"A woman has been given a full refund after being forced to
squeeze into her plane seat next to an obese woman.
Janet Ogilvie boarded a flight from Halifax to Ottawa in Canada
last month when she found the overweight woman sitting in the
window seat and about half of Ms Ogilvie's aisle seat, the Ottawa
Citizen has reported.
"She figures the woman's spine was where the middle armrest
comes down when in use. The woman also needed a belt extender to be
able to buckle up," according to the media report.
"The plane was full, flight attendants told her. So Ogilvie . .
. wedged herself into the 10 inches (25cm) that remained of her
seat.
"The one-hour 45-minute flight to Ottawa was brutally
uncomfortable, though Ogilvie didn't say anything to the woman for
fear of embarrassing her. Ogilvie's right hip became her rear
end."
Ms Ogilvie said she was "pressed up tight against her for the
whole flight".
Ms Ogilvie later complained to Porter Airlines, but received "a
tepid apology at best".
"She was told politely she could forget about a refund," the
Ottawa Citizen said.
"Giving a second seat at no cost to people with disabilities is
what Air Canada, including its regional carrier, Air Canada Jazz,
and WestJet are already required to do by the Canadian Transport
Agency.
"The three airlines must give disabled passengers - including
those who need a companion to travel with or are declared by their
doctors to be too large to fit in a single seat - two seats for the
price of one on all domestic flights."
The one-person, one-fare policy was introduced in 2008 after a
joint complaint to the agency from three people involving the two
major airlines, the Ottawa Citizen said.
"According to an email sent Monday to Ogilvie from Robert
Deluce, Porter's president and chief executive, the airline is
following the same policy to some degree," according to the media
report.
"Writes Deluce to Ogilvie: 'Porter, will . . . if given
sufficient notice and medical confirmation, offer obese passengers
a second seat gratis in an effort to mitigate a situation as the
one experienced by you. Regrettably, however, not only was your
flight at capacity, but also the passenger seated in 9A did not
alert us to (her) condition prior to flight time. As your safety
was considered not at risk, we proceeded as scheduled.'
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/8208240/obese-passenger-causes-flight-refund/
