A passenger on a long-haul flight is suing British Airways for what he claims is physical harm suffered after being seated next to a large fellow traveller. But how can overweight passengers be sensitively accommodated on increasingly crowded aircraft?
Are flights are getting more crowded with less personal space?
Yes. Long-suffering airline passengers are accustomed to the discomfort of modern flying. But now the squeeze really is on, with airlines cramming more seats into the same size economy cabin, both on short-haul and long-haul planes. BA and other “legacy” airlines are seeking to compete with the budget carriers by packing more seats into their short-haul fleets. And British Airways is halfway through a programme of “densifying” its Boeing 777 fleet at Gatwick, by fitting an extra 52 seats into each aircraft.
When the 777 was introduced 24 years ago, almost every schedule airline fitted each economy row with nine seats abreast. But now the trend is towards 10 abreast. Air Canada, for example, has revealed “new slimline seats in economy”.
What is happening to the size of passengers?
Aviation is a “one-size-fits-all” business, but passengers are increasing in girth. According to the most recent figures from NHS England, 26 per cent of adults are classed as obese – compared with 15 per cent a quarter-century ago. At the same time, airlines are getting much better at filling up their aircraft.
Twenty-five years ago, the average “load factor” – the proportion of seats occupied on each plane – was about 70 per cent, meaning there were plenty of spare places on the typical flight. Today, airlines such easyJet and Ryanair are in the mid-90s, which means an average of seven or eight seats spare – and, on many services, none at all. Good for the environment, not so good for those of us who like a bit of room to move.
You can’t blame the airlines for squeezing us in; they are responding to the relentless public demand for cheap flights.
What are the options for plus-size passengers?
On long-haul flights, there’s a simple if unappetising solution: spend more. At the same time as airlines are making basic economy more basic, they are expanding premium economy – pay a bit more, get a bit more space. If you need a more than a bit of extra room, then you could move up to business class – though fares are often many times more than in economy.
For this reason, some larger passengers routinely buy two seats: Ryanair, the biggest budget airline, makes it relatively easy (providing you book the second under the name “Extra Comfort Seat”), while easyJet says its seats are 17.5 inches wide and if you are unable to fit into a single seat, “You will be required to purchase additional seats at the prevailing rates”.
Virgin Atlantic urges passengers with a high body mass to book extra space, and stresses “you will not pay any passenger taxes, fees, charges or surcharges on the extra seat.”