Jetstar: 160kg passenger's flight fury

[Baysider]

I haven't read every post so my apologies if I am repeating...

I have had the immense displeasure of sitting next to an obese person whose belly hung out from under his shirt, rolled over the armrest and occupied about 1/3 of my seat (with sweat dripping off it). I paid for a whole seat, not part of a seat. To make matters worse, it was a Perth - Brisbane flight. Large people should not be permitted to occupy part of anybody else's seat.

I have long legs, which is a real issue for me in economy. I don't have the option of using 2 economy seats, it doesn't help me. If an obese person was given 2 economy seats at no extra charge, then the airline would be dicriminating against people like me. Where does this end?

If I want comfort I have to buy a business class seat.

 

[Baysider]

Furthermore, if you are going to give an obese person 2 seats at no extra charge, then this concept has to work in reverse as well. If someone can fit a 3 year old and a 4 year old into one seat, they should not be forced to buy 2 seats !!

 

[Natt]

I don't see anything wrong with summoning a hostie if someone is really big and is encroaching on you to ask for a reseat.

I would do that if I was stuck next to someone who had not bathed and smelt terrible, or if I was constantly being butted by a kid sitting in their parents lap.

Theres nothing wrong with saying "this passenger is large and I can't sit comfortably with them next to me"

no different than any other issue

but really - are you ever going to be comfortable in an economy aircraft seat - thats not what they are built for

 

[Commuter]

This situation requires passengers who are wedged into a small Y seat next to a morbidly obese person to seek compensation for the uncomfortable flight they were subjected to by the obese person's selfishness.

I recall reading about a passenger who suffered injury as a result of being crushed by a passenger next to her, and was awarded compensation. I think it was on Virgin Atlantic.

 

[Va Bene]

I recall reading about a passenger who suffered injury as a result of being crushed by a passenger next to her, and was awarded compensation. I think it was on Virgin Atlantic.

CNN.com - Woman squashed by plane passenger - Oct. 22, 2002

Fat People Crash Planes
Small plane and extreme case.

 

[pleasureg]

This is just another example of low cost airline justifying their attitude to people. Jetstar seats are the worst have I have flown in.People have become larger in frame/height etc because of our lifestyles and genitic changes. Therefore do not transport organisation take into account these issues or is it just about the almighty dollar/profit and not people????
Bring back the Australian owned airlines. They used to look after the interests of the flying customers not like the Qantas/Jetstar of today!!!!!

 

[NM]

Bring back the Australian owned airlines. They used to look after the interests of the flying customers not like the Qantas/Jetstar of today!!!!!

Would you also like to return to the fares that were charged at the time? I see a direct link between the services offered (both quality and quantity) and the demand for lower fares. I blame the higher level of competition for driving down air fares and resulting in the current state of service delivery.

 

[JohnK]

I am changing my stance on this issue after having one experience with an arrogant incosiderate very obese tall person on a DJ flight last night. Some of you on AFF and Flyertalk have met me a number of times. I am overweight, obese if you like, but I fit into an economy seat quite comfortably and I do everything possible to give the people around me more room.

I was the last person to board the DJ flight last night on what was a relatively full flight. I finally manage to get down to 22D only to see a very obese person sitting in 22E. His shoulders, arms, stomach and legs were taking up half of 22D but I thought no problem he will try to give me a little more room. I had trouble fitting the laptop bag in the overhead, why do people persevere in putting laptop bags flat, and then I tried to sit in my seat. It was almost impossible and took over 1 minute before I could finally sit down. In all the time I was stuggling with the laptop and then trying to sit down the creep next to me did not try to give me any of my seat back and did not make eye contact with me at any stage.

Anyway I could tell that this was going to be very uncomfortable. I could not sit in my seat properly, his shoulders and arms were all over me and he had his legs wide open as they would not fit in front of him. I just slumped my head and basically gave up expecting to have a horrid flight. A flight attendant walked past and saw my discomfort and mentioned that 26C was free if I wanted to move. Sure no problem. I took the laptop bag with me and placed it under the seat in front as there was no overhead locker space available.

I had a relatively peaceful flight but the creep in 22E moved over to 22D once the seat belt sign went off and had a comfortable flight. What was worse is I saw him walking away from T2 in Sydney with a what appeared to be a gorgeous woman a third his size. Which check-in agent in their right mind would allocate a person that size a middle seat? Or my conspiracy theory, based on the way the creep acted on the aircraft, is that he allocated a middle seat intentionally to give himself a good chance at getting a vacant seat next to him. No more sympathy....

 

[Junji]

Can a regular seatbelt accomodate a 160kg person of size?

 

[simongr]

Well to make you understand it is due to her weight as well and the extra amount of fuel burn there will be when a PoS (person of size).

Why should the other passengers that weigh half of the persons amount be paying towards 'her' fuel usage as such. She is the size of two bloody people she should pay for two people.

So what about people weighing 50KGs - should they get a discount? And the people carrying no luggage compared to those at the allowed limit - should they get a discount? And the people who don't eat the food/snack? And everything else that contributes to the cost of running the airline?

If it is about the ability of the airline to sell the seat I agree they should pay more. if it is about the cost of providing service to a pax (e.g. fuel cost) then dont just pick on the weight - pick on the total cost of service...

What irritates me about this Jestar issue is that the airline's "policy" cannot be that clear to everyone as the woman claims she rang them to check. If it was clear, she would have known from the outset. However I am also annoyed about people's insensitivity to others, AND Jestar's double standard. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "our" Magda shoot the commercials for that airline?

