It is common for airlines to request that a passenger purchase an additional seat if they are considered a safety concern for the airline. Each passenger must wear a seatbelt when taking off and landing and sometimes it is not possible to do this when someone who is overweight occupies a single seat. I'm with the airline on this one. If Mr Smith was unable to wear his seatbelt on take-off and landing, then this was definitely a safety concern as he would have not been able to use the larger seatbelts provided for larger passengers on a single seat as these need 2 seats to work properly.
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