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Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines,
saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her
weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in May
2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more
than one seat.
"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second
ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
A lawyer for Southwest says the airline denies it discriminated against
Blake or harassed her.
Linda Rutherford, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline, said
Southwest's policy requiring second tickets for large people is meant to
ensure passenger safety and comfort -- both for the heavy passengers and
those nearby.
Blake, who lives in the north Spokane suburb of Chattaroy, said she's flown
on Southwest and other airlines numerous times before and never had been
asked to consider buying an extra seat.
"I'm a bigger girl but I'm not that big," she told The Associated Press on
Saturday. At 5-foot-7, she wears size 22 pants and considers herself
overweight but not obese, she said.
She said she would not have considered the suggestion discrimination if
Southwest had been more discreet and polite in asking her to consider a
second seat. In her view, the treatment she received was abusive and
insulting.
Her lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane in June. Her
attorney, Russell Van Camp, said he plans to seek unspecified monetary
damages for reckless infliction of emotional distress and harassment.
Blake said she'd like to receive a formal apology from the airline. She
wrote a letter after the incident and received two $50 Southwest vouchers
she has not yet used. She said a letter the airline sent did not include an
apology.
"Even if they offered me free tickets for the rest of my life, it would do
me no good," she said. "I'm not able to fly any more. The idea of flying
again gives me too much anxiety."
Rutherford said the airline does not track the frequency of its requests
for second seats, but said it happens "very rarely."
"More often it's the case that some passengers pre-order two seats before
coming to the airport," she said.
And in cases where passengers are asked to buy second tickets, the fares
are refunded if the plane leaves with any unfilled seats, she said.
Southwest is working harder to make sure employees are consistent in asking
passengers to consider two seats, so that passengers like Blake don't go
across the country and then encounter a request on a return trip.
"This is a very sensitive issue and we handle it with the utmost
discretion," she added.
In 2000, a California court ruled that Southwest did not violate a
passenger's civil rights by requesting a second fare when deemed necessary.
A brother and sister from New Mexico sued Southwest Airlines in June over
the same policy. Andrea Kysar of White Rock and Martin McLaughlin of
Espanola, who are described in the lawsuit as "morbidly obese," said they
were told in front of other passengers that they had to buy extra tickets
because their weight would cause "comfort and safety" problems for others.
Watch the video:
http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=39073
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Dennis wrote:
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines,
saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her
weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in May
2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more
than one seat.
"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second
ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
I commend the airline for sticking up for the other passengers.
I've had to ride next to an obese woman who insisted on lifting the
armrest, and it was very annoying to me.
Am I within my rights on insisting that the armrest between me and the
neighboring passenger be kept down?
N.
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Do fat people really think they shouldn't be charged for an extra seat?
What makes them think I want to have their sweaty nasty fat roll touching me
for two hours.
Southwest needs to come up with a Height to Weight table that lists the
maximum weight a person can weigh at various heights before they are charged
for a second seat. Then post this info at the check in line, on their
website, etc.
Either way, just a matter of time before some liberal judge turns this into
an ADA issue and then all airlines will be forced to upgrade fat people to
first class, or in the case of southwest give them two seats.
Matt
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines,
saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her
weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in
May
2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more
than one seat.
"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second
ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
A lawyer for Southwest says the airline denies it discriminated against
Blake or harassed her.
Linda Rutherford, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline, said
Southwest's policy requiring second tickets for large people is meant to
ensure passenger safety and comfort -- both for the heavy passengers and
those nearby.
Blake, who lives in the north Spokane suburb of Chattaroy, said she's
flown
on Southwest and other airlines numerous times before and never had been
asked to consider buying an extra seat.
"I'm a bigger girl but I'm not that big," she told The Associated Press on
Saturday. At 5-foot-7, she wears size 22 pants and considers herself
overweight but not obese, she said.
She said she would not have considered the suggestion discrimination if
Southwest had been more discreet and polite in asking her to consider a
second seat. In her view, the treatment she received was abusive and
insulting.
