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  1. #1
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    Thumbs down 6' 250 lb man refuses to buy 2 seats on Southwest Airlines

    OAKLAND, Calif. -- Southwest Airlines is facing yet another lawsuit from a passenger complaining of size discrimination. A California man says he was humiliated when Southwest employees asked him to buy a second seat on a flight because he looked too large for just one. Lionel Bea calls himself a man of "ample proportion" -- saying he's 6-feet tall and weighed 250 pounds when he refused to buy a second seat on a plane.
    Read the entire article here - http://www.nbc5i.com/travelgetaways/3757472/detail.html

    I have always been a fan on Southwest Airlines with their low fares, but this will most likely seal the deal that I will no longer use them. I am also of an ample proportion according to this mans size, however would be quite offended if they told me I would need to get a second seat. Thats just obsurd, yes, I agree maybe their should be a limit, however is a 6' 250 lb. person really that fat to need 2 seats?
    Richard W. Kelly
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  2. #2
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    I'm not so sure about "size descrimination" exactly, if he was "asked" or required (article didn't say really), but I think airlines don't have it easy when it comes to this sort of thing. You wouldn't think someone a 6' 250 lb. person would need two seats. I'm 6'1" and ~200lbs. and I wouldn't think another 50lbs. would do me in (though I'd rather not see just for the purposes of testing). Maybe 50lbs. more would, I really don't know.
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  3. #3
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    a man of that size should not need two seats. Trust me... i know.

    BTW: I hate it when people blame fast food chains for "making" them "fat".

  4. #4
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    It's for the safety and comfort of other passengers.

    I don't think there is a set weight, but while watching the tv show 'airline' I noted that it seems to come down to whether both armrests can be lowered without any 'spillage'

  5. #5
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    I am 6'1 and 230 lbs and I have absolutely no problem with "spillage". If anything it's my long legs hitting the back of the seat in front of me that is a problem, IMHO. Asking the man to buy two seats is utterly ubsurd as 20 lbs doesn't add that much extra baggage around the sides over someone my size.

    Personally I always make sure I sit on an exit row, bulkhead row, or any seat in the first couple rows of coach as they all usually have more leg room (which I need with my longer legs).
    Jeremy Johnstone
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  6. #6
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    I'm 5'9" and at my worst I weighed 240; way, way overweight (ideal weight for me is 170-180). I was flying on business a lot back then and never had any problem with "spillage", being asked to buy a second seat, etc. And I looked big.

  7. #7
    I saw this on TV, they asked him (not sure if it's the same person) to put the arm rest down, and if he can fully put it down it would be Ok for him to have just one ticket. Unfortunately, a lady could not put the arm rest down and they told her she had to buy another ticket (she didn't though, but they did not allow her on the plane).

  8. #8
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    <blunt opinion/facts; some may be offended>

    I do not mean to insult overweight or obese people, but America has a serious obesity problem. Nearly 2/3 of all Americans are overweight, and I believe it is 1/4 or 1/3 of those are considered obese. Is that not pathetic? And please don't blame fast food chains; all they want to do is make money, they aren't in this secret "conspiracy" to make people fat or fatter.

    I am not overweight nor obese, and to be blunt it is unappetizing when I am eating an otherwise pleasant lunch to see this 5'8" 350-pound lady walk in with her family (which consists of an utterly obese husband and chunky children) and order this ENORMOUS amount of food! It is just not right to treat your body that way! Think about what your heart goes through to pump blood through those clogged arteries.

    That is not to say it is hard for people to control their tendencies, but it is not impossible. So those of you who are obese or severely overweight, you can go from 300 pounds to 180. I've personally witnessed a family member do it. And she didn't use medication or deadly 800-calorie diets either.

    </blunt opinion/facts; some may be offended>

  9. #9
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    In the next couple of years (1-3 yrs), Obesity will be a diease of it's own.

