Passenger forced to stand for a seven-hour airline flight

[bijou]

At nearly seven hours, US Airways flight 901 is one of the longest domestic nonstop airline flights. And Arthur Berkowitz knows how long it takes to get from Anchorage to Philadelphia down to the minute. That’s because he says he had to stand for most of the flight when he returned to Philly last July.

Why would anyone stand for that long? Because he says a morbidly obese passenger seated next to him was spilling into his personal space, making it impossibly to sit in his assigned seat, and the flight was completely full.

“I didn’t fly from Alaska to Philadelphia on flight 901,” he says. “I stood.”


Telling an airline passenger who can’t fit into a seat to stand is pretty unusual. But it happens. The question is, what should the airline do about it?

Before answering, let’s review some of the specifics of Berkowitz’s complaint. He boarded the flight on July 29, and was grateful to find an empty middle seat next to him. But that gratitude turned to horror when the airline sent a late-boarding passenger who weighed more than 400 pounds to the seat. It was the last empty one on the plane.

“His size required both armrests to be raised up and allowed for his body to cover half of my seat,” he says.
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http://www.elliott.org/blog/forced-to-stand-for-a-seven-hour-flight/

[thundley4]

I would have been tempted to lock myself in the bathroom. Then they would see a lot more uncomfortable passengers.

[Gina]

He should get more than his refunded ticket.  The airline should be screwed financially for the safety violation.