me

Okay, we've done enough fat-bashing here. How about some alternatives for overweight people flying. Like which airlines are roomier, etc. Why not try to help instead of bashing all the time, you can't make people lose weight.

ttt

ttt

x

You can make people feel bad if they smoke, why not make people feel bad if they are fat?

geez

This is such a touchy subject. I am not fat, but I am a very muscular 6'2, 210 man. I am sure people aren't exactly looking forward to sitting by me on a plane either. While I am in excellent shape, I probably inconvenience other passengers as well. And the list goes on. Crying babies, people who smoked a pack of cigarettes before getting on a plane, the two teenage girls who (loudly) chat about boys for 3 hours, the guy with the headphones blaring loud enough so you can listen to his rap music. They all inconvenience us, but you have to live with it.

With that said, as a big guy, I find the following airlines have the best/worst seats for me.

Best - TWA and United. United's economy plus is awesome, and TWA has always had good seats.

Worst - Delta and Northwest. When I got on a Delta flight recently and took my seat, I thought it was some kind of joke. Side-to-side room was average at best, but legroom was pathetic. It was a miserable, miserable two hours.

Candie

I don't think the seats are necessarily wider but the extra legroom on American Airlines really does make a difference for large people. My husband is a large man (6'4") and he use to have such problems. Now he tries to fly AA whenever possible. Airlines will never remove seats making only two seats on each side (wider seats)of the isle, they'd lose too much revenue.

S

Geez, I must have been stuck between you and my husband on that flight several years ago. He is about your size. It was the most miserable flight of my life! Your butts fit into the seat just fine, but your shoulders - well, I was a tad cramped for the duration of that flight.

m

midwest express has business class type seats in coach. roomier than the usual coach.

Midwest Express

Not business class---they're first class type seats. Very wide, leather....best airline in the country.

Lulu

Private jet.

GenAVia

Oh, yes, let's get everyone into private planes and they can buzz the White House with anthrax powder.

Stephanie P.

Me:

Be prepared to pay alot more for airplane travel in the future if you want wider seats. All the space you are taking away, that could maybe fit in one more passenger, will be compensated with higher prices.

goaway

AH,so speaks the ever intelligent,oh so informed,brilliant Stephanie.Who is not fat and hates to fly with those fatties.

lol

lol

y

x, do you think people don't already feel bad about being overweight? Speaking for myself, I am already quite unhappy enough about it, and after reading this board for the past few days I am more aware than ever of the way some (apparently many!) very angry, judgmental people look at me. Adding incentives to lose weight is not helpful, there are plenty of incentives already. It is a MUCH more complex problem than the simplistic folks I've been reading here are willing to admit.

Jim Rosenberg

The best advice is above: Midwest Express (soon changing the name to Midwest Airlines, I believe). They are hands-down the finest domestic airline in the U.S. Their route map is not as extensive as some of the larger carriers, but if you are able to use them, they are the top choice for comfort and overall quality of service. Here's the website:

http://www2.midwestexpress.com/home.asp

Happy Contrails!

xxx

Amen, Jim. How do you suppose it is that Midwest Express can return a profit, offer 21" wide seats, and still charge less than SWA on most advance-purchase routes? Executive compensation, maybe? Higher load factors and fewer flights, maybe?

It's simply a different business model, one where customer service is substituted for volume.

I don't need a seatbelt extender, but I will change my schedule if it means assigned seats, more legroom and butt room, and the same, or even a cheaper, price.

prejudice

wow, that's right, I've never seen any person from Great Britain that's big. And they all have impeccable manners too! Boy, are you lucky to be from there!!