Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I agree with just about everything you've said. For me, personally, the last sentence does not apply. I used to fly several times per year. Now I avoid it like the plague, and fly only once every year or two. And since I now fly so rarely, I splurge on first class when available.
But you're right, *in general* customers keep putting up with the airlines' crapola, so the airlines keep dishing out the crapola.
I only fly first class as well (with the rare exception of cases where a tour company includes mandatory flights which are only offered in economy class). The added cost is worth it to be treated as a human being rather than self loading cargo. Unfortunately, though, we are the exception rather than the rule. And unless the FAA sets some reasonable standards for minimum economy class seat width and seat pitch, conditions in the back of the plane are going to continue to be dire. They have no incentive to make anything better, as doing so will cost them money.
Only when every airline has to compete on the same playing field with regard to economy class seat size and leg room will we see improvements in the economy class section. Right now it is just a race to the bottom, and the passengers suffer for it.
I personally have not seen a person so disabled, frail, or elderly that they couldn't get out of a seat or make it down an aisle. In an emergency, I imagine I would jerk them out of their seat and shove them down the aisle ahead of me.
That’s odd. I think about 25% of my flights have someone that sky caps/airline employees have to seat with the aisle width wheelchair during pre-boarding.
They have no incentive to make anything better, as doing so will cost them money.
Only when every airline has to compete on the same playing field with regard to economy class seat size and leg room will we see improvements in the economy class section. Right now it is just a race to the bottom, and the passengers suffer for it.
Airlines will do whatever maximizes profits. When coach passengers want better seats and are willing to pay more for them, airlines have offered them and will offer them.
In the last 20 years, airlines have added “Economy Plus” and the like: coach seats with more legroom. Some people are willing to pay for them, so airlines offer them.
American Airlines offered more legroom for all coach seats: “More Room Throughout Coach” or something. People generally didn’t want to pay more for that, so AA dropped it.
People who fly coach generally just want the lowest fare. That comes with the fewest amenities.
Airlines are simply offering what people are willing to pay for.
will something ever be done about seats for very large people who actually take up two seats or make the person next to them extremely uncomfortable and almost impossible to sit next to?
America has embraced people who are large by choice with its commercials, junk food promotions, clothing lines and even category; BBW and BBM (or Hims).
In the U.S. we give very bad diet advice. Many are not taught to cook, balance a checkbook or learn how to pay taxes in school.
Medicare for example does not cover weight loss medication, even though high weight is a problem for many seniors, and a significant co-morbidity factor in various flu and flu related (Covid-19 and variants) illness.
I do not believe this will change. We want cheap seats, we don't really want to help people learn how to stay healthy, we blame fat people for being fat when they were not educated regarding nutrition and meal preparation.
Our food is increasingly adulterated (think heme laced water in meat).
Our fear of fat caused us to push trans fats (poly unsaturates) say as a substitute for butter. Fat and meat make us feel full, sugar, can cause more sugar craving. Similarly high salt is not healthy either.
We can not unmake the educational system causing problems for our society. As a result, I prefer to drive rather than fly, even over long distances.
I am over six feet tall. That’s how I am; I cannot help it.
I demand that I be given a first class seat at no extra cost (and without having to clear an upgrade list due to frequent flyer status) due to my height.
If airlines won’t, then I demand that Congress intervene. I also demand that Congress prohibit airlines from increasing fares for these seats.
What about all the other places you might go to and need a seat? Baseball stadium, movie theater, concert, etc?
And where is the cutoff? six feet? five foot eleven inches? Would you happen to be the "only" six foot tall person on the plane? What if there are five other six feet people? Bump off the people that have paid for First Class?
I am short--I would sure like grocery stores and the like not to have such tall shelves. I cannot help being short.
I have to pay more for clothes since there are only a few brands that fit me well. Should Congress intervene so I can get compensated?
What about all the other places you might go to and need a seat? Baseball stadium, movie theater, concert, etc?
And where is the cutoff? six feet? five foot eleven inches? Would you happen to be the "only" six foot tall person on the plane? What if there are five other six feet people? Bump off the people that have paid for First Class?
I am short--I would sure like grocery stores and the like not to have such tall shelves. I cannot help being short.
I have to pay more for clothes since there are only a few brands that fit me well. Should Congress intervene so I can get compensated?
Let's not post anything mean about their sizes or call names. Some people are born with or develop medical conditions or even become handicapped that attributes to them gaining excess weight. It is not always diet alone. I've known athletes who were in good shape most of their life develop knee and foot problems preventing them from working out and their metabolism slowed down. This contributed to them adding 50 to 100lbs. It happens.
^That is a very, very small % of people. I have been to many countries. I never see overweight/obese people.
The reality is: America has a problem with food. Let's super size it! Our portions are out of control.
What about all the other places you might go to and need a seat? Baseball stadium, movie theater, concert, etc?
And where is the cutoff? six feet? five foot eleven inches? Would you happen to be the "only" six foot tall person on the plane? What if there are five other six feet people? Bump off the people that have paid for First Class?
I am short--I would sure like grocery stores and the like not to have such tall shelves. I cannot help being short.
I have to pay more for clothes since there are only a few brands that fit me well. Should Congress intervene so I can get compensated?
The following is my opinion based on nearly 70 years of life as a somewhat tall person.
I'm 6' 4.5" after nearly 70 years. Forget about planes, finding a car to fit in has become nearly impossible.
As to the airline issue, maybe two skinny people could double up to give extra room for fatties out of the kindness of their souls??
^That is a very, very small % of people. I have been to many countries. I never see overweight/obese people.
The reality is: America has a problem with food. Let's super size it! Our portions are out of control.
Agreed. People simply eat too much and exercise too little.
There is certainly some variation in body sizes, and factors that cause people to gain weight, in each case, no matter how careful a person is. So being somewhat overweight may well be outside of someone’s control. I can sympathize with that.
But the claims that advocates for obesity acceptance make- that all obese people work out so hard and eat so little yet somehow are obese through no fault of their own- are nonsense. Today’s Dear Abby features a woman who walks four miles a day and is unable to lose weight- well no wonder; try running four miles a day instead!
"Despite the prevailing advice, exercise is pretty unhelpful for weight loss. While 100 percent of the energy we gain comes from food, we can only burn 10 to 30 percent of it with physical activity each day."
The problem isn't exercise, it is failure to educate people regarding a healthy diet and our increasingly processed food system.
There is also a lot of bad advice. Fat sates appetite as does meat or fish. Butter is a safer food than oleo. There is far too much salt in our food.
Meats, even fresh meats, are increasingly processed via mandates of our government. Heme is added to water to create the smell of fresh meat. Heme is effectively nice smelling iron with water that looks like watery blood. It adds to the weight of meat, but has no nutritional value.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
