Ouch...

[Castle Cake Apologist]

LONDON, England -- A woman injured while squeezed next to an obese passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight has been given £13,000 ($20,000) by the airline.

Barbara Hewson, 63, was offered damages by Virgin Atlantic after suffering a blood clot, torn leg muscles and sciatica following a flight to Los Angeles in January 2001, the UK's Press Association reported.

She said the woman passenger was so large she had to sit with the arm rests up, but when she complained, the crew said there was nothing they could do as the plane was full.

Hewson, of Swansea, Wales, who still has medical treatment, was quoted by PA on Monday as saying: "It was never about the money. No money would pay for you having sleepless nights with the pain."

The freelance writer, who travelled with her husband Roy, 67, said she spent most of her holiday in bed. "It ruined the holiday. We went out very little."

Hewson added that half-way through the flight the woman asked if she was okay, saying to her: "I'm sitting on your lap."

"I had three sessions of sitting in the hostess seat and I stood for a little while," added Hewson.

Virgin Atlantic said in a statement: "This was an unprecedented set of extremely unfortunate circumstances.

"We have apologised to Mrs Hewson and offered her compensation, which she has accepted, and we are pleased that this has now reached a conclusion."

 

[orangefan15]

Doesn't this just open the floodgates...I can see it now...hundreds of lawyers are chomping at the bit and soon there will be thousands of people suing the airlines. I mean, honestly, who hasn't ended up with an overweight person sitting on them on a plane? I understand this woman was seriously injured, but in our country, that doesn't seem to be a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit (and winning...can you say hot coffee?).

 

[The_CEO]

Talk about a TIGHT squeeze in compromizing.. I would of sued.:wave:

j.k

 

[TravisMT81]

Ok I think we have had this debate before. But the fat person should have bought another seat. The person that was injured paid for a whole seat and only got half of it. And transatlantic flights are bad enough.

 

[SpongeScott]

but is it the person's fault for their size, or the airlines fault for the size of the seat. Even with an average size person sitting in an airline seat, there is not a lot of room, especially sitting next to a stranger.

 

[TravisMT81]

oh I know the coach seats aren't that big, though every member of my family can fit in them just fine. But if you are a larger person you know that you aren't going to be able to squeeze into the seat.

 

[SpongeScott]

true. all i know is that had to have been one miserable flight for the lady.

 

[RozFan]

Jake, I love the new clipart!


:sohappy:

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

My avatar? Oh, thank ya much!

 

[Lilo]

It's all about money. First the airlines like to squeeze as many people on a small plane. After all they are losing money As far as the woman suing the airline, well you're right - can you say hot coffee:lol:

 

[GaryT977]

Well, I had a job for two years traveling the country doing computer installation and training, so I flew an average of three times a week. Even though I'm a skinny guy, those coach seats were always too cramped. I was SO relieved when I finally had enough frequent flyer miles to travel first class all of the time.

If I had sustained the kind of injuries that woman sustained because I was squeezed in next to an extra-large person, I would have sued too.

Personally, I think the airline industry needs a complete overhaul. I hated flying before, and I can't imagine what a pain it is now.

 

[emmagata]

Why didn't she bring it to the airlines attention BEFORE the plane took off?

Didn't she think that it would be a problem for such a long flight?

I do think the airline is partically responsible for not noticing that this lady was all scrunched up while doing the cabin sweep.

I also think that if you are too large to fit into the seating space provided equally to all passengers in each seating class, you should pay for an extra seat.

Can the airline do anything? Possibly. They could provide a few "overisized" seats for use only by large persons. But what's a good number? 2? 4?

The real answer is that there needs to be a compromise on both the part of the airline and the oversized passenger.

 

[Invero]

I like Southwest's policy. They make you buy an additional seat. Period. However... the additional seat is always discounted, and if the flight is not full, the fare for the additional seat is refunded to the passenger at the end of the flight.

With Southwest's low fares anyway, I'm half temped to stuff a few pillows up my shirt, and get an extra seat for myself... LOL

 

[emmagata]

Originally posted by Fantasia Boi
I like Southwest's policy. They make you buy an additional seat. Period. However... the additional seat is always discounted, and if the flight is not full, the fare for the additional seat is refunded to the passenger at the end of the flight.

With Southwest's low fares anyway, I'm half temped to stuff a few pillows up my shirt, and get an extra seat for myself... LOL

That was an idea I tossed out on another thread somewhere.(sometimes I lose track of where they are!).

I applaud SW policy of charging a reduced rate if the flight is full and refunding the extra charge when it's not. Hopefully the rest of the airlines will adpot this policy.

Look at it this way.

When you order something that is over-sized to be delivered to you house, you usually pay extra over the normal shipping charges.

Is that fair?