    And I think he should have bought 2 seats, 1 seat at regular price, 1 seat at half price. Why? Well imagine if you were the person sitting next to him. No offense to anyone, but 240lbs is BIG.

  10. #10
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    Get the second seat, or don't fly. Easy as that. The airline have the right to refuse a customer for any or no reason at all. All the airline need to say is "we refuse to fly this person for no reason what so ever" and there's nothing the court can do about it.

  11. #11
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    240 lbs is not large.

    I'm 6'1" and down to 210 from 245 -- trust me I wore a 36 in waist -- that is not even close to Too Big!!


    at 5 7-9 250 may be huge, but someone who is 6' and 250 is not a really big man.


    and yes, fast food was a contributing factor to weighing in at 245
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  12. #12
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    Originally posted by Rob83
    In the next couple of years (1-3 yrs), Obesity will be a diease of it's own.

    I think it was medicare or what ever it is called considers it a diease? I heard it on tv some where.
    I am back....


  13. #13
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    I weigh 230 pounds and i'm the size of 2 men. Its due to my body frame that makes look bigger than the average person. I'm actually one of a few who has "big bones". If you measure my wrist bone its at least 3 - 4 inches wide.
    Kerry Jones

  14. #14
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    Perhaps they were discriminating against him,OR they just wanted an excuse to extract more $$ from him,i dunno........

    Not nice though regardless.........

    Thanx 4 the report Hello&Co

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  15. #15
    Big bones...please...I used the same excuse when I was 260 (I'm 6'4). Now I'm at 180. Why should the other people on the airplane be made uncomfortable? You might not think there is spillage but you don't see it or don't want to believe it. I did the same thing when I was overweight. Made excuses for my fatness. When I stopped over eating junk and started exercising everyday I lost the weight and saw the light. It's nice not being out of breath all the time and not worrying if I'm going to be charged for two seats by the airlines.

  16. #16
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    Its the truth. I really do have big bones. My body frame is a very large one... almost netherthal like. I got a question though. Since we are chargining more for people who are bigger shouldn't be charging people who are smaller less?
    Kerry Jones

  17. #17
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    You cant make a seat smaller in order to charge less, though children do fly at a cheaper rate, at least used to anyway. However, they can easily pop the arm rests out to make two seats into one. If you need two seats so as not to make the person next to you all stuffed, then you need two seats.

    There's also a difference between fat and muscle. Fat doesnt weigh as much (swimming, the muscular sink, the fat people float) plus the difference in bone masses in people. People who drink a lot of milk will have stronger and thicker bones, thus weigh more. I am 5'8 and can lose almost all my fat, work out, and still weigh the same, or even more due to the muscle build up.

    On the plane, it isnt about weight, it's about size (width). There can be a 6ft guy that weighs 250, but be slender and muscular and have no seating problem...while on the other hand you may have another 6ft guy who's weight is made of fat instead of muscle...... meaning a lot more mass due to it weighing less than muscle.

    I am back on my weight loss too. I was taking Zantrex-3, which worked great. I lost 15pds a week for about 3 weeks. I had a pair of pants that were tight when I started. When I finished, I could put them on after their wash/dry, and could pull them off while they were buttoned and zipped. The girth has crept back up on me, and I am back on the pills. Actually this time I am trying a small bottle of Stacker-3. Today was the first day, I took two this morning and they didnt seem to do much, so in a few days will probably switch back to Zantrex. I do a fair amount of hard sweat work, but it doesnt seem to be enough (slow metabolism) so I really dont burn the weight off, mostly water since I drink a lot of water but really dont eat much (Yeah I know, it's recommended to eat 5 small meals a day rather than one large one). Point being, I have gained and lost weight all my life. At one time I was in extremely good shape (boot camp was a joke to me and I got kicked out for being bored and doing my own thing, ok, so it was a problem I had with authority). For anyone who knows Navy, I passed the Orlando full motivational tour, 4th person ever.

