Fat People Should Pay for Two Seats
Sadly there are a few people who are fat because they must be fat, it's in their genes. However, most of the fat people I see are fat because of lifestyle choices. That is to say, they eat too many sweets and sit around all day watching TV.
How do I know? When I was in the third grade (1953) there were barely one or two fatties in my entire grammar school. But now, when I pick up my granddaughter from school there are quite a few heftoes in every classroom. I doubt that the human genome has changed so dramatically since I was a child.
So unless a person can show that his huge posterior is the result of a genetic disease, I have no problem with an airline charging more for the two seats required for the extra adipose tissue. Last spring, United Airlines put in place a new policy for such flying fatsoes (who they call larger travelers), charging them twice as much for a flight (1) and rightly so.
No one would argue that Fedex should ship 200 pound packages for the same price as a ten pound one. Business is business. It is not discrimination to charge more if it actually costs more to transport your fat ass around. In fact, I expect one day for airlines to charge for travel based on some base rate plus so much per pound. Actually, I have never understood why they don't - it's not like they don't have scales at the baggage check-in.
Disclaimer: I am 5' 6" tall and weigh 190 pounds. I am, in my own opinion, too fat. Just writing this has made me realize that I have to lose weight.
ENDNOTES
(1):
TresSugar, Charging Obese Flyers For Two — Reasonable or Ridiculous?
"Passengers requiring extra space" might be a sugar-coated way to describe overweight individuals, but there's nothing sweet about United Airlines' new policy for such flyers. The airline announced yesterday that larger travelers will have to pay twice as much for a flight.
If you cannot fit in a single seat, buckle a seat belt property, or put the armrest down when seated, then you'll have to buy two tickets. United says it has the safety and comfort of all passengers in mind.
It should be noted that in Canada, obese air travelers have a legal right to an extra seat at no extra cost. But Canada is not known to be business-friendly.
