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Plus-Sized Hosers Take Off in Two Seats in Great White North, Eh
"One passenger, one fare" is not quite as catchy as "one man, one vote," but Canada's new court ruling on the matter may finally convince ursine musical felon David Crosby to finally move to the Great White North.
Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.
The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.
The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal in May and had sought to launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court. The court's decision not to hear a new appeal means the one-person-one-fare policy stands.
libertarian democrat|11.21.08 @ 7:25AM|#
As an obese guy (although one that can fit in most seats, as far
as I know at least), this seems more ridiculous than most
anti-discrimination things.
SLD of course. But even from a non-libertarian standpoint, a plain
carrying all obese people (although these would probably have to be
extremely obese people) would only get half as much money. This
isn't like building a ramp or writing some braille on signs, this
scales even more with how many obese people you take on the plane.
Ridiculous.
anarch|11.21.08 @ 7:28AM|#
Whatever happened to that fat man on the buffet line who used to post here?
Metal Messiah|11.21.08 @ 7:33AM|#
I don't really understand why obese people need two seats.
If they were that big, wouldn't they spill over into the seats on
both sides of their seats? Sounds like they'd need three seats
instead of two.
armchairpunter|11.21.08 @ 7:59AM|#
Along these lines, I think the government should seize the excess food consumed by the obese and redistribute to the hungry. You want a second seat? Say goodbye to that second cheeseburger.
DADIODADDY|11.21.08 @ 8:05AM|#
How large was he? So large the plane circled the airport until they ran out of fuel...
Joel|11.21.08 @ 8:34AM|#
Ah, the conflict of ideology and inclination...
Ideology: Two seats for one fare, are you mad? It's only one
person, isn't it? It's not the airline's fault he's the size of
two! Screw'em!
Inclination: Greedy bastards, packing passengers in like kippered
herring and now they're upset that somebody bitches. Hell, I'm
skinny and can't fit just because there's no place for my arms.
Screw'em.
YoungLiberal|11.21.08 @ 8:46AM|#
Folks, calm down. It's not their fault they're obese. It's society's.
|11.21.08 @ 8:52AM|#
What does "functionally disabled by obesity" mean? People who are so fat that can't walk and have to ride around on those Rascal things? I can understand that.
|11.21.08 @ 8:53AM|#
So, double the price and offer discounts for people who can see
their toes.
-jcr
Fluffy|11.21.08 @ 8:58AM|#
By this logic, shouldn't restaurants also have to charge flat
rates per person who enters, rather than charging by the item
eaten?
Charging by the item discriminates against the obese person who
wants to stuff themselves with two entrees.
|11.21.08 @ 8:58AM|#
Some of us are super sized vertically, rather than horizontally. What ? Nothing for us ? I'll sue for more leg room, damn it!!
|11.21.08 @ 8:58AM|#
Charge by the pound - passenger, luggage, and carry on bag. This would make loading and unloading go faster too if it encourages peoples to not travel with so much crap.
scared of you|11.21.08 @ 9:02AM|#
I'm anthropophobically disabled. I want the whole plane to myself. One ticket, please.
Doug|11.21.08 @ 9:16AM|#
I had to sit next to a sumo-sized passenger shoehorned into a single seat once. It was a traumatic experience I may never recover from. I, for one, applaud the decision.
|11.21.08 @ 9:25AM|#
Weight is a factor when flying on a plane, weight and balance
are crucial. I think if a 400 pound dude bumps another passenger
because the weight level of safe flight has been reached then yes,
the fat dude should pay for it! Fair is fair!
http://www.Privacy-Center.net
Ox Baker|11.21.08 @ 9:42AM|#
Anyone know if seats are smaller these days? There sure seem smaller to me. I'm a big, broad shouldered guy and have no problem with my ass fitting in the seat but there is negative elbow room. Turning a page on newspaper results in my elbow being in the face of my neighbor so I stick to magazines now.....
|11.21.08 @ 9:47AM|#
Charge by the pound - passenger, luggage, and carry on bag.
This would make loading and unloading go faster too if it
encourages peoples to not travel with so much crap.
BINGO!
Sign me up for your newsletter bigbigslacker.
|11.21.08 @ 9:57AM|#
It was a traumatic experience I may never recover from. I,
for one, applaud the decision.
While i agree that it must be traumatic, I am concerned about the
incentive it gives already overweight people to chunk up to the
size where they are guaranteed 2 seats for the price of one. I
mean, why not, it's way more convienient.
That said, this horrifies me.
"excuse me, your fat is spilling onto my lap"
|11.21.08 @ 10:01AM|#
So, what if you're just tall? Those seats are uncomfortable for me at 6' 2, 200 pounds. I'd like two seats as well. Who are they to deny my need? From each airline according to its seatibility, to each flier according to his need.
D.A. Ridgely|11.21.08 @ 10:03AM|#
Whatever happened to that fat man on the buffet line who used to post here?
[bad Chinese accent]
You go now!
