Free air tickets for the dangerous flying obese
IF you’re obese, Air Canada will give you a free extra seat. You just need a doctor’s note.
One problem is that airline seats might not be strong enough to support obese travelers. The New York Times:
More than six decades ago, when the federal standards on the strength of airplane seats and seat belts were written, government regulations specified that seats be designed for a passenger weight of 170 pounds. But now the average American man weighs nearly 194 pounds and the average woman 165
“If a heavier person completely fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as intended during a crash,” said Robert Salzar, the principal scientist at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia.
Gulliver writes in the Economist:
Air Canada and other airlines with policies that say obesity is a medical condition are taking a financial hit for every extra seat they give to overweight passengers. That cost is probably being passed on to other passengers. Perhaps this is only fair. We all subsidise the costs of providing on-board defibrillators for patients who suffer cardiac events on planes. We all subsidise the added medical costs of obese people. Why not airline tickets, too?
Remember when smoking kept you thin?
PS – Do the very tall get to have the seat in front free?
Posted: 21st, November 2012 | In: The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