    Anyway, I was much smaller in girth then than I am now, but I weighed more back then too. I averaged 220 versus my bigger size now and weight of 212. I wore 32 waist pants back then and 36 now (33 after pills ).

    Obesity is not a disease and should never be considered that. It's from a combination of laziness and slow metabolism. I know that personally. It's also not a handicap that cant be dealt with. If you are too fat, do something about it, dont expect smaller people to cater to your "F A T" handicap. They have their own problems that you certainly dont care about, right?

    A good measurement for planes would be that if you cant get into, or have a hard time getting into the plane pisser, you need two seats. Dont complain, start riding a bike to work instead... do something healthy for yourself. My oldest son is getting overweight (he eats all the friggin food in the house!!) and I am doing something about. Time to go mow the 2 acre yard buddy... no, not the rider, the push mower Twice a week..

  18. #18
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    Originally posted by Torith
    I think it was medicare or what ever it is called considers it a diease? I heard it on tv some where.
    Nobody considers obesity a diease yet, they consider it a result of other factors (poor eating habits, genetics). However, it's no longer a genetic issue, rather, Americans have too much to eat and are not properly following the Food Phyramid by monitoring the serving sizes and their Kcal intake.

    If it was a diease, you'd see more medications geared towards helping those losoing weight, as well as commericals advertising medications (not weight loss programs).

  19. #19
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    Originally posted by Rob83
    Nobody considers obesity a diease yet, they consider it a result of other factors (poor eating habits, genetics). However, it's no longer a genetic issue, rather, Americans have too much to eat and are not properly following the Food Phyramid by monitoring the serving sizes and their Kcal intake.

    If it was a diease, you'd see more medications geared towards helping those losoing weight, as well as commericals advertising medications (not weight loss programs).
    Buddy, where have you been? The food pyramid is completely obsolete. Eat 7-10 servings of grains? You do know carbohydrates are turned into sugar in your body? The food pyramid was invented in the 70's, and it's completely invalid now.

    Try another diet, just don't follow the god-forsaken food pyramid. Although the low-calorie diet has been around for many years, it is still effective in being healthy because it limits many factors, including carbohydrates and sugar. But I don't recommend that either, as it's extreeeeeeeeeemely boring, and food loses its inate fun.

    For instance, my dad used to be thin as a stick, 6'1" 159 pounds. Well, after getting married and having kids, and starting to eat red meat again (not that this is a factor, just saying; or maybe it is), he has shot up to 192, dieted on the Atkins', went down to the 170s, up and down, up and down. Well, he started to work out a year and a half ago, and has maintained his weight in the 190s, but only because of all the added muscle. By no means is he built for weightlifting; he is NOT; his bones are extremely small and he is poorly built. But he has still managed to deadlift 315 pounds, and squat about that.

    My point is it's possible to fluctuate your weight, and lose your fat and gain muscle. This is what I recommend, and it's very healthy. Obese people will be surprised at just how good they feel, not having to pant every time they climb a flight of stairs, or jog over to their car, etc. Note I am not trying to offend anybody, I am just stating a small anecdote and its moral.

    Whatever you choose to help you lose weight, that's fine. But I do not recommend medication as the easy way out. It can really make you feel worse about yourself -- depending on your personality -- because it's like you couldn't do it yourself, so you had to resort to medication. Well, you can do it yourself. An employee of my dad weighed 320 pounds; he went on the Atkins' diet and is now down to 210. A huge improvement, I would say.

    EDIT: Let me just say that there is no so-called "golden" cure for weight loss and healthiness. I simply feel, whatever works for you is what you should do, with the exception of the "food pyramid".

    No dietician, no doctor, no one can say which diet is the magic cure for anything, and I doubt they'll ever be able to say that. It's whatever works for your metabolism.

  20. #20
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    Oh god, anybody with even a slight bit of medical knowledge will tell you that Atkins is the worst thing you can do to your body, even worse when eating fats. Humans need to eat a balance of food, cutting out your main source of power so you can enjoy gorging on fats is not a way out of the problem.