Her lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane in June. Her
attorney, Russell Van Camp, said he plans to seek unspecified monetary
damages for reckless infliction of emotional distress and harassment.
Blake said she'd like to receive a formal apology from the airline. She
wrote a letter after the incident and received two $50 Southwest vouchers
she has not yet used. She said a letter the airline sent did not include
an
apology.
"Even if they offered me free tickets for the rest of my life, it would do
me no good," she said. "I'm not able to fly any more. The idea of flying
again gives me too much anxiety."
Rutherford said the airline does not track the frequency of its requests
for second seats, but said it happens "very rarely."
"More often it's the case that some passengers pre-order two seats before
coming to the airport," she said.
And in cases where passengers are asked to buy second tickets, the fares
are refunded if the plane leaves with any unfilled seats, she said.
Southwest is working harder to make sure employees are consistent in
asking
passengers to consider two seats, so that passengers like Blake don't go
across the country and then encounter a request on a return trip.
"This is a very sensitive issue and we handle it with the utmost
discretion," she added.
In 2000, a California court ruled that Southwest did not violate a
passenger's civil rights by requesting a second fare when deemed
necessary.
A brother and sister from New Mexico sued Southwest Airlines in June over
the same policy. Andrea Kysar of White Rock and Martin McLaughlin of
Espanola, who are described in the lawsuit as "morbidly obese," said they
were told in front of other passengers that they had to buy extra tickets
because their weight would cause "comfort and safety" problems for others.
Watch the video:
http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=39073
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Dennis wrote:
I commend the airline for sticking up for the other passengers.
I've had to ride next to an obese woman who insisted on lifting the
armrest, and it was very annoying to me.
Am I within my rights on insisting that the armrest between me and the
neighboring passenger be kept down?
Yea, they should install a barcode reader on every armrest and make it so it
won't lift unless both neighbors scan their boarding passes. An attendant
can unlock it if there's no actual neighbor.
But don't hold your breath for it.
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Do fat people really think they shouldn't be charged for an extra seat?
What makes them think I want to have their sweaty nasty fat roll touching
me
for two hours.
Don't confuse not knowing with not caring.
Southwest needs to come up with a Height to Weight table that lists the
maximum weight a person can weigh at various heights before they are
charged
for a second seat. Then post this info at the check in line, on their
website, etc.
Isn't the key factor width rather than weight? If they can list the maximum
dimensions of permitted carryons, they can list the maximum dimensions
allowed before you have to buy a second seat.
They can also install an actual airline seat in the terminal with a sign
saying "If your butt can fit here, you don't need a second ticket."
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This 'confrontation' was the subject of the TV Program "Airline" (All
Southwest Airline 'adventures') on A&E yesterday.
She is definitely MORE than "overweight" ..her butt is bigger than my
garbage can !
That said, yes, I'd agree that there should be a "Butt Template" or test
seat. If you fit in, fine..If the Siren and Flashing Red and Blue lights are
set off... its "Two Tickets" one for each size 22 cheek.
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines,
saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
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| Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
|| POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
|| SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest
Airlines,
| saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
| passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
|<snip>
If the airline is so concerned, maybe it should
make a few seats bigger. Most fat people do not
need an entire extra seat. Does no one realize
that it's going to make seats as small as possible,
counting on ill will against fat people to keep
folks from raising hell about it?
Consider that SWA has charged a fat woman
for two seats even though she was sitting between
her small children, who did not take up a whole
seat each. If that is what they do, then why aren't
thin people up in arms? Why aren't you thin folks
asking SWA to refund the portion of the seat that
you didn't use?
Two fat women who were traveling asked SWA
if they could buy three seats together, sharing the
third seat between them. No, you have to buy two
each, insisted the airline. Why?
I am sure that engineers could find a way to make
airline seats comfortable for most of us, but they
won't do so until there's a demand.
Robin
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If the airline is so concerned, maybe it should
make a few seats bigger.
