AA's "Fat Flier" Got Whole Row

After a photo emerged yesterday of an overweight man on an American Airlines flight, flooding the aisle with flab, Federal aviation authorities investigated the image.

Apparently before being airborne, flight attendants gave the man two extra seats, which is in line with safety rules, according to the NY Post. This was accomplished by offering another passenger a ticket for a later flight, so the overweight man could have a whole row to himself. Giving him one seat belt extender (two is not allowed), and putting the arm rests up, the man was accommodated for and no FAA rules were violated.

There was no word on if he had to pay for the extra seat, and the paper points out that all airlines have different rules in dealing with the matter. "JetBlue leaves to its crews how to deal with fat passengers; Delta says it deals with them on a case-by-case basis. American has said it has no hard-and-fast fat-flier rules." As far as safety issues, one airline source says that children and elderly passengers can slow down an emergency evacuations just as much as an obese passenger.

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By Jen Carlson in News on December 4, 2009 9:55 AM

Comments [rss]

Jack D. Ripper

Hmm...I wonder how he fit through the metal detector.

vacantlook

I am seriously amazed at the amount of people who keep commenting thinking he's abnormally tall. How is it not obvious to you that he's sitting on the armrest?!

Guest

HOLY JESUS CHRIST ! ! !

AHT

If we're taking nominations for the epitome of American-ness, I vote for the amazing amounts of privilege being thrown around in these threads. Wow.

nivek

Are you fat?

No?

Have you been outside of...America?

Lindsay

Why do you hate this guy? He's not a thing, he's a person. He's probably got some kind of endocrine disease. Look at his height.

I weigh 100lbs and I subsidize average-weight people every time I fly. It's no big deal. That's how the system should work: Everybody pays the same for a ticket. Part of the cost covers the expense of accommodating people with special needs. You never know who that's going to be. We're all going to be old and feeble one day if we live long enough, anyone can become disabled or sick.

Dead Himmler

Please stop throwing up your meals. You will feel better about yourself.

pencap75

P90x is the shit.... go do it

lostwallet

I wonder if these comments would be as disgusting and rude if the guy was over-height instead of over-weight.

Airplane seats have steadily shrunk in both width and legroom and the financial crises in the airline industry have accelerated rate at which personal space is shrinking. And while Americans are the fattest people in the world, percentage-wise, there is a significant number of the populous who are truly "big-boned" or suffer from diseases such as hypothyroidism and Cushing's disease.

There is only one domestic airline that I know of (Spirit) that offers any choices in seats besides a business- or first-class upgrade (upgrades that cost three times the price of a coach fare). If more airlines offered reasonably-priced seat options for those of larger frame, they might avoid embarrassment to both their companies and their customers.

youngpro

i agree. my mom's a surgeon whos patients are morbidly obese to a point where all else has failed and surgery is their last and only option. i used to see patients cry ouf of fear of dying young because of their weight, and cry because they're so desperate to be healthier and have a thinner body. they oftentimes go into a deep depression. many times diet is beyond their control and they have poor genes coupled with hypothyroidism that says they metabolize food at a far slower rate than normal. i actually feel bad for this guy. imagine the stares, the whispers, the rumors people start as he walks around every day of his life.

and no, i'm 5'11", 155lbs, hardly fat at all for those of you waiting say 'oh, you're probably a fat ass.'

Dude69

Then you probably used to be a fat ass. Gothamist commenters just don't like fat people, period.

Tamar Weinberg

$30 more for more legroom is pretty reasonable to me.

Dead Himmler

You are obviously a fat ass.

NannyState

If you're so incredibly obese that you have to remove the back of your car seat, there aren't a lot of ways for airlines or anyone else to discretely get around the 'elephant in the room'. Blind people don't drive, deaf people don't work as DJs and massively fat people shouldn't fly.

Spirit of 76

He's sitting on the armrest, which is why he's a head taller than the other guy.

wilsonstpierre

This guy is more like a giant than fat. Look at how much taller in the seat than the guy next to him. Fatness doesn't make you taller.

Also the article says the guy had two seats. Does it look like he's sitting in two seats you in the picture? Nope.

youngpro

two MORE seats, not two seats.

Snoopy

Quick question. When a football team travels by air, how do they charge the linesmen? Albeit they are not flabby fat, but there are some serious supersized dudes on the team. 6'-6" and 370 isn't your normal prom queen size.

Dead Himmler

Common sense FAIL. Football teams fly on their own planes.

youngpro

not all, they charter the same planes we fly on, just to get ouf of the 'commercial' flight status and moved to 'charter' status; it lets them circumvent the height safety rules which state a max of about 6'6", not that THAT many footballers would be that tall or more.