Overweight? Be Ready to Buy a Second Seat on AirTran
Low-fare carrier adopts the "customer of size" policy of its new parent
10/12/2011 | By Truman Lewis
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ConsumerAffairs.com
| Travel
There's a paradox in air travel: the seats keep getting smaller and the passengers keep getting bigger.
This can make for some pretty uncomfortable flights but most major airlines tend to look the other way, hoping passengers will somehow work it out. Or just suck it up.
Southwest Airlines, however, has for some time required "customers of size" to buy a second seat. And now, Atlanta-based AirTran -- recently acquired by Southwest -- is doing the same, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
As of March 1, AirTran will require the purchase of more than one seat for a passenger who "in the carrier's sole discretion," can't fit into a single seat with the armrest lowered, said the newspaper, quoting AirTran's contract of carriage.
Until now, AirTran has not had a written policy about its passengers' girth although agents have sometimes suggested that unusually hefty travelers upgrade to business class. Southwest doesn't have a business class on its planes, unless you regard two coach seats as amounting to business class.
Delicate subject
Assessing one's bulk can be a delicate subject but Southwest has managed to pin it down pretty well, saying that customers of size are "those who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat[s], ,,, The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats."
AirTran doesn't serve Newark, N.J., so Gov. Chris Christie won't be affected. Besides, he can just use his helicopter.
Southwest says the policy affects fewer than one-half of 1 percent of its customers and notes that passengers who buy a second seat can request a refund if it turns out that the flight wasn't full.
While Southwest's policy may seem harsh, the carrier says it adopted its rule in response to complaints from passengers who objected to the intrusion of their traveling companions' adipose tissue into their airspace.
Big shoulders, on the other hand, aren't a problem since, as Southwest notes, "The upper body can be adjusted."
Southwest and AirTran policies are silent on the subject of sharp elbows.
Good will
Other than the wide load issue, AirTran seems to have built up a relatively hefty reservoir of good will. There are the usual complaints in our consumer review section but neither the number nor the ferocity matches those of larger airlines.
Likewise, a survey of online comments found little discussion of AirTran pro or con. We found only 300 or so comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social media and blogs, most of thenm dealing with baggage, schedules and customer service.
Sherri Robertson (Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:02:02 +0000): Lmao Wow! Seriously? So you pay for two seats and still only get to sit on one. Hmmmm why not make seats a little wider to accommodate those paying to fly. I am sure even the thinner people would appreciate a little more room, especially on long flights. Since they say 95% of Americans are overweight it appears to me another gimmick to make more money. If I had to pay for two seats then even still I would want to be able to sit in that seat comfortably without the armrest interfering. This smells like a lawsuit waiting to happen for discrimination of size.
Heather Nicole Borum (Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:55:38 +0000): Mother it has nothing to do with weight, that's just a perfectly good distracted excuse to hide the fact that its really about money!!! More seats means they make more money...the smaller they are, the more they have, the more they get to charge...that's what it's really about. But then it's real easy to make someone's size a really "BIG" issue to promote the intention to begin with :).
Eric Keene (Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:18:34 +0000): I am absolutely ALL FOR charging overly obese people extra if they can't fit in the seat. I am disgusted every time I fly and some obese person sits in the seat next to me...AND IN MY SEAT TOO! This policy dosen't seem to effect your 'average' overweight people, but only the morbidly obese. The morbidly obese affect MY HEALTH INSURNCE COSTS and then share my small seat on a plane. If you are going to be the size of three people, you should be charged at least twice for a seat on a plane and STAY OUT OF MY SPACE!
Lugenia Washington (Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:59:56 +0000): "Why, can't the airline install, some what they call a chair and a half seat, for the larger customers, at a little higher rate, rather than embarrass these people, or have the thinner person, have to deal with being uncomfortable because of them!"
Stacy Ouellette Witt (Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:07:37 +0000): O.k I kinda understand the reasoning behind this, if the person paying for 2 tickets was actually getting 2 seats. Why not make a few rows with larger seats for these people and charge them more, kinda like first class, but for overweight people and only overweight people. As for Mr Keene's post, not everyone has control over being obese, there are some legit medical reason that can cause one to gain weight, but insurance companies don't help avoid the weight gain from medical problems. So there for they get diabetes, heart problems, ect. that cost a heck of alot more then if they paid for proper care in advance. Like the insurance companies, airlines are money hungry just like the rest of the world.
Jacqueline Ruckel (Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:51:29 +0000): Southwest has managed to pin it down pretty well, saying that customers of size are "those who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat[s], ,,, The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats."