A photo of a plus-sized passenger struggling to fit between the armrests on a plane has sparked a fierce debate over whether obese travellers should have to pay for an extra seat. Read More
The man was snapped by a fellow traveller as he struggled to get into his aisle seat during a flight from Helsinki to Copenhagen on Monday.
‘This guy sat behind me on my flight from Helsinki to Copenhagen yesterday,’ the man who took the photo wrote on Facebook.
‘I felt sorry for him and the guy next to him in the middle seat, both of whom must have felt very uncomfortable for the short flight.
‘Maybe it’s time for airlines to address situations like this in a thoughtful and sensitive way.’
The man said the larger passenger was ‘protruding into the aisle’ forcing fellow travellers to squeeze around him on their way to the bathroom.
Some said it the man should have to pay for an extra seat so as not to impinge on everyone around him.
‘No matter the reason someone is oversized, if they are, they have to purchase an extra seat. That is not discrimination, it is a safety requirement,’ one said.
The plus-sized passenger was snapped by a fellow traveller as he struggled to get comfortable in his aisle seat during a flight from Helsinki to Copenhagen on Monday.
‘I am in agreement that if you can’t fit into your seat, you need to buy a second one. Whether we agree with seat size or not, you are buying a set amount of space on the plane and shouldn’t spill over to someone else’s space,’ a second wrote.
‘Just like checked bags, there should be a Passenger Weight Limit for a single seat. And, that Limit should be based on seat size/class,’ a third suggested.
‘I’m a fatty. Probably knocking on this guys size. It’s his responsibility to make sure he is comfortable and that no one else is being crushed by him,’ a fourth man said.
‘The airlines could do with making seats bigger and more comfortable. Not for guys like me but for the average person. Most people are uncomfortable in normal seats.
‘I always purchase an extra seat or more recently I go business.’
‘My father’s friend was this large. He always understood that traveling meant one of two things: He had to pay for first class, or he had to buy two seats. He never complained about it, just went with the cheaper option,’ a fifth wrote.