    While carbohydrates are turned to sugars in the liver, that doesn't mean you should replace 'carbs' with 'sugars' the 'sugars' they consider are very simple sugars, while the 'sugars' that become from the carbohydrates are in fact very long chains of sugars and are a source of short to medium term energy

  21. #21
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    Originally posted by SniperDevil
    Buddy, where have you been? The food pyramid is completely obsolete. Eat 7-10 servings of grains? You do know carbohydrates are turned into sugar in your body? The food pyramid was invented in the 70's, and it's completely invalid now.

    The Food Pyramid is not suppose to be followed by itself. It's suppose to be as a guide to give the amount of servings. And because it was invented in the 70's doesn't mean it hasn't been updated.

    The problem isn't that the pyramid isn't obsolete (it's way from being obsoloete), the problem is that Americans have too much food to it. They do not KNOW how to EAT.

    To say it's obsolete is an ignornant statement, it's been updated and continues to be updated every 5 years.

  22. #22
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    I'm fat, and I hate when other fat people use their weight to their advantage.

    YOu did this to yourself, now deal with the consequences.

  23. #23
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    Originally posted by Aea
    Oh god, anybody with even a slight bit of medical knowledge will tell you that Atkins is the worst thing you can do to your body, even worse when eating fats. Humans need to eat a balance of food, cutting out your main source of power so you can enjoy gorging on fats is not a way out of the problem.

    While carbohydrates are turned to sugars in the liver, that doesn't mean you should replace 'carbs' with 'sugars' the 'sugars' they consider are very simple sugars, while the 'sugars' that become from the carbohydrates are in fact very long chains of sugars and are a source of short to medium term energy
    Didn't Dr. Atkins have a slight bit of medical knowledge?

    I didn't say you should replace carbs with sugars in any way, shape, or form. I would simply cut down on carbohydrates and hydrogenated oils, and eat more meat, vegetables, and proteins.

    On more thing: make sure you have a healthy balance of Omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential to your health and can be found in certain greens, but in bigger quantities in fish.

    The Food Pyramid is not suppose to be followed by itself. It's suppose to be as a guide to give the amount of servings. And because it was invented in the 70's doesn't mean it hasn't been updated.

    The problem isn't that the pyramid isn't obsolete (it's way from being obsoloete), the problem is that Americans have too much food to it. They do not KNOW how to EAT.

    To say it's obsolete is an ignornant statement, it's been updated and continues to be updated every 5 years.
    Um, last time I checked the food pyramid still said 7-11 (or 7-10?) helpings of grains a day. Wayyy too much.

  24. #24
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    Being obese is sometimes a genetic hardship people have to do with. It is also can have emotional ties/roots. I think the best way to lose weight is through regular exercise, a healthy* diet, and patience. It will definately not happen over night. But these specialty diets are not needed. You can get through it by eating smaller portions and healthier portions while you are at it.

    As far as the article- I do not see anything wrong with asking the man to buy two seats. Like someone said earlier, the article doesn't tell if they required it or suggested it. I am 6'2 210 lbs, I would gladly take an extra seat it would make my flight more enjoyable
    CEO Pixabit, Inc.

  25. #25
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    Originally posted by PIXABIT
    Being obese is sometimes a genetic hardship people have to do with. It is also can have emotional ties/roots. I think the best way to lose weight is through regular exercise, a healthy* diet, and patience. It will definately not happen over night. But these specialty diets are not needed. You can get through it by eating smaller portions and healthier portions while you are at it.

    As far as the article- I do not see anything wrong with asking the man to buy two seats. Like someone said earlier, the article doesn't tell if they required it or suggested it. I am 6'2 210 lbs, I would gladly take an extra seat it would make my flight more enjoyable
    But then where do you draw the line between healthier diets?

    Glad to see someone with such a positive attitude though.

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