Another Airline Adds "Too Fat To Fly" Policy

This is a good reminder to me to be thankful that I am Canadian. In Canada, if a person cannot be accommodated in a single seat, the airline must provide a second or larger seat at no cost to the person. The Supreme Court determined that a passenger on an airplane does not pay for a 'seat' but for 'carriage' and must be provided appropriate accommodation for thier needs. This goes for the obese, or anyone else with a medical need for a second seat due to a disability [and yes, in Canada being obese is considered a disability, as is drug or alcohol addiction - we're progressive :) ]

I think this is a smart policy because it is a disincentive for airlines to continue to make their seats smaller and smaller. The smaller they are, the more people will need two, which means fewer people on the plane and lower profits for the airline.

That sounds like an excellent policy! Too bad it will probably never pass here in America.

who enforces this?

i can't see american airlines bumping a platinum member from a flight from toronto to dallas (AA's hub) to accommodate an obese person.   their loyalty is to their frequent flyers.

but then again, i like to pick my surgeon too , as well as pay for my BC class flights - so nobody's junk is in my lap.

I believe it only applies to Canadian airlines, not all airlines that simply fly into or out of Canadian destinations, but I'll double check on that. It's a policy well understood by the Canadian airlines, there is info on thier websites about how to alert them that you need a 2nd seat when you book. I haven't heard of there being any problems since this ruling came out a couple of years ago, so I don't think there have been any problems.

"In Canada, if a person cannot be accommodated in a single seat, the airline must provide a second or larger seat at no cost to the person."

Really?! I had no idea!

Yep, the Supreme Court ruled on it in 2008. The only requirement is that the passenger must notify the airline at the time of booking. If you just show up at the airport for your flight and ask for it, they are suppossed to provide it if one is available, but if not you may be booked onto the next flight where two seats are available.

 Ok so I feel like if I Pay for the seat, I don't want to be any less comfortable then the person next to me. Fat or skinny u need to sit in ur seat if ur taking up my space u need to move. It's been our choice to become fat. So accommodate and sacrifice what u must . Think about it if it was the other way around and you were the skinny one would u like to share half of your seat with someone's thigh for a couple hrs? Society does not need to accommodate fat ppl, fat ppl need to start living healthy and if they  choose the crAppy food then live with your choice and stop expecting everyone to accommodate you.

I do not disagree with everything you are saying, however, there are a lot of overweight people that did not get that way by 'crappy' eating.  I don't know anyone that 'chose' to become fat.

I do believe that a lot of us ate the way that Doctors and the USDA food grouping said to eat, low fat, higher carbs, and it made a lot of us overweight. 

You sound like you hate overweight, aka, 'fat people'. I don't know if you do, it just comes across that way to me.

That being said, I don't want to share my airline seat either.

 Omg absolutely not I don't hate anyone.  I myself am fat. So I know for experience that's when ppl are overweight the know that they are overweight . For example I'm fat because I chose to eat a lot of unhealthy food. As fat as I am and as tight as my jeans are I still put the big Mac and fries in my mouth and swallowed. I knew that it was unhealthy and that it would make me bigger but at that moment I chose the food over my health. Point is we became fat because of what we Ate for the most Part. So weather we want to admit it or not we brought the fat upon ourselves. Do ultimately we need to live with our choices. Fat equals more money to fly , it's our choice to either decide to change and become healthy and pay less or stay fat And pay for the space our body requires.

No, I would not like to share my seat with someone else.

However, most people do not choose to become fat.  Did you choose to be fat?  Perhaps you did, but I did not.

It would be good if fat people started living healthy.  It would be good if skinny people started living healthy, too, don't you think?  Skinny does not automatically equal healthy, you know.  Neither does fat automatically equal unhealthy.

It seems you believe all fat people eat crappy food.  That's not true, either.  And many skinny people eat lots of crappy food.

No, I don't want to share my seat with someone else and if I need more than one seat, I think I should pay for a second seat.  I just don't like it when people make incorrect assumptions about fat people, and it appears you have many mistaken beliefs about fat people.  That bothers me.