Or by the length Eric. Your knees in one's back cannot be comfortable.. And are the seats "average"? Are the seats of today the same size as they have always been or have they been narrowed to squeeze more onto the plane? This is silly. ps..Does a pregnant woman get an exemption or will they have to pay "for two"?
If there were more seats per row these days than there used to be, the "narrowed" seat argument might make sense, but if the seats have been narrowed all that would have been accomplished was a wider aisle (and, we know that is not the case). The S80s have the same 5 seats per row in coach they've always had. The 757 has always had 6 seats per row.
For tall people like Gar, there is no question that they have been squeezed by the addition of more rows on the plane. But the topic is not how many rows forward-aft a person takes up. It's how many seats port-starboard, they occupy.
I worked a flight recently where we had a giganta in coach on a full flight. The poor woman seated next to her had less than half a seat. Should she have been charged less? Not only did Giganta take up most of her seat, she spread her elbows to take up even more room with no apologies or attempt to share the space.
What we are selling is not just transportation from Point A to Point B. Pricing is based upon space (and service amenities) on the a/c--thus the difference in price between F/C and coach. When you buy a ticket, you are paying for a share of that space. If you take up two spaces, you should have to pay for two spaces. Southwest does it with no apologies. And, if the flight is not full, and no one is denied boarding because you are taking up two seats, the charge for the extra seat is refunded to you.
We already do something similar with child car seats. If it is an infant listed as a lap child, but the flight is not full, we allow the parent to bring the car seat onboard and use it. If the flight is full, the parent must purchase a seat if they want to use the car seat during the flight. Otherwise, they have to check it.
Gar, it's not just Nintendo and tv. It's also our awful eating habits. I grew up in the Deep South. I was an adult before I knew there was another way to eat salmon other than mixed with bread crumbs and fried. I had a great-aunt whose philosophy of cooking was "if it can't be breaded and fried, it's not fit to eat." (Of course, the fact she lived to be 103, sorta pokes holes in my argument.
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My doctor in Houston for many years did obesity research on the side and was an early advocate of healthy eating and weight maintenance. I once said to him that I knew that there were some overweight people who had "glandular" problems. His response was, "In about 99% of those cases, the "gland" is an overactive elbow."
Restaurants in this country contribute to the problem. My boss at Texaco was from Italy. One night my wife and I were out to dinner with him and his wife. His wife and I were discussing the fact that in Italy, pasta is a course in a full dinner and is a small serving. Here it is an entree. She said (only half-jokingly) that the amount of meat in a typical serving of spaghetti with meat sauce in the U.S. would feed a family of 4 for a week in Italy.