[/bad Chinese accent]
Fluffy|11.21.08 @ 10:11AM|#
Anyone know if seats are smaller these days? There sure seem
smaller to me.
You have to discount your perception of smaller seats by any
increase in size, or decrease in flexibility, you have experienced
as you've gotten older.
When I was 17 I weighed 140 pounds and could bend like Mr.
Fantastic, and as a result most plane and bus seats felt like
studio apartments to me. Now I'm pushing 40, weigh 180, and can
only do toe touches if I'm in a blazing hot shower - so if you ask
me if plane seats are smaller than they were when I was younger,
I'm likely to be a little bit biased.
|11.21.08 @ 10:25AM|#
Will this fly in the Great White North?
I eat drink too much. I'm often functionally
disabled by my obesity drunkeness. I
therefore require two four seats on a flight
so I can lay down and sleep off my inebriation.
As we all know, obesity alcoholism has a
genetic component, so it is not my fault. The airlines should pay
for it.
Kyle Jordan|11.21.08 @ 10:28AM|#
You know what, this story pisses me off.
I'm fat. And I'm not talking slightly either. At my height I was
near 600 pounds. Barring the pulmonary problems I was born with,
and the SLIGHT, note I wrote SLIGHT, increase in weight caused by
my original steroid inhalers, IT WAS MY FUCKING FAULT FOR BEING
LAZY AND LOVING FOOD!!!!!
I nearly died in 2004 and that was my wake up call. I've dropped
almost 300 pounds since then with no surgery and am still
losing.
I had to take a flight to Virginia in '05 and one of my first
thoughts was "I should pay for two seats." It wasn't because I felt
guilt or anything like that. It was because those damn seats are
small and uncomfortable! My fat ass don't like being
uncomfortable!
I paid for two seats. In midflight for shits and giggles, I tried
sitting in just one of them. There was no way in Hell I could have
done that the entire time! Not only was it uncomfortable, but it
was so discomforting that it really affected my over all,
admittedly poor, system. My heart rate went up, I flushed crimson
which is a sign my blood pressure has spiked, and I started having
breathing difficulties.
The moral of my story is that if you're fat enough to need two
seats, you should buy two tickets or be charged as such by the
airline.
Or go with what bigbigslacker wrote and charge by the damn
pound.
Tubby bitch...
bubba|11.21.08 @ 10:32AM|#
YoungLiberal | November 21, 2008, 8:46am | #
Folks, calm down. It's not their fault they're obese. It's
society's.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
POTD
|11.21.08 @ 10:35AM|#
IT WAS MY FUCKING FAULT FOR BEING LAZY AND LOVING
FOOD!!!!!
Are you for real? Accepting personal responsibility for your own
actions?!?! Refusing and condemning special treatment?
You, sir, have restored a good bit of my faith in people.
Thanks.
|11.21.08 @ 10:38AM|#
At my height I was near 600 pounds...I've dropped almost 300
pounds since then with no surgery and am still losing
Damn, dude. Good for you.
You have to discount your perception of smaller seats by any
increase in size, or decrease in flexibility, you have experienced
as you've gotten older.
I will conversely support Fluffy's assertion here. I weigh the same
as I did when 17, and plane seats seem the same to me.
|11.21.08 @ 10:49AM|#
This is why I'm seeking investors for Rainbow Puppy Airways, the
airline specifically targeted to fat, drunken, slobs who smoke
cheap cigars. All the seats will be (open) window seats. Send me
fifty billion bucks.
Hurry! Offer ends soon!
Bingo|11.21.08 @ 10:50AM|#
As a lanky skinny bastard I want my freaking legroom! The airlines should be forced to stop discriminating against tall people and remove the seat in front of me to compensate for my longer legs. It's not my fault I was born this way!
|11.21.08 @ 11:10AM|#
So, I guess my recent business idea* for an airline that
guaranteed no kids or fatties is a no-go in my native land.
*Amazing the innovation that comes from a 5 hour flight during
which the moments when the little angel behind you stops pulling
your hair and merely kicks your seat repeatedly seem like blessed
relief.
Kyle Jordan|11.21.08 @ 11:38AM|#
Epi,
Thanks. This shit ain't easy.
phalkor,
Yep, I'm for real. I came off really harsh in my post but it was
also about as truthful as it could have been in my views. I'm lazy,
don't like people, and hate working. That being said, I can't bring
myself to leech off society. I'm not disallusioned with my fellow
Americans enough to where my lazyness wins out over my not wanting
to steal from them. Getting close though.
|11.21.08 @ 11:40AM|#
Good for you, Kyle. And that's exactly the right attitude.
Unfortunately, too many people want to jump into the special class
category when made available, either for the money or for other
reasons.
An interesting thing that I've learned is that in employment law,
the idea of specially protected classes (outside of the ADA) has
mostly gone away. Everyone is in a protected class.
AlfromAlberta|11.21.08 @ 11:52AM|#
The ruling not only applies to obese people, but also to those
with disabilities. With the term "disabled' being applied so
generously , it won't be long until most folks get a free seat for
an attendant. More here.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/540345
|11.21.08 @ 11:52AM|#
Charge by the pound, as was advocated above!!
