Obese Airline Rights: Canada Court Rules The Obese Have Rights To Two Seats

Reuters:

OTTAWA (Reuters) -- Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.

The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.

The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal in May and had sought to launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court. The court's decision not to hear a new appeal means the one-person-one-fare policy stands.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Topfeeder]

The most miserable flight I ever had was from Newark to Gatwick between 2 obese people. It might p!ss us off that they get an extra seat for free but if you had been in my seat you would applaud this decision. New Jersey to England stuffed into the fat rolls of Little Lotta and Fat Albert.

Skinny people get all kinds of freebies. I know skinny girls that haven't bought themselves a bar drink in years. Skinny clothes are cheaper than plus sizes. Give the fat folks a free seat. So what. They are going to get diabetes and die sooner than us. Let's be magnanimous about it.

[Bjarni]

Obese people already get handicap stickers for their car. Alot of them are on disability due to weigtht problems and them being unable to find a job. Due to that they qualify for Medicare and Medicaid where we foot the bill. in 2004 the cost for those 2 programs due to weight related issues was $39 Billion of taxpayer money. They already get too much if you ask me.

[jdmba]

So when I start getting free flights, I'll let you know.

[rigormrtis]

It's not her fault she's healthy and good looking. Consider it a benefit of good health.

[UltraClassic]

I'd like to invite you commentors to look through picture albums of Americans in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Americans were not the fat slovenly hogs that they are today. This is a recent developement of poor diet and no exercise. Don't give me the medical thing.

Honestly, I'm glad they are getting two seats. Nothing is worse than sitting on an aircraft with an obese person right next to you with their rolls of fat crowding you into the corner.

[Damaven]

Can you imagine that you've booked a seat and go to sit down and somebody else's half a butt is already in it? I mean people book online, is there a questionnaire [to be] attached that asks for your weight or whatever? so tickets won't be "overweightsold"? Jeez, it's bad enough when I get on the bus and get a seat and someone sits next to me and actually squeezes me up and out of my seat and then say, Oh, I'm sorry. No you're not. If you were sorry you would stand.

[jdmba]

Accomodations are different from getting at the heart of the problem. If obesity is a genetic or social disease, then we should look to solutions to cure it, not just slap on a bandaid.

[UltraClassic]

Do they get two lunches also?

[indypenelope]

On what airlines do you still get lunch? It's growing more and more difficult to just get a "free" water with a $200 flight. I cannot remember the last time that I saw meal service.

[Isis N]

Unless you want to pay a LOT of money for over greased, overly fattening junk food.

[SwingingFromCenter]

I remember the last time I saw one that was served planewide (i get them all the time in FC, but that's different). I was 16 and flying from Chicago to Denver and they had a meal.

That was 15 years ago. So....1993­?

[gwhizz]

I'm wondering the same thing. I keep seeing posts about kosher and vegetarian meals. Las "meal" option I saw on a plane was a choice of pre-packaged junk food they wanted extra $$ for. And that was a cross-country flight, not a puddle jump.

[sonoffestus]

LOL!

[JJThinking]

I don't know if I agree with this. On the one hand, if a person gets on a plane and happens to "spill over" into more than one assigned seat, they should not have to pay for it UNLESS the flight is full. But it also isn't fair to inconvenience another passenger. No one has a "right" to take up multiple seats. My view: let the obese customer have the extra seats if they are available. If not, make the person take another flight. (And this is coming from someone who used to be large enough to "overlap" seats.

[sdskelton03]

Fat peeople, smokers and Christians seem to be the only folks it's still allright to be rude to.

[RenaissanceMom]

how true :(

[ZanScott49]

agreed

[rigormrtis]

Why do Christians always view themselves as being persecuted? You're not - it's just that in this country other religions are accepted as well.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Christians??? Puh leeze.
Why because people don't say MERRY CHRISTMAS - they say HAPPY HOLIDAYS instead?
Get real.

[whit4brains]

Aww...let me quess you are a fat Christian smoker???

I bet gays, Muslims, AA and other groups might disagree with you.

[greeniefromOH]

All right, folks, stop asserting that obesity is not a disease and that obese folks are normally just lazy over eaters. Have you ever done any research on the topic? Nope. Didn't think so.
The fact is that obesity is largely genetic. Take a person with a genetic tendency to grow up overweight and one with a genetic tendency to remain thin. Now put them both into a society in which food is in abundance, relatively cheap, and often unhealthy. The first person will be obese. The second person will not. Even if the first person struggles to remain at a healthy weight, it will be an incredible struggle. The second person will never have to do anything to remain at a healthy weight.
Then the second person, naturally, will feel himself superior to the first, even though he has done nothing different.
There is a book called the Obesity Myth (I believe) that I read some time ago and highly recommend. It sheds a lot of light onto this particular struggle.
Not sure how I feel about the airline seat issue -- but I do think some of you are being unnecessarily cruel.