So lets say they make a few seats bigger. Should they not charge extra for
those seats? Let's say they should charge double to sit in the bigger seat.
Then it's the same thing as charging for two seats.
need an entire extra seat. Does no one realize
that it's going to make seats as small as possible,
No, they make seats big enough to fit 99.999% of passengers.
Consider that SWA has charged a fat woman
for two seats even though she was sitting between
her small children, who did not take up a whole
seat each. Two fat women who were traveling asked SWA
if they could buy three seats together, sharing the
third seat between them. No, you have to buy two
each, insisted the airline. Why?
Why, because they have to have a strict policy and enforce it without
exception. Their policy does refund the price of the second ticket if the
flight is not full, so in the case of the two fat women with and empty seat,
they should have received a refund for the additional tickets.
Matt
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"I'm a bigger girl but I'm not that big," she told The Associated Press on
Saturday. At 5-foot-7, she wears size 22 pants and considers herself
overweight but not obese, she said.
It's not up to you what the definition of obese is, you fat cow. Instead
of putting all this effort into starting a lawsuit, how about LOSING
SOME WEIGHT? It's not hard, fatty, just get of your fat arse and get on
the treadmill.
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Yea, they should install a barcode reader on every armrest and make it so
it
won't lift unless both neighbors scan their boarding passes. An attendant
can unlock it if there's no actual neighbor.
Riiiight. And then, you will get charged extra bucks on every single plane
ticket so that you cover for the cost of the stupid equipment... I wonder if
people in that country are still able to solve their problems through
talking and using their brains...
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Robin King wrote:
<snip>
If the airline is so concerned, maybe it should
make a few seats bigger.
They already do.
It's called First Class, and if you ass is
too obese for a coach seat, cough up the $$
for First Class, or walk/swim to your destination.
Maybe then you wouldn't be such a pig, eh?
Most fat people do not
need an entire extra seat. Does no one realize
that it's going to make seats as small as possible,
counting on ill will against fat people to keep
folks from raising hell about it?
We don't hate the fat people, we just hate the fat.
Consider that SWA has charged a fat woman
for two seats even though she was sitting between
her small children, who did not take up a whole
seat each.
Did the children have full-fare tickets?
If that is what they do, then why aren't
thin people up in arms?
Because they aren't grotesquely obese like you?
Why aren't you thin folks
asking SWA to refund the portion of the seat that
you didn't use?
What next? You gonna whine when they charge you for
oversize or overweight baggage?
Two fat women who were traveling asked SWA
if they could buy three seats together, sharing the
third seat between them. No, you have to buy two
each, insisted the airline. Why?
Cause they can. Why do airlines not allow tickets to
be used by others who aren't named on the ticket?
After all, if someone purchases a seat, what difference
does it matter who sits there?
I am sure that engineers could find a way to make
airline seats comfortable for most of us,
Sure, they could install double-wide BarcaLoungers too,
and charge 3x a much for tickets.
but they
won't do so until there's a demand.
It's called First Class, now put down that quart
of Chunky Monkey and drop a few pounds, porky.
Robin
"Imagine! ...Niggers speaking French!"
- William Jennings Bryan,
secretary of state to U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson,
expressed the contempt in which
the Haitians are held by U$ power structure
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need an entire extra seat. Does no one realize
that it's going to make seats as small as possible,
No, they make seats big enough to fit 99.999% of passengers.
How is that possible when 60% of America is overweight?
I mean, even when I was slim with low body fat, just being muscular (large)
and tall (long legs) made these seats uncomfortable. There also health
issues, since sitting with your knees at sharp angle can lead to phlebitis
(which happens in overweight or thin people).
Why, because they have to have a strict policy and enforce it without
exception. Their policy does refund the price of the second ticket if the
flight is not full, so in the case of the two fat women with and empty
seat,
they should have received a refund for the additional tickets.
Not if the flight was full. They would have seated with an empty seat
between them in an otherwise full plane, but the flight would have
neverthless been full, since they were officially booking two seats.
