tall people, etc... opening up a HUGE case for a lawsuit, costing the taxpayers money. Nobody wants that.. so good on the Canadian government".

And:

"I am so glad to hear that someone finally gets it. We are such a mean and greedy society we don't even try to relate to people who are not part of the norm. Let's face it life if hard enough for obese people. "Normal" people would never think of abusing a person of color or someone in a wheel chair but think nothing of harrassing an obese person. Do you think that a person who is obese wants to be? No absolutely not".

And:

Does that mean that under weight people get a 50% discount because they don't take up the space of two people?

And:

"I thought it was interesting how the question was phrased: "Do you think the Canadian government is serving as an enabler by allowing obese people to have two seats for the price of one?". The implication is ridiculous. If the question had been phrased "do you think the Canadian government is promoting equal rights by opening up air travel to all people despite size or disability?", the answers might be less biased as well. My family recently flew from Calgary (Canada) to Las Vegas on WestJet (a Canadian airline). My husband is quite tall and very broad and he sat with his legs mashed because he didn't have leg room. Fortunately he sat beside my smaller child, so his shoulder width only impacted someone in my own family. It isn't just obese people who are impacted by plane seat sizes".

In the News: Canada Rules Obese Passengers Don't Have to Pay for 2 Seats
By: Stepfanie Romine : 12/3/2008 3:57:51 PM


Canada's Supreme Court has ruled that disabled and obese passengers who require two seats--either because of their girth or because they travel with a wheelchair or a companion--cannot be forced to pay a double fare.

According to the Associated Press: " The Canadian Transportation Agency issued an order last January requiring Air Canada and other domestic airlines to make additional seats free to disabled or obese passengers who need extra room." The airline had appealed the ruling twice. The Supreme Court ruling, which only applies to flights within Canada, takes effect Jan. 9, 2009.

Some facts to consider: "The agency estimated the cost to Air Canada at about $7 million Canadian ($5.6 million U.S.) a year and to WestJet at about $1.5 million Canadian ($1.2 million) a year. The agency said that amounts to about 77 cents Canadian (62 cents) a ticket for Air Canada and 44 cents Canadian (36 cents) for WestJet."In the U.S., Southwest Airlines requires each "Customer of Size" to purchase two tickets and has done so for 28 years.

That means, if a passenger's size prevents the armrest from being lowered or if that person takes up part of the adjacent seat, he or she has to pay for the use of another seat.

According to Southwest, this policy does not violate any U.S. laws: "Interstate airline travel is specifically excluded from Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by Section 12141(2). Airline travel is instead covered by the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C. 1374(c) and the regulations implementing the Act issued by the Department of Transportation as 14 CFR Part 382, et seq.

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) preceded the ADA, and Congress excluded air carriers and other air transportation services from the scope of ADA. As regulated under 14 CFR §382.38 Seating accommodations (i) "Carriers are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the passenger has purchased."

"Why would Southwest institute such a policy?

According to the company's Q&A page: "We could no longer ignore complaints from Customers who traveled without full access to the seat purchased due to encroachment by a large seatmate whose body extended into the neighboring seat. These Customers had uncomfortable (and sometimes painful) travel experiences, and it is our responsibility to seek resolution to prevent this problem."

No other U.S. airline has such a blanket policy.

Do you think the Canadian government is serving as an enabler by allowing obese people to have two seats for the price of one? Should people who are obese be given the same special treatment that people with disabilities are given?What do you think is the proper, respectful procedure in such a situation? Have you or has someone you know ever dealt with this particular Southwest policy?