Magda recently had a very public coming out about her weight issues and her efforts to shed weight.

 

[[email protected]]

A passenger checking in with 60kg of extra luggage would have to pay for it, so why shouldn't passengers accept that it is reasonable for them to pay extra for a double seat if they are grossly overweight? Obesity is not an illness in most cases, it is the result of overindulgence and lack of exercise and other passengers should not have to be inconvenienced by being squeezed out of their legitimate space.

 

[Dougo]

Magda recently had a very public coming out about her weight issues and her efforts to shed weight.

Absolutely correct and I wish her all the best. My point was the double standard - it's OK for Jetstar to employ a funny fat lady to promote sales, but if you want to fly with them, well that's a different story.

 

[Dazza_XL]

Spend a bit of time googling "Samantha Scafe"
Makes for some interesting reading. :shock:

 

[Ms Lucy]

Its interesting - maybe one day the airlines will set a limit such as 70kg + 10kg baggage - any excess and you have to fork over some extra $

Hmmm! In such a world, short little me, at about 38kg, could take a HECK of a lot of luggage (hauling it off the Skybus and the luggage carousel could be a bit of a challenge! Maybe I could finance my travel by auctioning off some of my luggage allowance to fellow passengers. )

 

[Mal]

I think some of you have missed the point about this story. Its not about the persons size, not about the person purchsing the 2 tickets its the fact that the person had been allocated 2 seats on opposite sides of the plane.

I heard in the media that Jetstar have done it again on the return trip, but was quickly fixed when it was discovered yesterday.

Motorsportnut, you seem to have a personal connection to this issue. I'm curious if you're related to motorsportqueen - a new member on Flyertalk discussing this issue as well?

I can't actually find any media reports from yesterday or the day before that indicated the "stuff-up" on the return flight, but notice it's in the media today. Also, I've noticed the "Ford" branded luggage that Ms Scafe has in the various News Ltd photos attached to the articles. Just curious if it's co-incidence, or that you have a connection you're not advising us of regarding the incident...

I don't have any issues with Ms Scafe and her issue. Jetstar stuffed up by not allocating seats side by side (twice), and she appeared to have tried to do the correct thing in the first place.

 

[stryker]

[

Its interesting - maybe one day the airlines will set a limit such as 70kg + 10kg baggage - any excess and you have to fork over some extra $

Ms Lucy, I just wonder if all of us "thin" people shouldn't complain loudly when a Qantas check-in cough lady says our carry-on is over 7Kg (and when the passenger standing next to you is 150Kg or more).

Just a gentle enquiry.

 

[Ms Lucy]

Stryker, I share your sentiment (but don't like our chances!). Maybe I could SWALLOW that extra couple of books.....

 

[stryker]

Stryker, I share your sentiment (but don't like our chances!). Maybe I could SWALLOW that extra couple of books.....

Yes, it's a problem, but I don't see why we should be made to cop it by the airlines when obese people get away with it scot free.

And what about sitting next to such a person? Your personal space is all but eliminated..

Just my few bob' worth.

 

[Alanslegal]

Well its not just size or weight that is an issue, you could be 40kgs light and still block two arm rests, how is that fair? Or you could smell somewhat not very deliciously and permeate that throughout the cabin yet how is that fair when I think I smell unobtrusively

 

[Motorsportnut]

Motorsportnut, you seem to have a personal connection to this issue. I'm curious if you're related to motorsportqueen - a new member on Flyertalk discussing this issue as well?

I can't actually find any media reports from yesterday or the day before that indicated the "stuff-up" on the return flight, but notice it's in the media today. Also, I've noticed the "Ford" branded luggage that Ms Scafe has in the various News Ltd photos attached to the articles. Just curious if it's co-incidence, or that you have a connection you're not advising us of regarding the incident...

I don't have any issues with Ms Scafe and her issue. Jetstar stuffed up by not allocating seats side by side (twice), and she appeared to have tried to do the correct thing in the first place.

Mal

Yes motorsportqueen is me. Thanks for asking I found the other forum before I found this local one. I have know Samantha for a number of years and have been in touch with her since the story broke. In typical fashion people will find a way of pointing a finger and judging people.

I can assure you that Samantha did not expect this story to go any further than the local rag and you cant always beleive what you read in the media. She has not spoken to any media outlets since Wednesday night and the report in todays media was not given by her or it was information given prior. I personally think that last report was done in bad taste.

Sam flys with another airline on a fortnightly basis and it was the bosses suggestion to try this service for convenience. Sam was willing to pay for the second ticket from the outset and the problem started when bad advice was given by a Jetstar operator back in January and there was a lot more that happened that wasnt reported.

Telling someone to loose weight is fine if you have never had to do it.
When I first met her she was within a normal weight range it was the ill health that has been her downfall, mind you she isnt as big as she was.

You are never going to stop those who only focus on the negative aspects of this story, drawing stereotypical images of fat people (she is nether sweaty or has BO) and I have met plenty of people all sizes that can fit that bill over the years on all forms of transport and agree its not nice.

Sam purchased tickets Jetstar allocated the seats to different parts of the plane after being assured that they were together by the operator. Why should she have to waste time at the airport if she had previously checked in. Being given the right advice back in January would have avoided this who sorry tale.

I am sticking up for a friend who is a human being and I am sure that any of you would do that. Knowing the person, knowing the facts is more important to me than some anonamous poster having a go at a stranger.

All she now wants to do is go home and move on as I think this thread should.