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Do fat people really think they shouldn't be charged for an extra seat?
What makes them think I want to have their sweaty nasty fat roll touching
me
for two hours.
Getting an extra seat and being charge one are different matters. By
downsizing the width of their seats while the population as a whole is
upsizing, the companies are making a statistical bet. It's normal that they
lose money on that bet from time to time. Otherwise, this is encouraging
them to make their seats as small as possible. After all, once every people
with a bmi above 22 have to buy two seats, they will earn a lot more
money... Here comes the one feet wide seats...
Besides, you have that kind of problem with other categories of passengers.
Once, I was seated next to an American businessman, who drunk a few whisky
and then fell asleep against my shoulder and proceeded to snore for the
whole flight. Was he billed an extra seat too? Did I get a refund because of
the annoyance?
Likewise, on my last trip, they were carrying a girl in a medical bed. She
looked anorexic, probably cancer or heavy mucoviscidosis or something, but
with all the medical gizmos around her, she was easily taking four seats.
Moreover, she made an awful lot of noises, from the life support system,
coughing her lungs out and so on. How many seats was she billed? Did I, and
the other passengers who could not sleep because of the noise, got a refund?
Southwest needs to come up with a Height to Weight table that lists the
maximum weight a person can weigh at various heights before they are
charged
for a second seat. Then post this info at the check in line, on their
website, etc.
It doesn't work. This means you will bill two seats to compact body-builders
and one to people who have dieted their way into close to no lean mass but
lots of light fat. It doesn't take body fat into account either. Belly fat
that extends forward (male apron) is less problematic than gynoid shapes.
Either way, just a matter of time before some liberal judge turns this
into
an ADA issue and then all airlines will be forced to upgrade fat people to
first class, or in the case of southwest give them two seats.
Why not? The companies are *saving* money overall from reducing the seat
sizes. They can fit more passengers in a plane than they could before. But
it means an increasing number of passengers won't fit in they downsized
seats. If you don't call out the bluff at some point, this means they're
going to keep downsizing until they get a majority of people on two seats.
It's a win-win situation; they fit more seats on the plane, and a majority
of people buy two of them.
The alternative is to let them downsize the seats, but require that they
provide accomodation for people that do not fit at no cost. This includes
obese, people on wheelchairs, people who have to keep their legs
stretched... I mean, how much do they charge for handling people in
wheelchairs? Or for assisting blind people?
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A Wed, 1 Sep 2004 09:19:56 +0200, "Lictor"
<ghostmlNOSPAM-REMOVE@online.fr> escribi:
How is that possible when 60% of America is overweight?
Because the seats are wide enough for overweight people.
I think 99.999% is an overestimation... more like 98%.
--
bicker
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/DrJohnson/Diet_registry_040602.html
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Newcombe asked:
Am I within my rights on insisting that the armrest between me
and the neighboring passenger be kept down?
Yes. We purchase space in the form of a seat. We're entitled to get
that for which we pay.
Spammers die said:
Isn't the key factor width rather than weight?
Yes. I know young woman whose lower body is about as wide as most
door openings. She'd probably fit within most height/weight formulae
that might be concocted for the instant purpose.
Rudy said:
That said, yes, I'd agree that there should be a . . . test seat.
If you fit in, fine
Such exist at amusement parks.
Robin King suggested:
make a few seats bigger.
Same dif'rence. The bigger the seats, the fewer. They'd still have to
charge more for those bigger seats although there might be a 50%
premium for a row with a normal three-seat width but only two seats.
Cheaper'n buying two seats and the revenue for the flight would be
the same presuming two occupants.
Why aren't you thin folks asking SWA to refund the portion of the
seat that you didn't use?
People are entitled to use an entire seat, no more. If you don't use
all of it, you're still entitled to do so. If you use more than that
to which you are entitled, you either infringe upon that to which
another person is entitled, not fair to either, or pay for the
additional space you need. Is that a difficult concept to grasp?
