Plus-sized traveller demands free extra seat from U.S. airlines

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An extra airline seat is a basic need for plus-sized travellers.

That’s according to blogger Jaelynn Chaney, who has repeatedly demanded that U.S. airlines stop making larger passengers pay extra for another seat to accommodate their size. Her latest plea came earlier this week on social media in a video where she said it’s outrageous that plus-sized travellers are “forced to pay twice for the same accommodation anyone else gets with one ticket.”

“This isn’t about giving fat people more – it’s about accommodating basic needs,” Chaney said in the video.

“Airlines make their product smaller every year. Then they blame us for not fitting. If your car got smaller every year, wouldn’t you be pissed?

“Seats are getting smaller, seatbelts are getting shorter, and they pack us in tighter – so they can make more money. But when we can’t squeeze into their tiny seats, it’s somehow our fault?

“I’m done letting airlines make us the problem when it’s them causing it.”

According to the Daily Mail, Chaney believes the United States should adopt Canada’s “one person, one fare” policy, which has been law since 2008.

For instance, Air Canada states passengers with medical accommodations must submit paperwork from their doctors for such requests. Approval is usually given 48 hours before a flight. The airlines’ Fitness for Air Travel application does include a section for passengers to apply for the program “by reason of obesity.”

A passenger must provide details such as height, weight, body mass index, body measurements and a doctor’s signature.

Currently, the American government has no similar policy. The country’s Department of Transportation has ruled that airlines aren’t required to produce more than one seat per purchased ticket.

It’s not the first time Chaney has called on airlines to accommodate obese airline passengers.

In June 2023, she petitioned for airlines to be forced to refund larger passengers who have been made to purchase an extra seat because of their size.