Flight attendants have come to the aid of a ' morbidly obese ' traveller who concerned about making fellow plane passengers uncomfortable.
"I'm morbidly obese and want to fly soon," the worried man wrote. "I'm 5'6 and 450 pounds and want to fly without making anyone else's life hell.
"Should I buy two seats, three seats? Is there a specific airline I should be looking at?
"I'm looking to go from Los Angeles to Vegas so its a shorter flight but I just want the process to be easy, any tips?"
For larger people, air travel can be a difficult and sometimes uncomfortable experience, due to the narrowness of plane seats.
The 'typical' airline seat is between 17 (43.1cm) to 19 (48.2cm) inches in width, and do not leave much room even for the more svelte traveller.
Taking to Reddit to answer the man's call for help, kind commenters suggested specific airlines and how best to approach the issue.
"If you book more than one seat, make sure you check in for all seats," one person suggested.
"If you only check in for one, they might give your other seats to someone else. You'll have plenty of space with two seats."
Another person suggested checking ahead to find out whether the airline they planned to fly with was suitable.
"A first class/business seat could possibly work as well," they said.
"You can lookup the seat specs on seatguru.com. You might want to try sitting in a couple of chairs and seeing what is the smallest width chair you can comfortably sit in.
"That way you can find your limit and choose a seat setup that suits you best with cost and comfort in mind."
Many of the commenters suggested Southwest, an American airline which has a good record for accommodating large people.
"I fly Southwest all the time as a very big person," another person added.
"When booking, just enter two people and for the second person, put your name with 'Xs' after your middle name, or in the middle name slot if you don't have one.
"Your reservation will show one person and then 'extra seat' under your name.
"When you show up to the airport, tell a customer service agent either before security or after that you have an extra seat and they will give you a document like a second boarding pass to put in the seat next to you."
The commenter suggested calling the airline after the flight to try and get a refund, which they'd managed to secure numerous times before.
More and more people in the UK are officially classified as obese, with the percentage of the population falling into the category having risen from 15% to 28% between 1993 to 2019.
Some larger passengers flying the UK routinely buy two seats.
What do UK airlines offer?
- Ryanair, the biggest budget airline, makes it relatively easy - providing you book the second under the name “Extra Comfort Seat”.
- EasyJet says its seats are 17.5 inches wide and if you are unable to fit into a single seat, you will have to buy a second.
- Virgin Atlantic urges passengers with a high body mass to book extra space, with no extra tax or charges for the second, the Independent reported.
- British Airways says that it works on a 'case-by-case' basis.
