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Tall people on flights

mkrine
Explorer C

Hello! This may be a little late to the game, with SW apparently changing seating policies and the extra (free) seat for customers of size going away, potentially. However, if SW is revamping policies and possibly considering any additional kindness, I would make a plea for those of us who are in the 6'(ish) club.

 

I am female, 5'10" with 36" inseam. Not quite 6', obviously, but my legs are super long. As a result, I am always uncomfortable on flights. There is simply nowhere for me to put my legs. My son is 6'5" also with a 36" inseam. He is even more uncomfortable. I'm not sure why, since our legs are the same, but he has more mass, bigger feet, etc...Either of us would think we'd died and gone to heaven if we were ever allocated an extra seat for free. It would be the difference between in-flight misery and bliss. I do not understand why passengers of size who are obese get a free extra seat whereas passengers of size who are tall do not. Of course either group should be allowed to purchase an extra seat, but why do the large (weight) get this for free and the large (tall) do not?

 

While tall people do not spill over their seats and inconvenience those next to us the same way obese people may, we still do take up more space with knees going a bit akimbo (since they otherwise would ram into the seat in front of them), shoulders (for men) being broader etc...It seems blatantly unfair to offer an extra (free) seat to one population, based upon what....? And not another who is equally discomforted by tight seating in modern aircraft. And certainly while may obese persons cannot control their size, there is basically no tall person who has any say in their ultimate height.

 

1 REPLY 1

Re: Tall people on flights

dfwskier
Aviator A

I understand your plea, but SW's person of size policy is designed to do two things:

 

1) Allow the person of size a more comfortable arrangement

2) to prevent the POS from severaly limiting the comfort of an adjoining passenger.

 

Tall people don't typically qualify by  that second point.

 

I'm afraid your best bet is to try to get bulkhead or exit row seats. They provide extr leg room. After SW reconfigures it's aircraft to allow passengers to obtain specific seats, you may be able to obtain "extra room" seats that will be on the aircraft -  coming some time in 2025.