Should Overweight Consumers Pay Extra for Services From Southwest Airlines & Other Businesses?

Super-Size Me

Following the recent decision by Southwest Airlines to begin enforcing their 22-year-old policy requiring overweight passengers to purchase two airline seats, a number of other companies and consumer groups have demanded that customers of size begin coughing up premium rates for their products and services.

Southwest Airlines led the charge with their policy to penalize large customers, dating back to the 1980's. According to the policy, any passenger whose derriere spills over onto the adjacent seat is required to purchase two airline tickets at the price of the original seat. Roxanne Haberstrohm, spokesperson for Southwest says, "Ninety percent of the complaints we receive from our passengers stem from being subjected to the overflow of obese passengers sitting next to them." And the problem isn't based solely on comfort, either.

Statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the American population's weight has been creeping up since the 1990's. More than thirty percent of American adults over the age of 20 are obese. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that the average weight of American adults has ballooned by 10 pounds. The extra weight of these chubby vagabonds has translated into an additional $275 million dollar expenditure to burn more than 350 million additional gallons of jet fuel resulting in 3.8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide released into the air.

In an effort to contain the prices of airline tickets, carriers have initiated creative measures to compensate for the additional weight of their plump passengers such as pitching out phones, carpeting on cabin floors, pillows, drop-down trays, flight attendants, light fixtures, stereo headsets, co-pilots, blankets, air conditioners, communication equipment, emergency oxygen masks, heavy metal eating utensils, restrooms, thick magazines and even life vests and air sickness bags. Other ideas under consideration are dispensing with unnecessary Plexiglas windows and seat cushions in favor of wooden bench seats.