Two fat women who were traveling asked SWA if they could buy three
seats together, sharing the third seat between them. No, you have
to buy two each, insisted the airline. Why?
I give up. It's obviously unfair.
I am sure that engineers could find a way to make airline seats
comfortable for most of us,
They have.
but they won't do so until there's a demand.
They did because there was. Where y'been?
Please see "My Fat Posts"
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&threadm=3a26924c.0405220014.30bf8c3a%40posting.google.com&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fsafe%3Doff%26ie%3DUTF-8%26as_usubject%3Dfat%26as_uauthors%3Diclast%2540%26lr%3D%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den>
_____________________________________________________________
A San Franciscan in 47.335 mile San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net
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| Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
|
| POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
|
| SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest
Airlines,
| saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane
| passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
|
<snip>
If the airline is so concerned, maybe it should
make a few seats bigger. Most fat people do not
need an entire extra seat. Does no one realize
that it's going to make seats as small as possible,
counting on ill will against fat people to keep
folks from raising hell about it?
Consider that SWA has charged a fat woman
for two seats even though she was sitting between
her small children, who did not take up a whole
seat each. If that is what they do, then why aren't
thin people up in arms? Why aren't you thin folks
asking SWA to refund the portion of the seat that
you didn't use?
For the same reason that hotel rooms don't refund you if you don't use the
room for the full period and cashiers don't give back 5% of their wages if
their lines are empty 5% of the time and video rentals don't give refunds if
you rent a DVD and never watch it.
Whether or not *you* used every part of the resource during your reserved
period, you prevented the owner from renting any part of that resource to
someone else for that period. So you owe for the entire resource. And
expecting an airline to starting selling *fractions* of a seat when there's
such a tiny market for it is not reasonable.
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On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 09:31:36 +0200, Lictor wrote:
Getting an extra seat and being charge one are different matters. By
downsizing the width of their seats while the population as a whole is
upsizing, the companies are making a statistical bet.
When were seats downsized?
Guess what. They have had the same width for as long as I can remember,
around 1970.
It's just that you must not have noticed that you were getting fatter I
guess?
Ever heard of self-respect? I for one would find it quite humiliating to
go beg for people's compassion the way some of you unashamedly are.
Just shape up. Will do you good and give you ten more years of life.
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On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 14:50:22 GMT, devil <devil@attglobal.net> wrote:
On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 09:31:36 +0200, Lictor wrote:
When were seats downsized?
Guess what. They have had the same width for as long as I can remember,
around 1970.
Actually I thought economy seats on some aircraft were getting wider,
for example some 320s and some 777s.
--==++AJC++==--
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Getting an extra seat and being charge one are different matters. By
downsizing the width of their seats while the population as a whole is
upsizing, the companies are making a statistical bet.
When were seats downsized?
They sure are not getting comfortable. I'm mainly a train user, and the
second class seats there beat the first class seats in plane, as far as
comfort is concerned. Unfortunately, I sometimes have to take the plane.
Guess what. They have had the same width for as long as I can remember,
around 1970.
I wasn't borned back then. Maybe I get because my first flights were on
European companies (Air France), while the last ones where on cheap American
companies (United and Delta). The comfort level in the laters was absolutely
terrifying. And I'm not only talking about the seats, everything down to the
junk food they tried to get me to eat was cheap.
It's just that you must not have noticed that you were getting fatter I
guess?
I did notice that, though I was still a lot less fat than most Americans
(one reason to love visiting the USA). My main complain is actually with the
*length*, not the width. I don't like travelling with my knee on my face.
But I can feel for people who have a width problem.
Bah, eventually someone will die from a thrombosis (which is a real risk
when packing people tightly), the familly will sue, and we will have more
roomy seats as a result.
Ever heard of self-respect? I for one would find it quite humiliating to
go beg for people's compassion the way some of you unashamedly are.
I'm not begging for people compassion. I fit in most seats I can find, thank
you. Contrary to you, I'm able to feel compassion and consider the
interrests of other people beyond myself.
Just shape up.