An over-sized item takes up more room which would reduce the number of other paid packages they can carry. Why don't they just use a bigger truck? Sometimes they do use a bigger truck. Some may argue that since they're actually incurring extra cost (bigger truck), the shipping charge should be more. Exactly.


Although there is probably no significant increase in the operating cost of the flight when an over-sized person gets on, they still need to put a price tag on each seat.

It's a business and I don't think it's unreasonable for companies to charge accordingly.

 

[tenchu]

Originally posted by emmagata
Why didn't she bring it to the airlines attention BEFORE the plane took off?

Didn't she think that it would be a problem for such a long flight?

I do think the airline is partically responsible for not noticing that this lady was all scrunched up while doing the cabin sweep.

I also think that if you are too large to fit into the seating space provided equally to all passengers in each seating class, you should pay for an extra seat.

Can the airline do anything? Possibly. They could provide a few "overisized" seats for use only by large persons. But what's a good number? 2? 4?

The real answer is that there needs to be a compromise on both the part of the airline and the oversized passenger.

The woman who got injured notified the cabin crew when the larger woman got on the plane, but was told there was nowhere she could be moved to, and would just have to put up with it.

The other woman had apparently been given another seat for free on her earlier flight.

The larger womans husband was sitting in the row behind.

He obviously knew better than to sit next to her.

 

[mamamage]

i heard through the grapevine that it is soon to be mandatory to buy a second seat if you can't fit into just the one.

my cousin has problems with flying because of this exact reason and always just goes with the expectation that the flight will not be full-well, he came back from a vegas trip recently and almost didn't even get on the plane because it was full....his wife had to talk him into it because there weren't any more flights. At least they were considerate enouph to seat next to each other so that only she was discomforted by it.

the airlines really should make bigger seats-especially on domestic flights because, yes, we as americans ARE overweight-its just a fact. so we either need to have bigger airline seats or we should regulate fast food chains.

i have always wondered how larger people get into some of the disney park rides? what if an overweight woman was riding with one of her small children and the bar would not come all the way down? a small child was flown from a ride at a local six flags here just this past summer-the child slipped right under the bars...

okay-i'm definately getting off subject here (and the above child's mother wasn't even overweight so i'm not sure what my point was exactly)

here's a note that is more on topic:

my father works for the airlines so he used to fly me to disneyland every year for my birthday even though we lived in mass. we used to fly first class because it was alwasy empty for standby. the seats were HUGE for little girl me.

okay, now i'm an adult with kids of my own and i find myself traveling to WDW even though i live now in cali. BUT they changed the policy in first class: no kids under 6! so now because i travel with my own children i am forced to fit my adult size butt into the coach seats! wah! wah! wah!

they say things seem a lot smaller once you get older but this is ridiculous!

but i still love to fly!

 

[Invero]

Originally posted by mamamage
the airlines really should make bigger seats-especially on domestic flights because, yes, we as americans ARE overweight-its just a fact. so we either need to have bigger airline seats or we should regulate fast food chains.

Did you hear about the guy who is suing some fast food chain because thier food made him obese? Only im America will we order a Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Supersized Fries, and a small Diet Coke.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Originally posted by Fantasia Boi
Did you hear about the guy who is suing some fast food chain because thier food made him obese? Only im America will we order a Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Supersized Fries, and a small Diet Coke.

:slurp: DIET COKE IS ICKY :lol:

 

[The Mom]

Originally posted by Lilo
It's all about money. First the airlines like to squeeze as many people on a small plane. After all they are losing money As far as the woman suing the airline, well you're right - can you say hot coffee:lol:

This woman's problems were a bit more than "discomfort." A blot clot can be life threatening. Sciatica may become a constant problem.

My understanding (which could be incorrect) is that the plane was full, the seats on this airline are 1&1/2 inches NARROWER than most US seats, the woman DID move around the cabin as much as possible (even sitting in an attendant's jump seat when possible), that the obese woman's husband refused to change places with the "squashed" woman's husband, and the flight crew did not demand it...so that is why the woman sued! Of course, I suppose HE would have sued if they had forced him to sit next to her and HE was injured.



BTW...the woman who sued over the coffee had 2nd and 3rd degree burns...which required hospitalization and skin grafts. That coffee wasn't just hot...it was boiling!

 

[The Mom]

Overcrowding is the price we pay for "cheap" seats! Coach seats used to be just a tad smaller than today's first class seats...and what is considered first class now (except for free drinks) was pretty standard in coach. As we have "spread," airline seats have gotten smaller.(both the width and distance from the seat in front of you.)

The cost of my first flight from RI to FL was actually more expensive 30 odd years ago than the same flight is now, and was about 1/3 of the cost of your trip...with room and board, etc making up the other 2/3!