Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

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Sulako
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Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Sulako »

http://fe15.story.media.ac4.yahoo.com/n ... us_obesity

Are you having a fat day? Well that gets you a free seat on domestic flights. Stupid Supreme Court. No comment from the fatties aside from "Om nom nom nom".


Obese have right to 2 airline seats: Canada court

1 hr 57 mins ago

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.

The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.

The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal in May and had sought to launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court. The court's decision not to hear a new appeal means the one-person-one-fare policy stands.

The appeal had been launched by Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet.

(Reporting by Randall Palmer)
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metal
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by metal »

I hope that this is only honored for those that are "functionally disabled" beyond their own will, not just to some fat guy who eats too many cheeseburgers and decides to exploit the system and demand a free seat because they have no self restraint.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by RFN »

I am pretty tall, certainly not within my control. Do I get a free seat too?

There is a simple solution: stop putting cake in your cake hole.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Flybaby »

I'm functionally disabled by tallness, I think that means I deserve a free upgrade to first class.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by 'effin hippie »

Even fatties need love.

But since when is being fat a disability?
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Hedley »

I will now make a funny.

Q: What do you call a lawyer with an I.Q. of 50?
A: Your Honour

Thank you, thank you very much.
The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal
Not surprising. I represented myself in the Federal
Court of Appeals once.

Transport was arguing that the concept of "Double
Jeopardy" did not apply to Administrative Law, only
Criminal Law.

Hogwash, I argued. Let's say you're a black guy,
you're driving down the road at 10 mph over the
limit, and a cop pulls you over. The cops says he
doesn't like black guys - actually, he uses a word
that starts with N - so he writes you 100 tickets
for the same offence. Is that good law?

Federal Court of Appeals agreed with Transport
that issuing 100 speeding tickets to an N-word
for the same offence was "good law", if the
cop happened to not like N-words.

Go figure. My latest - albeit involuntary - contribution
to Canadian case law.

Until this is overturned in the Supreme Court - a
highly unlikely event - that's the law of the land,
in the Police State of Canada.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Invertago »

Now where do we draw the line as to who is fat enough? If I'm a few pounds short of the cut off, I'll just stuff down a few burgers prior to my flight and wear a large jacket :)

Good to know that we reward obesity.

Fatties should not be discriminated by the air force, they should be allowed to become fighter pilots too, and we should accommodate that by having larger cockpits on the CF18s! Where do we draw the line now?
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by foxmoth »

so, coming down the bording ramp the other day, their was this huge fat guy.
He must have had an operation for obesty because their were four legs sticking out of his big coat.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Adam Oke »

Where is the line drawn for fat? Does the airline outline a body figure? I can see a few people getting upset... Having to sit in one seat because the airline didn't consider them fat enough to have two.

Edit: Whoops just read invertago's post .... so ... what he said!
Invertago wrote:
Fatties should not be discriminated by the air force, they should be allowed to become fighter pilots too, and we should accommodate that by having larger cockpits on the CF18s! Where do we draw the line now?
As for the Fatties in CF-18's ... the Military as removed the physical fitness testing portion for entrance. They can not descriminate those not physically fit from the Air Force ... however, they can do testing once you're in the door and give a one year grace period to get up to standard.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Tim »

'effin hippie wrote: But since when is being fat a disability?
Since it got you stuff for free
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by tsgas »

The solution for passenger airlines is to charge travel by the pound. That's how the freight carriers charge for cattle and other livestock..
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by yyz monkey »

So, we'll charge for the second seat upfront and refund after they provide a doctors certificate at checkin, certifying they are functionally disabled by obesity.

No doctors note, no refund.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Invertago »

yyz monkey wrote:So, we'll charge for the second seat upfront and refund after they provide a doctors certificate at checkin, certifying they are functionally disabled by obesity.