Didn't wait for your advice.
Will do you good and give you ten more years of life.
Several persons in my familly lived to their hundred. I saw them in their
last few years of life. I'm not really interested in ten more years in that
age range.
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How is that possible when 60% of America is overweight?
Because the seats are wide enough for overweight people.
I think 99.999% is an overestimation... more like 98%.
That depends on what you include in "comfortable" I guess... Compared to a
train seat, comfort just plain sucks. No room to stretch your feet, no room
to use a laptop... All the things you can do in a second class train seat.
And at least, you have the option to take a walk in a train. No wonder that
short distance plane travels is mostly dead in Europe, at least the railroad
companies understood that passengers are *also* interested in being
comfortable.
Anyway, you think that *only* 2% of the americans are really obese rather
than overweight (bmi<30)? That seems really low... Why all the talk about
the war on obesity if only 2% of the population is really facing any
*serious* health problems?
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Whether or not *you* used every part of the resource during your reserved
period, you prevented the owner from renting any part of that resource to
someone else for that period.
Except in that case, renting the resource was *forced* on the woman, even
though she did not want it and didn't use it.
It's like hotel management making you pay for pay-per-view, even if you
didn't want to watch it.
So you owe for the entire resource. And
expecting an airline to starting selling *fractions* of a seat when
there's
such a tiny market for it is not reasonable.
In that case, it's not a fraction of a seat. You had [kid....][fat
woman][....kid], which was plenty enough to seat her, since she could fit
her extra herself in the [...]. But she was *forced* to pay for an
additionnal seat for something like [kid...][fat women][...kid][empty seat].
That's the kind of idiocy you get when you have bureaucraty instead of
common sense at work.
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Once, I was seated next to an American businessman,
who drunk a few whisky and then fell asleep against my
shoulder and proceeded to snore for the whole flight.
Was he billed an extra seat too? Did I get a refund because
of the annoyance?
Why didn't you wake him up or at least push him off of your shoulder?
Moreover, she made an awful lot of noises,
Did I, and the other passengers who could not sleep because
of the noise, got a refund?
Perhaps you haven't read the fine print, but guaranteed near-silence from
surrounding passengers when you want to sleep isn't bundled into the price
of airfare. If want to be able to sleep on any flight you take, you're going
to need to learn to fall asleep and stay asleep in noisy situations.
Richard
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On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 18:14:26 +0200, "Lictor"
<ghostmlNOSPAM-REMOVE@online.fr> wrote:
How is that possible when 60% of America is overweight?
That depends on what you include in "comfortable" I guess... Compared to a
train seat, comfort just plain sucks. No room to stretch your feet, no room
to use a laptop... All the things you can do in a second class train seat.
And at least, you have the option to take a walk in a train. No wonder that
short distance plane travels is mostly dead in Europe,
You are joking? Short distance plane travel in Europe is booming like
never before.
--==++AJC++==--
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AJC wrote:
On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 18:14:26 +0200, "Lictor"
<ghostmlNOSPAM-REMOVE@online.fr> wrote:
You are joking? Short distance plane travel in Europe is booming like
never before.
I'd much rather take the Chunnel to Paris from London; it takes a lot
longer to catch a train to Stansted or Gatwick and stand around for at
least an hour in the airport before you hop your 30-minute flight -- and
Orly is further out than Gare du Nord.
Sit back with a bottle of wine, some French bread and a little
cheese, and you're in downtown London in three hours. Can it get any
better?
--==++AJC++==--
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Richard wrote:
Why didn't you wake him up or at least push him off of your shoulder?
Perhaps you haven't read the fine print, but guaranteed near-silence from
surrounding passengers when you want to sleep isn't bundled into the price
of airfare. If want to be able to sleep on any flight you take, you're going
to need to learn to fall asleep and stay asleep in noisy situations.
Earplugs can be useful.
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A Wed, 1 Sep 2004 09:19:56 +0200, "Lictor"
<ghostmlNOSPAM-REMOVE@online.fr> escribi:
Because the seats are wide enough for overweight people.
