Morbid Obesity and Airlines

[Jann]

University of Calgary law professor Linda McKay-Panos says she was ridiculed and bruised during one flying experience.

Dean Bicknell, Calgary Herald

Air Canada and WestJet failed in their pitch to quash a decision from the Canadian Transportation Agency, which gave them one year to bring in a policy known as "one person, one fare" to allow disabled passengers a second seat for a travelling companion. Obese people can also qualify if they are too large to fit in a single seat. "Now I know I can fly with dignity," said McKay-Panos, 51, who was born with a hormonal disorder. "I'll be able to phone up the airline and be treated with respect and have my disability accommodated without making it so I can't afford to fly."

Air Canada and WestJet said Thursday they intend to fully comply with the federal order, although the carriers aren't sure what kind of screening process will be used to assess who is eligible for an extra ticket.

Canada is so far the only country in the world to require its airlines to follow such a policy, said WestJet spokesman Richard Bartrem. "The big work for us now is understanding what sort of guidelines to put in place that are fair and consistent," he said.

In its ruling, the agency said the free fares need not be provided to obese people who are merely uncomfortable in their seats or are not disabled by their size.

The airlines also do not have to make allowances for disabled people who prefer to travel with a companion for personal reasons or those who require care on the ground but not in the air.

Calgary civil liberties lawyer Stephen Jenuth considers the federal decision a wake-up call for a number of industries that may have to rethink the traditional definition of disabled.

"It is an important battle; it really speaks to the kind of accommodations businesses have to make to allow disabled people to use their services," he said.

According to Canadian Transportation Agency figures, the new rules will add about 77 cents to each ticket sold by Air Canada and 44 cents to every WestJet fare.

The cost of flying probably will increase to some degree for all travellers come January, said WestJet's Bartrem. "Ultimately anytime we take revenue seats off of an aircraft and essentially replace them with guests that are flying for free, there's going to be a financial impact," he said.

McKay-Panos, a University of Calgary professor and the executive director of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, says the right for morbidly obese people to fly with the same degree of accessibility as the average traveller is a victory for all disabled people.

After more than a decade of battling the airlines, she's looking forward to flying again. "Many obese persons are following this situation . . . and are grateful I was willing to put myself forward," said McKay-Panos. "As you can imagine, I get ridicule as well as praise."

Jann

[JazzyJude]

WOW...very interesting reading! Thanks for sharing this...

[Kittycat]

That's an amazing story Jann...believe me nothing is more embarrassing than having to ask for a seatbelt extender and being sandwiched between two strange men and my thighs/butt touching each one and there is no way in h*ll I can do anything about it. Not to mention the arm rests only coming down onto my hips, as I did not fit between them. I am hoping by March when I fly to the Bahamas, I won't need a seat belt extender and will fit comfortably between the arm rests.

Thanks again for posting a very important post!!