SWA under fire for obesity policy

[chawbein]

Quit Crying!!!

Bad things happen in life. You sack up and do what it takes to get by, without having to inconvenience those around you. I would put cold hard cash down that those who have a physical condition that ABSOLUTELY gives them no choice in their weight is insignificant. For those people; that sucks, but you can't expect that the other 90% of people who fly need to make an allowance for a small percentage. The rest of the fatasses can do something about it, either by taking medication and controlling their medical condition or by getting up and walking everyday and watching what you eat. That is exactly what that subway guy did.

 

[chperplt]

Quit Crying!!!

Who's crying, and what are they crying about?? I'm certainly not crying, just enlightening.

I would put cold hard cash down that those who have a physical condition that ABSOLUTELY gives them no choice in their weight is insignificant.

How much money do you want to lose?

What percentage of people do you call insignificant? 1%? 5%? 7%?

Certainly the majority of people who are overweight are so by their choice of lifestyle. I don't have an exact number, but Thyroid disease is one of the most common diseases in the world. Many who have it don't even know they do. If you have a real slow producing thyroid, you have virtually no metabolism working for you. No metabolism means nothing is getting burned which in turn means everything becomes fat.

If you want to place that wager, I'll be happy to take your money. Hypothyroidism is not insignificant within the population.

 

[RichardFitzwell]

We're off the topic...

Southwest doesn't care if people are fat or how they got that way. They simply expect them to pay for the extra space they use. Period.

 

[skyking1976]

I'm about 30-40 pounds overweight. You know what I'm doing about it? Jogging. I can jog my fat a$$ off and get down to my "ideal" weight. Why? I don't feel like having myself spill over into the persons seat next to me. As for thyroid disorders, there are medications and they do take some time to work. However, in the meantime cough up the extra cash for an extra seat. I would be extremely embarrassed if I were the one crowding out the seat next to me and I would gladly pay it. Coach seats are uncomfortable enough.... Okay, I'm done now.
Have a nice day!


Skyking

 

[eriknorth]

At an all you can eat buffet, notice that they usually charge little or nothing for children. This is due to the fact that most children do not eat as much as an adult. Granted, some adults eat like mice, but we are looking at the trends, not the exceptions. My point is, just like in a buffet, if you use up more of the good or service that is being provided, it is only right for a business to charge accordingly. This doesn't translate directly, but I couldn't do my flight training in a cheaper, smaller aircraft because I am 6'5", and that just doesnt work. I need more space, so I pay for more airplane. Again, I know this is a different kind of thing, but the principle still applies. Businesses (in theory) treat customers as best as they can, but they have to draw a line to make sure they are making money on their service (that is what a business does) and keep it fair for everyone. Maybe they could just sell seats by the inch, and they measure you when you get there, so smaller people pay even less when their space has been encroached upon .

 

[snoopy]

I agree with the principal behind the policy but I feel like they need to publish objective criteria for determining the need for another seat. Baggage rules have dimensions. The best I've seen is if you need a seat belt extender. I have seen two of the same planes by the same carrier one having tighter belts than the other. It is totally right for them to have a policy like this but I think they need to be a little more exact.

---Snoopy

 

[active_herk]

I am sick and tired of paying full price for my ticket and then getting only half a seat because some sweaty, fat, business man has rolls of fat falling over the arm rest and squishing me against the fuselage/person next to me/etc.

AWACoff brings up an interesting point. Lets say Mr Smith works for XYZ company and he weighs 350 lbs. In the performance of his duties, he is required to travel to numerous destinations by air. Given that SWA is the company's only choice of airlines, who will purchase the extra ticket, Mr Smith or XYZ company? If it is Mr Smith, is he going to sue XYZ company over some sort of discrimination based on his weight? I can see a whole bunch of lawsuits developing from this policy. (Even though I agree with it).

 

[Freight Dog]

It is a scientifically-proven fact that obesity is the leading cause of fat a$$.

 

[waveoff]

I like fat chicks. They keep you warm in the winter and provide shade in the summer. Here's one question I have about SWA's new policy. If they're charging big people for 2 seats then do the big people really get an open seat next to them? Or do they just pack 'em in and make a few $$$ extra off of the big people?

 

[SpeedRacer]

Fat Pax

Recently returned from ORD on a full AA flight (yea baby) and had the pleasure of sitting next to a fat middle aged lady who was upset that I put my/our armrest down between our seats!

I did this to simply keep her "fat carcass" from spilling into my FedEx company paid seat! She stood, pushed her fat rear toward the window and proceeded to squeeze into her "new" space.

I would have asked for ANY other seat if there was one - which there wasn't since AA was full. I'm in "crew rest" sleeping away - OR drinking in first class when I deadhead - I don't need to feel anyone's blubber next to/on me -

Let them pay for two seats - or go to the gym and lose some weight......

Adios

 

[bart]

Don't make things too complicated... If one wants higher metabolism, build muscle mass. We all know a V8 burns more than a 4 clylinder at idle. The human body works the same way, muscles burn energy just sitting there, but you have to build them to get the effect.

Exercise is the only way I know of to build muscle mass which also has the effect of burning energy. The other way is to reduce intake. Here is a simple formula:

Intake - Burned = Fat

when Intake = Burned, Fat = zero.

When Intake is greater than that Burned, eventually you will find yourself paying for two seats.

 

[Dieterly]

Glad UA or AA doesn't have the same policy, half of their F/A's wouldn't be able work the flight if they did.

 

[trigeek]

I have to agree with the policy. Medical condition or not, no one else should have to suffer sitting next to someone that large. And yes though there are some instances which are medically induced the largest percentage are a direct result of eating garbage food and thinking channel surfing is a competitive sport. I can't remember how many times a fat (excuse me, for the politically correct..Obese, weight challenged, buffet addicted, Ben & Jerry's addicts, Chocoholics, etc) FA has told me I should eat that desert, I'm thin I can afford it. Yeah, not eating that desert and exercising is why I'm fit....that fact is lost on them as they contemplate using a seatbelt extension on their jumpseat (though not allowed).

Let me drag them to the pool, their butts up and down the hills on a bike and then go for a short run....I'll have them "single seat sized" in no time

 

[Capn Lucky]

There are several "cures" for obeasity. The best ones are eating less and exercising more. For those who are too far gone, there is a gastric by-pass. 99/100 cases or morbid obeasity can be cured by one of these methods. FYI, the gastric bypass is not cheating or an easy way out. I vote for SWA's policy because it holds people accountable for their lifestyles.

Steve

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

Weight

My wife went from being 105 lbs before being pregnant to 127 lbs while pregnant, she just had the baby and if she doesn't get her fat a$$ back in the gym and get in shape I'm not going to buy her a single seat even when we go on vacation. Maybe that will motivate her. I don't care if she's not getting any sleep.