No doctors note, no refund.
Hope they are able to do it that way.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by polar one »

You know, this might have never been an issue if the airlines had not done studies on how to put the most people into the least space, and made their seats accosrdingly (think the same size as the first class seats)...although it does put a crimp in my plan to manufacture and sell a little device to sit on the armrest to keep the volumetrically challanged from overflowing onto my half.

Now I must go and have a few big gulps and double whoopers so I can claim my free extra seat...Eat your heart out skinnies..( now how good a pun is that Hedley?)
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Changes in Latitudes »

This is outstanding!!! And so close to my honeymoon. I'm gonna save a fortune on our trip to Fiji!!

Basically, my fiance flies for free!

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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by denlou »

Oh great, now the airlines have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on seat belt adapters.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Carrier »

There are safety aspects here that have been ignored.
A standard airline seat is designed for a person of a certain maximum weight. The same for the seatbelt. Put a several hundred pound fatty in a seat towards the rear of the cabin and in a crash his/her overstressed seat and/or seatbelt is likely to give way well before other seats/belts and this massive missile will hurtle forwards in the cabin, injuring innocent people.
These oversized lumps will also move slowly and impede emergency exits in a crash. Indeed they may not be able to fit through some emergency exits. Why should innocent pax have to die because some fatty is impeding their way out?
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by jeff_w_yeg »

I'm 5'10" and 275lbs...I'm sure if I went to the doctor tomorrow, he/she would tell me I'm obese. Am I obese enough to get a second seat for free? I'm not sure...but I'd love to find out.

That being said, I fit in a normal sized seat and the normal seat belt fits around me. However I'd sure love a second seat next to me to put my laptop/DVD player so the jackass in front of me can't recline onto my screen :smt040

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the "average" weight per passenger used by the airlines is now?

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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Changes in Latitudes »

Carrier wrote: These oversized lumps will also move slowly and impede emergency exits in a crash.
As will children and the elderly...those are clumsy speedbumps to say the least! Let's face it, Carrier. In the event of a fire, you'd step over you own mother no mother how fat she is.

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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Captain X »

I think this has been mentioned before but why don't they charge fares by a std pax weight. So much for a fare based on a STD Weight say 190 lbs... anyone under that pays less than the Std price and if you bigger then you pay more. Simple if you ask me
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Invertago »

Captain X wrote:I think this has been mentioned before but why don't they charge fares by a std pax weight. So much for a fare based on a STD Weight say 190 lbs... anyone under that pays less than the Std price and if you bigger then you pay more. Simple if you ask me

Kinda like excess baggage. Sorry sir, I'm afraid you will have to check in your ass! lol
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Bushav8er »

Can we look at this from a different angle?

Ok, so they get two seats for one ticket price. Now, how do they use these seats?
A seat is structurally designed for one person to a max weight. The seat belt is also approved for a max weight on the single seat through attachment points, both for the belt and the seat to floor . Seat belt extensions, used to combine two seats; more than double the weight approved for the attachment point(s), let alone the (kinetic) weight limits of the belt itself. These factors would invalidate of the design limits/airworthiness of the seat therefore denial of two seats for one person.

In short, two people on two seats; load it transmitted through 4 belt attachments and 4 seat rails. One person on two seats only satisfies 'space' available NOT loading as twice the weight is now carried by 2 belt attachments and two seat tracks.

Two legal issues I think, one of 'access' and one of 'airworthiness' - they addressed the first one.
Valid?

But...is flying a right or privilege? Airlines sell 'seats' as their product, shouldn't they be allowed to sell them as they see fit as long as the Charter of Rights is not broken? The court has determined that it is now possible for them to buy two cans of beans for the price of one just because they eat more (their 'condition')...I think this could be challenged by a good lawyer.
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Last edited by Bushav8er on Fri Nov 21, 2008 4:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Sparks »

On the plus side, this does non-fatties a world of good.

Two-seat fatties mean the rest of us get spared being squashed up against the window by the "spill-over" (although they should still have to pay).
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

Post by Invertago »

Is "spill-over" a technical term cause I like it :)
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Re: Canada court says fatties are entitled to 2nd seat for free

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