I think 99.999% is an overestimation... more like 98%.
--
I"m just going by my personal experience traveling on Southwest once or
twice a week for the past several years. I always look out for fat people
when boarding because I don't want to get stuck sitting next to them. It's
very rare to seen someone that is so fat they were required to use two
seats.
If it was truly 98% then that would mean almost every Southwest flight would
have, on average, two people that were too fat to fit in their seat. That
is definitely not the case. Let's say 1 in 10 flights had a fat person on
it that couldn't fit in one seat. That would be about 1 passenger in 1,000,
which I think is very conservative. In reality it is probably more like 1
passenger in 10,000.
So, why should the other 999 passengers be put out by having their space
infringed upon, or charged more for tickets because someone can't stop
shoveling food down their mouth. Yes, there are people with medical
problems, but if you only look at them as a percentage of travelers, you're
probably looking at 1 in a 1,000,000.
If you want bigger seats, then fly and airline that has first class and YOU
pay for it. But what you really want is for EVERYONE to pay more by forcing
the airlines to install bigger seats.
Matt
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I wasn't borned back then. Maybe I get because my first flights were on
European companies (Air France), while the last ones where on cheap
American
companies (United and Delta). The comfort level in the laters was
absolutely
terrifying. And I'm not only talking about the seats, everything down to
the
junk food they tried to get me to eat was cheap.
Gee, I didn't know they made special versions of aircraft for European
carriers that are wider than those made for US carriers.
Matt
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"Ken Smith" <forget@it.com> wrote in message news:4135FCC3.3000704@it.com...
I'd much rather take the Chunnel to Paris from London; it takes a lot
longer to catch a train to Stansted or Gatwick and stand around for at
least an hour in the airport before you hop your 30-minute flight -- and
Orly is further out than Gare du Nord.
Same here, in my experience, short distance travels are faster in train,
because you go from inner city to inner city. While travelling inside of
France, you have to be crazy to take the plane. It will cost you double the
cost (shuttle or taxi + plane ticket) and you have to spend hours in traffic
jams hoping you won't miss the plane. Then, you have to arrive 30 minutes
before departure with many companies.
On the other hand, I can have a 20 minutes trip in subway and hop in the TGV
a couple of minutes before departure and arrive in the middle of my target
city.
Sit back with a bottle of wine, some French bread and a little
cheese, and you're in downtown London in three hours. Can it get any
better?
Yup. TGV from Lausanne to Paris, with cannabis being almost legal in
Switzerland. Get friendly with some youth in there, and making a trip can
get a whole new meaning. :p Did that quite a few time when I was making that
trip weekly. Sure a hell more fun than using the plane...
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"Matt" <somewhere@somewhere.com> wrote
If you want bigger seats, then fly and airline that has first class and
YOU
pay for it. But what you really want is for EVERYONE to pay more by
forcing
the airlines to install bigger seats.
They used to have bigger seats- then they found they could pack you like
cattle in a chute and downsized until teeny people and children are
comfortable, or the wealthy, but no one else.
It isn't Procrustes bed, it's a public conveyance. They have to accommodate
wheel-chairs, oxygen tanks, the elderly and the very young- often to the
inconvenience or non-parity with other passengers.
Maybe just make them move to the back of the airbus, neh?
Chas
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"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a
second
ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
I commend the airline for sticking up for the other passengers.
I think it's already been well established that the airline has the
right to charge for a second seat in those cases where that's
appropriate. But that's not the issue here. The question is whether
or not the gate agent behaved properly, or acted in such as way
as to publicly humiliate a customer. I'm not going to vote one way
or the other with respect to this incident - I'm quite certain we
do NOT have the whole story, unless somehow the mythical
Purely Objective Eyewitness happens to show up here - but
the point remains that an employee of an airline DOES have some
responsibilities re his or her interactions with the public. This
ISN'T at all a repeat of the "should passenger X have to pay
for a second seat?" issue.
Bob M.
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