[AnAverageAmerican]

I'm not saying this to be cruel, just being honest. Some people have an issue with genetics, this is true, however, most people simply eat too much food, too much bad food, and do little or no exercise. Obesity is not a disease, and if there is obesity in your gene pool than you have to be more vigilant in regards to what you eat and how much activity you require to stay in shape. People need to take responsibility for the condition their lives are in and stop blaming everything under the sun in an effort not to be.

Also, books are just peoples' opinions.

[geejai54]

Obesity is a disease. I am just amazed at the self righteous ccomments posted on this subject non of which are based on facts. I suppose non of you have over weight friends or relatives. What a narrow world you must live in. People come in all shapes and sizes and there are as many reasons for why they are overweight . So unless you have walked a mile in their shoes stop being so cruel, and yes you are being cruel.

[noamjunior]

We are not being unnecessarily cruel, the obese are unnecessarily fat, and truly have little or no regard for the hardship that othose around them are forced to endure becasue of their poor choices

[ZanScott49]

I am currently overweight and working on it and I find your post offensive. To say that I or any other person who is overweight has little or no regard for the "hardship" of those around them is wrong. I am always extremely aware of whether or not I and those around me are comfortable in any given situation.

I do not require two seats but if I did I would expect to pay for them. Rather than being concerned about this ruling I've become more concerned with the tone of the posts. I expect to see intelligent discourse about the issues at hand. When I see people throw around terms like lardass and fatty I see that weight is the last bastion of acceptable name calling and mockery.

[Yaa]

In spite of assorted reasons/excuses for being too large to fit into one seat, when you use two spaces you have to pay for two spaces.
Anything else is unreasonable, and I trust our American courts will never make such a thoughtless ruling.

[BlueAsh]

Genetics doesn't mean no personal responsibilities. Having the fat gene doesn't mean it is an inevitable outcome or that one cannot do something about it OR others must pay for one's defective genes.

[rigormrtis]

wow. zero understanding of genetics.

you don't see frequency changes like that over 2 generations. And how then do you explain people with this genetic predisposition overcome it by conscious choice? By your reasoning, if you have a predisposition, you become it. If you can find ONE person who was obese and lost enough wieght to be healthy, then your argument is debunked.

Nor do you give any room whatsoever for the power of decision making. There is not a conveyor line of food going into these peoples mouths.

And since you mention genetics, it logically assumes that the impetus to pass one's genes on exists. So don't I have a better chance of doing that as a healthy individual with a longer lifespan?

Therefore, it would be an incentive to me to stay healthy, earn well and be as attractive as possible in order to pass my genes on. it's well known that obese people do not live as long and are sick from work more often.

Perhaps YOU should do some research on the topic.

[TruepatriotinRI]

Gee, I wonder who ultimately gets to pay for those extra seats?

[Pupadup4oBama]

I KNOW ...I KNOW! (waving hand)
WE DO!! ding ding ding - do i get a prize??

[rigormrtis]

Yes. you get a free seat.

[bighillaryfan]

Just think, now if you are on standby, you not only will have to count the number of passengers, but check out their waist size.

[bighillaryfan]

Oh my. There goes my diet!

[Jethro13]

So'if I become socially disabled because I'm a germaphobe. I can declare I want to enitre row to myself? Where does it stop? We don't consider people drunk "disabled" Or Crack addicts "disabled". Why should be consider fat people "disabled". All 3 are a result of something that they do to themselves. Some people call each a sickness (a stretch) or an addidtion. What they lack is self restraint.
Glutony is included in the list of 7 deadly sins.

What a joke!

[greeniefromOH]

Thin people can be, and often are, gluttonous as well.

Obesity is not the result of food addiction, but typically the result of genetic predisposition combined with the unfortunate reality of our society and the fact that cheaper food is typically less healthy.

[rigormrtis]

That's michael phelps is a glutton! 12000 calories a day.

Oh, wait - he exercises too. maybe those skinny people do also.

[nathananderson]

Obesity can be a disease. But for the most part, obese people are just lazy.

[AnAverageAmerican]

How is obesity a disease? How?

[mero909]

Lol! Right? How is it a disease?

[bighillaryfan]

It can, in rare cases be a thyroid condition.

[audeo03]

THIS IS TOO MUCH!!! I get charged 150 DOLLARS to take a bike on a plane that weighs 50lbs, and somebody that weighs an extra 150lbs gets a free extra seat. NO WAY.

[rigormrtis]

I hear you on that, brother. Even if I reduce my bike down to a legal sized box (S&S couplers), they still want to charge just because it's a bike. WTF?

[DrJimmy]

If fatty can beat the plane down the runway....­then he gets a free seat!

[jdmba]

That was so mean... But so funny... and so wrong.

[DrJimmy]

But you laughed!!