[Hank Man]

My wife flew coast to coast in an emergency exit seat. The person next to her in the middle was so large that she had to request an extension seat belt. It was clear that in an emergency this person would not be able to move much less fulfill the functions needed of someone in an exit row. The person didn't move during the entire flight.

Doesn't safety come first?

[cortney]

if the woman was ABLE and WILLING to help assist and she verbally told the flight attendant yes, thats that. it would have been discrimination if the flight attendant told her she was too large to sit there. I have questioned it myself about the seatbelt extension too...however it is allowed (per FAA inspector on one of my flights, when i questioned it). Some examples of people not able to sit there are people that lack sufficien mobility, cannot speak hear or understand flight attendant commands, any passenger traveling with small children any person under the age of 15. there are more but too many to list. but no laws were broken

[cortney]

http://www.risingup.com/fars/info/part121-585-FAR.shtml

[Hank Man]

That the woman asked for an extension seat belt was just a nice way of saying how large she was. I didn't want to be offensive about describing her difficulties in getting into her seat, the inability of the window person to get to the aisle, the effect she had on my wife's seat by expanding into it, etc. etc. She was immovable and would not have been able to assist in the actions required by the emergency folder.

Still scary and the point was not whether laws were broken but rather whether passenger safety was affected. There is a difference.

[cortney]

but you stated your wife was in the exit row. the other person was sitting in the center. so either your wife was at the window or aisle...either way why would the person at the window have to go into the aisle? that person is at the window which is where the door/window exit would be. there wouldnt be a need to go into the aisle. how was she immovable? she walked to get to the plane, to the seat etc. and as long as she said "yes" she was able and willing to assist thats the end of it. a flight attendant cant stand there and grill people asking "are you sure?". its not fair that your wife had to give up part of her seat...i know the feeling happens all the time to me too, but that woman (like it or not) could sit there. some airlines do have in addition to the FAA rules about the exit seat that a person needing an extension may not sit there...i agree that they shouldnt as the seatbelt extension could become a tripping hazard, but it looks like the airline your wife flew doesnt have that rule. was passenger saftey affected? depends on how you look at it. I look at it this way--all passengers in the exit row said Yes in willing and able to assist, thats what i need to know. how do you know if she wouldnt have been able to assist?

[Hank Man]

Clearly my writing capabilities are so poor that my description has confused you. My apologies.

It was really very simple and clear.

[bilingual]

Originally Posted by Hank Man

My wife flew coast to coast in an emergency exit seat. The person next to her in the middle was so large that she had to request an extension seat belt. It was clear that in an emergency this person would not be able to move much less fulfill the functions needed of someone in an exit row. The person didn't move during the entire flight.

Doesn't safety come first?

I would say so, and it probably will, but airlines are very reluctant to touch the growing group of fat people (which claim it is a disease )

Let them pay for two seats if their bodymass bothers the person sitting besides them and never put them in a emergency exit as they would be bottlenecks, should a situation occur.

[jimworcs]

I am fat. I sometimes have to use a seatbelt extension, sometimes not. In Europe I am not allowed to sit in the exit row if I require an extension. This strikes me as a fair and objective criteria and if the airline asked me to move I would do so without complaint. The link provided by Cortney proves the opposite of the case intended. In fact, the wide degree of discretion allowed under that regulation suggests that if a carrier decided to ban people from this aisle on the grounds of obesity they would be fine.

The underlying issue in this complaint is the impact people like me have on other passengers. If I am travelling, I am generally with my partner. I ask always for a window seat, my partner sits next to me, so we don't intrude on any other passenger. When travelling alone, I prefer to buy an extra seat. It can be difficult to do this on some airlines.. One told me I could buy another seat, but they couldn't guarantee that they would be together!!

The seats and space is getting smaller whilst people are getting taller and fatter. This should be regulated and I do consider the constricted space does represent a potential safety hazard. There was a crash by a commuter plane at CLT which resulted, in part, because the standard assumptions of the average weight of passengers was so out of date. Equally, the evacuations times used in aircraft certified many years ago should be looked at again. Cramming passengers in like sardines is not safe.

[cortney]

Jim if you scroll down it gives you all the people the are not allowed to sit in the exit row...obese or people needing extensions is not on the list. and as i stated before i have asked a fed before about this matter on a flight that i worked. do i think the people using the seatbelt extsion should sit there? no...i can agree with that 100%. however there isnt a law, i think there should be. i would actually write into the FAA about this, never know what can happen, next time i have a fed on board i'll talk to them again about it. If (and we all know delta has some flight attendants of size lol) a flight attendant cant use an extension in a jumpseat near the exit door, why can a passenger? flying isnt fun, especially when you have somebody spilling into your seat. the airlines do pack you in like sardines in a can, so does the bus though and sometimes the train (especially into chicago). So maybe i am gonna change my view on this (the more and more i read the complaint), if the extension is laying on the floor (if its that long, usually not though) then yes it is a saftey issue and people could trip over it.