United Airlines, with its close to 3,000 flights per day, has created a firestorm over its new policy to make obese customers buy two tickets to fly. Basically, if they can’t fit in the space allotted for their seat, they will be rejected from the flight and forced to pay for the adjacent seat.
Many civil liberty groups are crying foul, saying that the reason these people can’t fit into the seats is that the seats are too small and not vice versa. But, United isn’t budging. If someone can’t lower their arm rest or buckle their seatbelt with the addition of one extension cord, they need to fork up the extra cash.
United claims that they are just doing what nearly eight other airlines have done. They are saying that this is for the comfort of other passengers. Representatives from United said that they had over 700 complaints from passengers who were made uncomfortable because the person next to them was a little too close for comfort.
With the population of the United States growing larger, it would seem that many airline seats have gotten smaller. In an effort to pack as many passengers into a plane, coach seats are just a little over 17 inches. You can still find seats that are around 19 inches, but most domestic carriers tend to have the 17 inch seats.
Still, many opponents to this are just saying it’s another way for United to make money in a tough economy. They say that seats should be made to fit the population and that the seats just need to be made bigger.
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