United Airlines announced this week that fat passengers will be charged double to fly their "friendly skies." Or, they will be told to get off crowded flights and pray that a later flight hasn't also been sold-out.
United announced that its ticket agents will start denying boarding passes this week to people of size if they are "unable to comfortably fasten a safety belt with one extension or sit comfortably with armrests down," -- unless they purchase a second ticket.
UNETHICAL DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
The fact that other American airlines have already changed policies to charge more to obese fliers doesn't make it right -- it's still discrimination against people with a disability. It's unethical. Our country has yet to officially recognize morbid obesity as a disability, unlike Canada; but then, we still have trouble perceiving alcoholism and drug addiction as diseases.
The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) addressed the issue when it issued its "one-person, one-fare" ruling, effective last January, covering passengers with disabilities including "clinically obese" passengers who cannot fit into a single seat. The CTA ordered its carriers to make available extra seating free of charge to passengers traveling with in Canada who require additional space due to their disabilities, including obesity, or to accommodate an attendant. Passengers requesting extra seating require a doctor's certificate of their disability or need for an attendant as well as medical approval for travel. (More info on the CTA ruling is at this Air Canada web site.)
BAD TIMING FOR A NEW "FAT TAX"
United's timing isn't good. This "fat tax" or "large charge" comes at a time when Americans are fatter -- one-third of adults says the CDC -- and poorer, with many having lost their pensions, savings and now their jobs in our economic nose-dive. At the same time, the cash-strapped airlines try to squeeze the most revenue out of their planes. "They've crammed more seats onto airplanes, reduced the space between seats and increasingly have sold-out flights," says the Chicago Tribune.
"They're at it again," says Brandon M. Macsata, executive director of the Assn. for Airline Passenger Rights. "United is now the latest airline to shelve customer service standards in search for higher profits, while claiming that the new policy is to 'protect' other passengers. At issue should not be the size of any passenger, but rather why the airlines continue to pack coach passengers like sardines into the cabin."
Most coach airline seats are smaller than seats on buses or trains, even movie theaters, according to the AAPR web site.
"It's going to perpetuate that negative stigma that's already associated with obesity," said James Zervios, a spokesman for the Obesity Action Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that 34 percent of Americans are obese, double the rate from 30 years ago. Obesity is defined as having a "body mass index," a measure of body fat based on height and weight, of 30 or more. Using that calculation, a person who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weights 203 pounds would be considered obese, says the CDC.
TOO DAMN CROWDED, SKINNY OR FAT
United spokesperson Robin Urbanski said: "We had 700 complaints about this last year. Now our employees have a formal policy they can refer to."
Excuse me, 700 complaints? I see, just 700 United passenger unhappy about something and the airline is actually responsive, immediately addresses it and makes changes. Oh puh-leeze!
How many passengers have complained about no blankets anymore, poor food, no more little bags of peanuts or pretzels, overbooked flights, late arrivals? Many thousands of complaints, I'm sure. Do you see the airlines changing any of these negatives?
Hell no, they are really looking for ways to make more money. United is being opportunistic and discriminatory.
The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) , a polling group that rates more than 43 businesses in ten different sectors based on in-depth interviewing and computer-based extrapolation of its results, says that the Big Six legacy airlines (full-service airlines with national or international flight routes) rate the lowest in consumer satisfaction of all sixteen industries surveyed.
TO READ UNITED AIRLINE'S OFFICIAL POLICY AND RULES ON "PASSENGERS REQUIRING EXTRA SPACE," CLICK HERE.
By Sharon McEachern
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