Relax - Plus-sized woes for airline passengers

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PLUS-SIZED travellers who are unable to fit comfortably in one airplane seat are rare in Singapore, said airlines that operate here.

When such a passenger does show up, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Qantas Airways provide an adjacent seat, if one is available, at no extra charge.

Alternatively, Qantas also recommends an upgrade to business or first class “to guarantee extra space”, its spokesman said.

Budget carriers Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways said that they have never turned a customer away because of his or her size.

American film director Kevin Smith sparked a debate over airlines’ treatment of oversized passengers, after he was rejected from a Southwest Airlines flight last weekend because there was insufficient space to accommodate his large frame.

He expressed his expletive- laden anger on social-networking website Twitter.

Southwest Airlines later explained on its blog that Smith had decided to change his plans and board an earlier flight to Burbank, California. When it was time to board, that flight had only one seat left, it wrote.

All five airlines that my paper spoke to – SIA, British Airways, Qantas, Jetstar Asia and Tiger – said that they would provide seat-belt extensions for plus-sized passengers.

Qantas said that if the passengers could not fasten their seatbelts despite using the extensions, then it would not be able to carry them.

The five carriers recommended that plus-sized passengers purchase two seats right off the bat, to avoid being left out in the cold.

Mr Kevin Yue, 27, a contestant of reality-TV show The Biggest Loser Asia, feels that the airlines’ approach is “a bit discriminatory”.

The Filipino, who weighed 215kg before the competition, needed two seats for two out of three flights he has been on.

He added: “I’ll be lucky to afford to buy a single plane ticket, let alone pay for two... This policy definitely limits my opportunity to travel.”

On his third flight, he “felt embarrassed during check-in”, as the staff had given him two extra seats.

Sharing the same sentiment is social entrepreneur Sharmilah Begum. The founder of an online store for plus-sized apparel, Big & Beautiful, has had customers who needed such “frills” on flights.

She said: “Airlines should cater for plus-sized passengers – we are their customers too.

They could customise a couple of seats for us. It would help pregnant women as well.”

pamelac@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.

Plus-sized woes for airline passengers

By Pamela Chow, my paper | Fri, Feb 19 2010

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Qantas Airways provide an adjacent seat, if one is available, at no extra charge.

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