Brilliantly simple.
Prior to obtaining his boarding pass the passenger stands on a
scale along with all his "crap" he wishes to take on board....
multiply x $/Lb... voila, the fare.
Naw, much too logical and too easy to administer!
H.F. Wolff
|11.21.08 @ 11:52AM|#
Episiarch: I was thinking something similar, but with modern PC
terminology. Just claim that you "self-identify as obese" to get
the two seats.
Pro Libertate: But there's still an official designation of
"historically-oppressed minorities," correct? A friend of mine was
surprised to find out that Jews aren't considered to be in that
category. Sort of like the Spanish guy who the bureaucrats decided
wasn't "Hispanic."
Balloon|11.21.08 @ 11:59AM|#
What if I'm just not comfortable in one seat because I have broad shoulders? Where is my extra seat?
|11.21.08 @ 12:08PM|#
What if I'm just not comfortable in one seat because I have
broad shoulders?
Get an aisle seat, and lean out into the aisle, so the waitresses
can ram that nine hundred pound warwagon into you shoulderblade.
That's what I used to do.
Now, I drive.
|11.21.08 @ 12:09PM|#
How about just putting in bench seats? Then you could match fatties with skinnies in a Tetris-like fashion to get them all in.
Ox Baker|11.21.08 @ 1:26PM|#
No more aisle seats for me, either. Not only banged by the bev cart but by every person that passed by. I always try to get a window seat and lean against the bulkhead. For the record I think the seating is more cramped than 20 years ago. You people who weigh less than 180 probably don't notice. USMC boot camp failed to get me under 200 lbs. and I didn't make the mandated 30 inch waist size, either. And believe me, they tried. I just have a large frame.
Neu Mejican|11.21.08 @ 1:33PM|#
Related to the eHarmony agreement.
Discrimination laws are based on a claim that the reason a
person is being excluded, over-charged, denied service, denied
access, etc... is unrelated to the service, access, job,
whatever.
In other words, it is not discrimination if you exclude, charge
extra, deny service, deny access for a legitimate reason that is
related to the service, access, job, whatever.
In the eHarmony case, their exclusionary rule was directly related
to their service: providing hetero-sexual singles with a dating
service. They also had the additional relevance factor that the
matching was based on scientifically (ish) determined factors that
applied only to heterosexuals. For those reasons, a claim of
discrimination is invalid because the discrimination is reasonable
and based on relative factors.
In this case as well, the size/weight of the passenger is
reasonably related to the charge. The service that the airline is
selling is directly tied to the amount of space you take up and
your weight, so it is invalid, despite what the court says, to make
a discrimination claim here, because the airlines were not
arbitrarily charging more based on an irrelevant factor.
As far as "disability" accommodations as they relate to this issue,
they must be reasonable and should not lead to an "undue burden" on
the, in this case, airline. In this case, the loss of an entire
fare to accommodate seems to be an undue burden. The additional
costs for accommodation should be carried by the person needing
accommodations when those accommodations involve an undue
burden.
I support anti-discrimination laws, but they require clear thinking
to serve their purpose.
Neu Mejican|11.21.08 @ 1:39PM|#
Charge by the pound, as was advocated above!!
Brilliantly simple.
Prior to obtaining his boarding pass the passenger stands on a
scale along with all his "crap" he wishes to take on board....
multiply x $/Lb... voila, the fare.
Naw, much too logical and too easy to administer!
Sorry, the difficulty you miss is that airline tickets are not
purchased at the point/time of service, but are purchased from afar
at an earlier date (for the most part).
Of course if you publish a chart of rate by weight and include a
clause that you will be weighed in the manner described above to
determine what charge applies, I guess it could be
implemented.
I think an easier way to do it is to set a weight limit per fare
and clearly state it...with additional weight incurring an
additional charge
ed|11.21.08 @ 2:33PM|#
What happens to all that liposuction fat? Shouldn't we be running our cars on it? Methinks Hollywood and its immediate environs could be contributing to greater California's energy needs, inasmuch as shallowness converts to BTUs. Any bio-engineers present? How far may one expect to go on the excess fat of a 300-pound Hollywood ex-actress?
strat|11.22.08 @ 2:39AM|#
In fairness to David Crosby, while technically correct, "musical felon" is misleading. He is musical and a felon, but I think that appellation is better applied to any of a myriad modern post-grunge rock bands who overdrive their amps producing a hash of clipped over-compressed crap that all sounds alike.
SpongePaul|11.22.08 @ 9:39AM|#
Wow, Then a 6'3" 220 lb hockey player I can now get 2 seats, By reading this i can claim the seat in front of me has to be mine, because i am disabled by having long legs, and the discomfort of the kid or guy in the seat in front of me throwing his seatback back crushing my kneecaps must now move. i am entilted to the extra seat. SEE HOW STUPID THIS SOUNDS! I do not know the answer to fat guy in a little coat, but entitiling people to extra seats is not the way!
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