Seat pitch, and "...the right thing..."
Now we're gonna have the size of the seat regulated?
Yes, but not for people of size. A 31", or less, seat pitch, on a non-stop flight of 3 hours or more, is probably unhealthy. I suspect one could find doctors/medical evidence to support this. Deep vein thrombosis, or "economy class syndrome," has been associated with the issue of seat pitch. As I've said in previous posts rules like this will cause air fares to go up. However, prior to deregulation, those who wanted to travel on the cheap--because they had to, or for other reasons--used Greyhound.
you know what the right thing here is.
If possible, allowing a customer affected by a person of size to leave the aircraft without risking the loss of the value of their ticket or being forced to pay "change" or other fees. If the doors have been closed, then giving the person a CASH refund equal to 50% of the value of the ticket if it's round trip (with the remaining portion still usable), or the full value if it's one-way. If enough tickets had to be refunded, ground staff would be more alert to people of size and, yes, there might be some discrete walks down the jetway.
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