Comments on: MOB #86 – What to Do With Your Tax Refund

By: David van Sunder

David van Sunder — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:48:08 +0000

Justin,

Before I get started, remember that I had 3 family members that worked for the airlines, so I have a little insight into how they operate. But on the other side I used to be 1K with United when I was a consultant. For those that don’t know, that means that I flew over 100,000 miles a year.

Now, I agree that larger seats would be wonderful, but it’s not realistic. Bigger seats means less seats. Less seats means higher prices. People don’t really want that. There are bigger seats with more room in business or first class. They’re just really expensive.

Also there is the issue that it’s not so simple or cheap to retrofit the planes. Most of the planes have been in service for 10+ years and people have been gaining weight during that time. What was big enough for a large percentage of people when those planes were ordered 10, 15 or even 20 years ago, isn’t big enough now. Even if they wanted to retrofit them, which I assure you they don’t, that would take quite awhile for a large carrier to accomplish.

Now, I’m not a big guy but, I get cramped in those seats, especially with the leg room. But if I had to choose between that and tickets that cost 25-40% more, I’ll let you guess what I’d pick. The airlines have been having cash flow issues for a long time. They won’t give bigger seats without bigger ticket prices.

As for the Deep Vein Thrombosis, that’s not the fault of the smaller seats. It’s caused be staying immobile in a seated position for too long. If you get up and move about a bit several times during a flight, you’ll be fine. You can have the same problem in a car, train or even sitting in the bleachers at a long baseball game if you don’t move about. It’s pretty serious because it can kill you, so everyone should get up and move around on the flight even if the grumpy guy has the aisle seat and has fallen asleep. Either wake him up or carefully climb over him. I’ve done both.

Thanks for listening, Justin!

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:12:08 +0000

Of course, they couldn’t react by increasing the seat size, could they. I’m no stick, but I can easily fit the single seat belt around me, yet the arm coming down isn’t easy or comfortable, at all. Then there’s the complete lack of any foot room. No wonder people get DVT.

By: Maria Isabel

Maria Isabel — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:52:22 +0000

I know what you mean because I have had the experience of being next to a heavy set person on a trip which made it very uncomfortable for me. I think that the airlines are right in doing this.

By: David van Sunder

David van Sunder — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:05:26 +0000

You're right, Shawno. I missed the obvious plug. I must be slipping! For anyone that wants to know how to fit being healthier into their busy life, check out Being Healthy for Busy People.

By: Shawno

Shawno — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:57:03 +0000

Perfect opportunity to drop in a promo for Talli’s show right after the story about airlines charging extra to obese customers.

Our tax refund wasn’t much, and at the time it came in, we were pretty much broke. So it just became getting-by money. Yay?