JetBlue Blog

Image courtesty of Anneh632 on Flickr

No, this is isn’t an ad for The Casual Male XL (although we do hear they have some decent offerings for folks of all shapes and sizes). The title connotes a new voice of dissent arising in response to sometimes exorbitant fees on airlines for roomier seats. Larger customers are claiming that it is “body discrimination” to charge extra to accommodate those that may not fit into one seat onboard an aircraft.

“I have sympathy for overweight people, but at least the vast majority of them can lose weight if they choose. Tall people can’t get any shorter,” commented Barry Smith, co-founder and Development Director of Skyscanner, a Scotland-based travel site. Smith ran a poll on his site which resulted in 76% of participants agreeing that a “fat tax” should be imposed on those passengers that cannot safely fit into one plane seat. Until fat becomes the new black, it seems debates will continue to fill airplane seat talk.