02-15-2010
05:52 PM
Despite being a Kevin Smith fan and a big guy myself, I was at first outraged, but I understand why the policies are what they are. There does remain two issues I don't feel are addressed however:
1. Mr. Smith was able to get into one seat and lower both arm rests. He's said it, it's been widely circulated, and I don't see a rebuttal for it anywhere. Also, he really isn't *that* big a guy. He's probably closer to average than your pilot was.
2. Airlines have been reducing seat size to get more seats on planes for years, yet people (Americans at least) have been steadily increasing in size. Not to single out SWA, but it would seem that this is a mess created by the airlines that should have been expected, you guys should have seen it coming and done something about it.
Here's my suggestion, and it's based on what I've read that the weight of a plane is of paramount importance to safety and that also the balance factors heavily into this as well. I've read that pilots prefer more weight to the front for better control and airlines prefer weight to the rear for fuel economy. In either case, take a map of the seating arrangements on the regular planes and draw a triangle, with the base being the entirety of the end you want to favor with more weight, and the point being in the middle of the other end. The seats that fall entirely in that zone should be increased in size and sold at a slightly higher rate. Not double, but somewhere between current and double. For the jumbo, move one column of seats from either side of the middle to the sides and increase the size of the seats in the middle. Your engineers can fine-tune these figures, but the basic idea should hold. You put your heavier passengers to the middle and fore or aft and the balance should work itself out.
... View more