This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Airline Tries to Quell Seating Storm June 25, 2002 By JOE SHARKEY On the supposition that there is no need to try to say something better when it has already been said perfectly, I am indebted to the editorial page of The Rocky Mountain News of Denver for the following trenchant comment last week regarding reports that Southwest Airlines has begun cracking down on extra large people by making them buy two airplane seats: "Our worry is that the outcome of all this will be one more indignity inflicted on the hapless air traveler. In addition to making you take off your shoes, empty your pockets, unbuckle your belt, dump out your carry-on, show your ID - twice - and submit to hand wanding, they'll tape- measure your behind." Southwest says it intends to do no such thing. Instead, says the airline, which has been scrambling for days to undo the public relations damage caused by headlines like "Southwest Changes Policy on Wide-Bodies," it will depend on its ticket and gate agents to ensure that people who don't fit completely in one seat pay twice. That puts it bluntly, of course. But those travelers and some of the people who represent them say that it is time for more direct communication on the subject of airline seating. "There is a lot of hostility toward fat people on airplanes," said Robert E. Bain of Lorton, Va., a frequent business traveler who retired from SRI International, a California-based research institute. "The bottom line is most people are far from being within the boundary of comfort" in any economy-class seat on an airplane, he said. That includes average-size people as well as big ones, he added. On Southwest and on most other airlines, space is unforgiving. Depending on the model of the plane, economy-class seats are 17 to 18 inches wide. That's less than the width of most standard desktop computer keyboards. Mr. Bain's point, that everyone is uncomfortable in economy class to begin with, underscores a tendency to objectify people that is especially pronounced on an airplane, where most passengers fret about cramped conditions anyway. Southwest's point, which the airline tried to clarify with a lengthy statement intended to quell what it called the "sensationalism" over the issue, is that airlines are low-margin businesses and, increasingly, every seat counts. Last year, on average, "only six seats per aircraft accounted for Southwest Airlines' profit," Colleen Barrett, the president and chief operating officer, said in that statement. "Our policy isn't about a person's weight or shape," Ms. Barrett said. "We have no intentions of having scales, sizing templates, measuring tape, etc. That certainly isn't a way to treat people, and we have never considered any such thing." The policy, she added, simply reiterates one that has been in place since 1980, requiring a customer whose size encroaches on the adjacent seat to buy a second ticket. The furor occurred when Southwest informed its gate and ticket agents that effective tomorrow, when new boarding procedures using electronically issued passes are set to begin, the employees were responsible for enforcing the policy regarding large passengers. Southwest is trying to counteract "the horrible publicity" generated by news of the policy, said Allen Steadham, the director of the International Size Acceptance Association (www.size-acceptance.org). "There's a lot of potential here for trouble. First of all, what qualifies a ticket-counter person to make a judgment call for who's going to fly based on their size?" he asked, adding that with a formal policy being enforced, agents who used to use good judgment to accommodate large passengers without a fuss on undersold planes will now be more vigilant about insisting on the purchase of the extra seat. Aware of the public relations debacle that is generally acknowledged to have accrued to Southwest, a much disliked competitor that is also the only profitable major domestic airline, other airlines have been careful in recent days to emphasize their accommodating attitudes toward large passengers. Otherwise, "we're going to let Southwest have its time in the sun on this one," a rival airline executive said yesterday. Many large passengers, especially regular business travelers, routinely book two coach seats anyway. Airlines provide seat-belt extension straps to large people who need them, and in cases where those extensions are inadequate, airlines sometimes quietly ask that person to buy a second seat. But in many other cases, very large passengers are quietly accommodated beside seats that are already empty. According to Mr. Steadham, American Airlines, which already has the most spacious economy-class seating in the industry, is particularly known for "not making a big hassle out of it" and finding ways to unobtrusively work with large people on crowded flights, even if it means rebooking them on another less-crowded flight to allow them to have extra room. In that regard, there have actually been overall improvements over the years, said Mr. Bain, the retired consultant. Mr. Bain said that he expected the current commotion might in fact impel major airlines to accelerate their discussions with groups representing large people. Among proposals under discussion is one to redesign a row or two with larger seats, perhaps sold at higher prices. In the 1970's and 1980's, Mr. Bain recalled, "I often would be treated with contempt when flying," adding: "I remember flying T.W.A. from the coast to New York all the time. I used to try to buy two seats, but they wouldn't allow you to buy seats that were right next to each other" as a way to discourage heavy people. William J. Fabrey, the president of Amplestuff.com, a mail-order company in Bearsville, N.Y. that sells travel and other products for large people, said that he was most concerned about the uncertainty that formal policies like Southwest's cause for large people, who often arrive at the airport dreading the travel experience ahead anyway. "The bottom line, as I see it, is nobody should be embarrassed when they're boarding a plane," he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/25/business/25ROAD.html?ex=1026018012&ei=1&en=6708fa3b2d1065a7 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company