Losing half your seat on a 14 hour flight is not nice.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Australian-seated-beside-overweight-passenger-6416622.php
I’m starting to think that it would be a good idea to travel with a stiff piece of plastic or cardboard that fits under the armrest and into the crack between the two seats.
This would unequivocally stake out the territory that you have PAID FOR when you bought your ticket and prevent the neighbor’s fat from overspilling onto your seat.
Hmmm, maybe could extend this idea and somehow put up a little “fence” type thing on the floor to protect your legroom… (This might present safety issues in terms of evacuating the plane - perhaps if you didn’t put the fence down until the “fasten seat belt” sign has gone off… Maybe a rope or cord -bungee cord? - to mark the boundary?)
No, it’s not pleasant. Apparently they don’t have a rule that makes them buy an extra seat. My husband puts a newspaper or magazine by the armrest to prevent people from utilizing his seat space, and sometimes so do I. I just got off a cramped commuter flight, and the guy took the armrest, and some of my space. But he was pleasant, much larger than I, and really needed it. I was able to rest my arm below the space he used, no big deal.
However, there are almost always jumpseating crew members on a flight. If you are getting your seat for free, if situations like this come up, they should relocate a jumpseater there. However, crew members like to protect their own, but I just appreciate the free ride.
MomCat2, there you go. Start a business. Seat Divider - a new product designed to preserve seat room and sanity on flight! Much less controversial than the thingy that prevents the seats in front from reclining.
And it makes me wonder why Mr. B is taking me with him to Europe… Apparently, this way, he is guaranteed a non-oozing seat mate. 
Plus, Delta still lets us choose better seats based on my Alaska mileage status…
I always protect my floor space on the buses from spreaders by putting my rolling laptop tote on the floor clearly marking the middle (don’t worry, I make sure the bag does not encroach on the other half). I hate commuting for 1 hr each way with someone’s knee in the middle of “my” space.
I was on a flight recently where the guy in the middle seat kept turning off my movie when he put his arm on the armrest. I don’t mind him using the armrest - he has the worst seat, but who in the world would design a button that is going to be covered by your neighbor half the time? It was infuriating.
Obesity is a real problem - planes weren’t designed for the huge increase in overweight people. (In 1985 there were no states with over 15% obese, now there are a good number with over 30% and none under 20%.) It used to be a rarity, but sadly it’s not any more. And instead of getting wider they keep shrinking seat sizes - it makes no sense.
Awww, heck - just messing around here at home with the gap between seat cushions on the couch-- looks like just sticking the safety information card or the inflight magazine (if it’s not too thick) into the crack between the seats might work just fine (if not too tall to fit under the seat).
There goes my money-making opportunity. 
(Will try those on next flight, and take measurements if those items don’t work. Plus I have some small plastic cutting boards that may be just the ticket)
I had a similar flight last week that wasn’t fun but thankfully was only 1.5 hours. It’s really a tough problem for airlines with people getting wider but planes stuck at a fixed width. I don’t see a resolution in the foreseeable future.
I would be more bothered by someone reclng their seat back so far I could not see my lap, than touching the person sitting besides me, but you pay economy pricing, can’t expect first or even business class accommodations.
I sure wouldn’t contort my body to avoid doing so, especially if it was causing pain.
That said, I just bought some flexible cutting boards at Town & Country Markets for $1 ea.
Now other articles say that the obese passenger was also ill, sneezing & coughing the whole time.
I wonder why the first articles didnt mention that?
This is my biggest pet peeve about airline travel. I have to admit when watching an obese person come down the aisle I say to myself "please keep going, please keep going!"I would like to see airlines use the “try out the seat” to see if you fit test that amusement parks use. If you don’t fit then you have to buy 2 seats. It is just not fair to the person that you are spilling over on.
You can’t bring carry on if it doesn’t fit in the measuring box so why should passengers be at different.
On a recent flight one grossly overweight passenger was sitting in an aisle seat. They had raised the arm rest and their body was literally taking up 1/3 of the already narrow aisle. They were near the back restrooms…which also are located next to the back emergency escape doors. It clearly put the safety of all the other passengers into jeopardy. Just try parking some of your carry on luggage in the aisle and see what happens.
Sorry guys, if your overstuffed roller bag doesn’t fit into the overhead bins you will need to check it. If your overstuff bumm doesn’t fit into a seat…you should be forced to buy 2!
My massage therapist weighs about 280 lbs., at about 5’5". She is in Africa right now on a mission trip, and in the months leading up to the trip, was trying to lose weight. But she couldn’t. I am seriously wondering how she managed to stay in her seat without encroaching on her seat mates. And if so, it would require her to stay in the position for the entire flight, which is horribly unhealthy.
One time I was traveling with my teenagers and gloating about having my own seat with no seat mate. Guess who apparently bought the seat next to me after I checked in? The largest guy in the terminal. Thankfully it was a short flight. The guy was very sweet and obviously embarrassed.
It is a problem and I am not sure what the answer is. Plane sizes are different, seat configuration is different, people sizes are different. My friend’s husband is 6 foot 7 and her son is 7 feet tall. They are not overweight but I wouldn’t want them to be the other two people in my row.
Even some not-so-tall guys do that “manspreading” thing, which can take up a lot of the legroom of the people in neighboring seats.
Just got off a 5 hour flight on Sunday where I paid $119 extra for an economy plus seat. The man next to me in the middle seat kept doing the “manspread” thing, even though he had plenty of leg room and would bump and rest his leg up against mine. For the first hour, I looked at him and said “excuse me”. After about the 5th time of this and him acting surprised, I found it necessary to cross my leg and “accidently kick his leg”. He got the message. ( I was tired and cranky and in pain with my sciatica).
Let’s just say…flying is really like taking a bus that happens to be on the sky.
My best flights are with my family…in planes with two seats only together. We all fit just fine.
@ECmotherx2 - whenever we don’t fly Southwest, we now buy up for the economy plus seat. It’s amazing what a few inches can do to make a flight more pleasant.
We obviously can’t fly Southwest for longer flights because they don’t typically go to where we take our longer flights, so for those shorter flights I’m OK with their seat configuration.
Still thinking about what could be used or designed as a boundary marker in front of the seat to defend against manspreaders…
A cattle prod?