I’m a large woman wanting to know if i can fly (fit in seat)?
Your concerns are shared by many of us at SeatExpert.com, as a number of our team members are considered to be “passengers of size”. There is not a consistent airline industry-wide standard policy regarding passenger of size, but here are some commonly applied de-facto policies:
- In general, if a passenger can fit within a seat without having to raise the arm-rests, then the passenger should be able to fly
- If a passenger must have the arm-rests raised in order to fit, then airlines are likely to require the purchase of an extra ticket for the passenger to fly
- Southwest Airlines is perhaps the only airline to have a stated policy that they require an extra ticket to be purchased for the extra seat, but they will refund the extra ticket if the plane departs the gate with at least one empty seat. Here is the Southwest link for your reference: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html
- Essentially all airlines carry seat-belt extenders on board their planes, and passengers can request the extender as they board. Our staff members have learned to request the extenders from the first flight attendant they encounter as they board, as there is only a limited supply of extenders on each plane.
The typical economy class airline seat is around 17-18 inches wide as measured between the arm-rests. You might want to do a simple experiment at home to see if you could fit within this space. Some of our larger team member can barely fit, and their arms and thighs extend slightly beyond this space. They are still able to fly and only need one ticket.
Most airlines offers more than one class of service, in addition to the standard Economy Class, many airlines also offer Business Class and First Class. These premium class seats are usually more spacious, a bit wider than the economy class seats and also offer more legroom. The tickets for these premium classes are obviously more expensive, but at least they are an option that are available on many flights.
Do different planes have different seat belt lengths in economy? In some, I have at least 6″ to spare after cinching it in; in others (757), I can barely get the belt fastened with nothing to spare.
Seat belt lengths are NOT standardized and vary greatly even within a specific make and model.