4 ms·

I’m not sure that’s a great example since airline seats have become so small many obese people simply are effectively prohibited from flying. Even business seat

I’m not sure that’s a great example since airline seats have become so small many obese people simply are effectively prohibited from flying. Even business seating has contracted over the years so paying a kings ransom still isn’t enough for such people to gain freedom of mobility. (Cue the Ayn Randian self control HN argument every time someone says something marginally accommodating of the obese).

woodruffw 4y ago
I'm not going to make that Ayn Rand-style argument. I think it's disgusting that people stoop to that. My point with the plane example was that we could fit larger seats in planes, without any particular trouble. The reason airlines don't is because it cuts into their profitability: requiring an obese person to purchase higher-classed tickets to accommodate themselves is much better for business than actually having to accommodate them with a wider seat.
- kcplate 4y ago
  Once upon a time (before some significant weight loss) I was an obese weekly business traveler. I used to fly southwest as a preference if I could because their policy was to charge for two seats if you needed a belt extender. You would get priority seating and a little card to place on the second seat that designated the seat as unavailable (no assigned seats on SWA). If the flight wasn’t full, they would refund the second seat. I always felt that was a reasonable accommodation.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  Having to accommodate them with wider seats means fewer seats in the plane, which means much lower profitability, or higher seat prices for normal-size people. There's only so much room on an airplane. Customers consistently choose flights based on seat price, so of course airlines are going to optimize to keep prices as low as possible to get customers. For people who prefer comfort over price, there's higher-class seats. If Americans don't like this, maybe they should try losing weight so they aren't so much larger than everyone else in the world.
- bluecalm 4y ago
  I don't think we could fit wider seats into airplanes unless you mean fewer wider seats than current seats. In such case it's not just about profitability (airlines aren't known to have huge profit margins anyway) but about travel getting more expensive for everyone. I might not go full Ayn Rand but making things more expensive for everyone to accommodate fat people is a line I am comfortable defending.
catiopatio 4y ago
What is Ayn Randian about the necessity of self-moderation?
- Tokkemon 4y ago
  There it is. Stop.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
badpun 4y ago
> people to gain freedom of mobility. Being not/being able to fly commercial airlines is certainly not "freedom of mobility". If that were the case, then no one had freedom of mobility before the Wright brothers, which is absurd.

woodruffw 4y ago

I'm not going to make that Ayn Rand-style argument. I think it's disgusting that people stoop to that. My point with the plane example was that we could fit larger seats in planes, without any particular trouble. The reason airlines don't is because it cuts into their profitability: requiring an obese person to purchase higher-classed tickets to accommodate themselves is much better for business than actually having to accommodate them with a wider seat.

kcplate 4y ago
Once upon a time (before some significant weight loss) I was an obese weekly business traveler. I used to fly southwest as a preference if I could because their policy was to charge for two seats if you needed a belt extender. You would get priority seating and a little card to place on the second seat that designated the seat as unavailable (no assigned seats on SWA). If the flight wasn’t full, they would refund the second seat. I always felt that was a reasonable accommodation.
midoridensha 4y ago
Having to accommodate them with wider seats means fewer seats in the plane, which means much lower profitability, or higher seat prices for normal-size people. There's only so much room on an airplane. Customers consistently choose flights based on seat price, so of course airlines are going to optimize to keep prices as low as possible to get customers. For people who prefer comfort over price, there's higher-class seats. If Americans don't like this, maybe they should try losing weight so they aren't so much larger than everyone else in the world.
bluecalm 4y ago
I don't think we could fit wider seats into airplanes unless you mean fewer wider seats than current seats. In such case it's not just about profitability (airlines aren't known to have huge profit margins anyway) but about travel getting more expensive for everyone. I might not go full Ayn Rand but making things more expensive for everyone to accommodate fat people is a line I am comfortable defending.

catiopatio 4y ago

What is Ayn Randian about the necessity of self-moderation?

Tokkemon 4y ago
There it is. Stop.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

badpun 4y ago

> people to gain freedom of mobility. Being not/being able to fly commercial airlines is certainly not "freedom of mobility". If that were the case, then no one had freedom of mobility before the Wright brothers, which is absurd.