Fattening of the Population takes to the skies
A man in Australia is suing American Airlines after he was seated next to two obese people for a fourteen-hour flight – an ordeal which he claims caused permanent back and neck injuries.Michael Anthony Taylor, 67, said the airline refused to let him move seats, leaving him “crouching, kneeling, bracing or standing” for much of the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles.He said his uncomfortable position during the flight exacerbated his scoliosis and caused lower and upper back injuries as well as bruising to his neck. “I don’t hold any malice towards the people in the seats next to me – they’d paid for a ticket too,” he told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
Full Article: ‘Squashed’ Australian sues American Airlines after he was seated between obese passengers for 14 hours
We can’t say we agree with this man’s perspective that it wasn’t the passengers’ fault and their girth causing his pain and suffering — but as airlines shrink seat size and leg room at the same time that people are getting larger and larger, the buttons are going to burst.
It creates an interesting issue with airlines, many of which now have policies for obese customers, but the question remains what happens to the customer sitting in the middle that has to deal with overflow.
