Obese customers should pay more for flights.

The average healthy person has a waistline of 33 inches, the average overweight person has a waistline of 45 inches. Planes are designed to accomodate that. The average obese individual has a waistline of 60 inches. That's nearly TWICE what an average healthy person has. In other words, they need an extra seat. It's time airlines started accomodating that and start treating the obese like people. A good way to start is exchanging specialized seating for a set fee. Here's an image to illustrate. http://medicineworld.org... From medicineworld.org Or something less scientific, imagine sitting next to this friendly gentlemen on your flight: http://www.spurgeon.org... You can choose to donate half your seat to this guy, or you can do as my opponent says and buy yourself an extra seat on EVERY FLIGHT, just in case. However, had the airline intervened and helped the gentlemen get a specialized seat (at a slight increase in expense), neither of you would have had to endure that experience! But how much should they be charged? My opponent asks: "$8 more per flight? So just how much extra should obese passengers be charged?" Good question, perhaps we should have addressed a hypothetical amount before we started the debate. Most people when thinking about obese passengers paying extra fees jump to such thoughts as hundreds of dollars more per ticket. I don't think that's anywhere close to necessary. While $8 is a good start, maybe somewhere in the range of $20-50. We're not even talking about a class upgrade here, which can often be twice or three times the price of economy. We're talking plus-sized flights, much like plus-sized clothing. When an obese person walks into a department store to buy plus-sized clothing, does he or she not pay more for the extra fabric? Of course they do. It's only logical. Essentially this small price difference is meant to stay within the same kind of difference. Of course, the group of people required for this small fee would be small. We're talking about the truly obese here (BMI greater than 3.5), not the common overweight. Just like the fact that tobacco and alcohol use is heavily taxed to discourage their use, this will encourage customers to lose weight. And of course, this eliminates the need for embarrassing moments that currently plague the obese customers such as having to be asked to switch flights so one with extra seats could be accommodated. The obese are people too. -- Let's take a moment and imagine how this would work. When a customer calls an airline (or go online or meet a travel agent), they'll be asked whether they perfer plus-sized seating. This would obviously be quite popular (who doesn't like a little extra space on flights?) but the seats would be reserved for only those who NEED it first, and then those who prefer it. If an obese passenger opts not to take the seat (I have a hard time imagining they don't, it'd be MUCH more comfortable), airline employees would try to establish if the passenger is disrupting others before asking if they could upgrade. Think of it like reserved parking for air planes. -- My opponent says: "Medical problems associated with contributing factors such as tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, alcohol, etc. all contribute to an additional increase health risks..." And that's why marijuana and other drugs are illegal, at least where I come from. Tobacco and alcohol ARE already being heavily taxed, and why taxes are going up by millions per year to DISCOURAGE tobacco and alcohol use. These taxes are used as insurance so that in the case when they require extra medical treatment, it's already been paid for. Now my opponent has derailed from the previous 3 arguments to start a new format, most of which I have already answered in my previous post. Regardless, I'll address them quickly again. -- "Obesity is preventable." In most cases, absolutely. There are rare instances where it's a genetic issue, but until my opponent can bring up specific proof that unpreventable obesity is the norm, there's really no argument here. Because it's preventable, they should cover all the things that come with their choices. Including paying set fees for flights. -- Other transportation. People don't pay for subway seats. I'm not sure about New York, but here in Canada our subway tickets don't have assigned seats! I'm hoping my opponent isn't suggesting that Airlines operate the same way as subways, having to stand on a flight for 10 hours sure would be an uncomfortable flight. -- "Therefore if one is so concerned about this HORROR, they have the option of buying an additional plane ticket just in case. Otherwise they can just take their chances and 90% of the time be a-ok anyway." You're suggesting that everyone buy an extra ticket just in case they get assigned a bad seat? That's the reasonable solution to the problem? Again, my opponent has simply skipped over my arguments to form his own. An obese person is not a discomfort (like a crying child), it's someone who has taken up much of what you've purchased, an airline seat. -- "Obese people are not the only individuals who fit uncomfortably on a plane. Tall or larger people in general (not necessarily obese) may also be the cause of some discomfort. " True, at the moment I pay an extra 14 dollars when I book my tickets so that I can request emergency exit seating (for the legroom). So... you're proving my point for what again? -- lawsuits Could you cite one lawsuit involving an obese passenger suing an airline? Or anything like it? Or anything to suggest that something like this MIGHT happen? I'd hate to accuse you of making up random facts or something. -- At the end of the day, all this is just rhetoric. Because North Americans in general will be gaining weight as a population, the airlines will be there to fill that need, expanding programs such as plus-sized seating that obese passengers may opt to purchase. No matter what, this is an inevitability. Heck, it's the American way.