United we (don’t) stand
April 16, 2009Erin 5 Comments »F.U.nited – another great post from Kate Harding, exploding the bullshit ideas around charging fat people extra to fly.
My email to United:
I flew a few times last year with United, and I was really happy with your “Economy Plus” option. I was still waiting for knee surgery and having that bit of extra leg room made the flights more pain-free for me. I would gladly have made you my airline of choice when flying in the US (I’m a Canadian).
However, because of your new policy of charging fatter people extra, you will not be receiving one single penny of my money in future. My shape means that this rule would never apply to me, but I’ll be damned if I knowingly support any business that is so blatantly discriminatory.
Oh, and I believe your spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said that this policy is being put in place because of the 700 complaints your airline received last year. I fully expect you to be keeping track of how many customers are making the same choice as myself to boycott your company, and when that number reaches 700 you will remove this policy. Or, you know, you could do the decent thing all on your own and simply decide not to discriminate. Your choice, United.
I asked for a response from them. I will be highly surprised if I actually get one.
And thank maude for Canada, who ruled that anything other than one-person, one-fare is discriminatory. From that link:
[The Canadian Transportation Agency] estimates the new policy will cost Air Canada about $6.93 million a year, and WestJet about $1.48 million a year. That amounts to about 77 Canadian cents a ticket for Air Canada and 44 Canadian cents for WestJet.
Not exactly breaking the bank, or causing undo hardship to the people purchasing the tickets. In fact, it’s a pretty small cost to pay for no discrimination.
Posted on April 17th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
You know I certainly do not discriminate against “large” people…being someone who is definitely over the Hollywood version of “ideal”….but I have to state how annoyed I was when I was seated next to a very large man on a 5 hour flight.
His rolls spilled over on to my seat and I spent the entire flight leaning to right side and in turn squishing my travel companion. During the meal, he had to lift his arms out so much to get around his girth that I was hit repeatedly. He was a nice fellow and apologized each time, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to pummel him. I was ok the first two hours, but by hour three…I was livid. I bit my tongue and silently cursed.
I don’t think charging him anymore money would have made my flight more comfortable; he would still have been sitting there and I would still be squished, but the airline would have made more money to offset the extra fuel (they claim).
I think that higher priced seats for larger folks should be an option, but the airline should use that money to provide several seats that will accommodate such people more reasonably. Say a row or two of just two seats, not three.
Sort of like business class without all the other perks.
Personally, I’d chose this option just for the extra leg room if the price wasn’t too ridiculous. I’m sure athletes on a budget would also appreciate such a choice.
If the airlines intend to charge larger ppl more money, but do nothing to accommodate their size and to consider their comfort and that of those around them, then they’re just thieving bastards.
Good for you for your letter!
Posted on April 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I’m with Yvonne. I don’t look at it as a matter of discrimination but simply one of logistics. I’m sorry but if you can’t fit into a regular sized seat then the higher price isn’t discrimination, it’s charging you for extra space you take up, and I think that’s fair to charge extra if you can’t seat another customer in the seat next to them.
But as Yvonne said, if they’re charging extra but making no accommodations for extra space to that person in exchange for the higher price, then they’re just being giant douchebags.
Posted on April 17th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
See, here’s the thing. It is discrimination when only one section of the population are being targeted. Since the airlines are not requesting that people with broad shoulders past a certain width should pay more, or people of a certain height, but only people whose hips might prevent them from putting the armrest down, that is discrimination.
If you don’t want someone else to touch you at all during a flight, then it’s your choice to pay for an extra seat or fly first class. Yvonne, I think your example is probably the exception, rather than the rule, and according to the ruling by the Canadian Transport Agency, he should have been given an extra seat free of charge because that is what he required for both his and your comfort.
Treating people with respect and dignity, no matter their size or shape or colour or religious beliefs … gosh, can you imagine such a world? Thanks to the Canadian Transport Agency, we in Canada at least are a little bit closer.
Posted on April 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
I just don’t understand how you can claim it’s discrimination, when accommodating larger people forces the airline to give up an extra seat for free. As a general rule, a larger person may require more than the space allotted to one seat, but they don’t actually take up two full seats, so they get lots of extra space compared to the average traveller. Why can’t I request a free seat next to me then, for no charge? Oh because I fit nicely into a single seat without spilling over into the next seat. How is that fair?
Posted on April 19th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Because discrimination is when a certain portion of the population are targeted for something they cannot control. Weight is tied so tightly to genetics for the majority of people – there are of course a few people who are the size they are due to lifestyle choices. But even those people deserve to not be discriminated against.
Why can’t I request a free seat next to me then, for no charge? Oh because I fit nicely into a single seat … Um, yeah. You answered your own question. The arbitrary seat size on airplanes accommodates your size, the size you are due primarily to genetics. But a fat person, whose size is also determined by genetics, is not accommodated and is being forced to pay extra.
Did you see the part that said for Canadian airlines how much extra it would cost per ticket to allow for one-person, one-fare ticketing? Do you honestly think that because you won the genetics lottery, you shouldn’t have to pay $0.77 extra (at most) per flight in order to show all people respect?