Obesity is a widespread problem in America that doesn't seem to be going away soon as it applies to one third of Americans. By 2030, it is expected that 42% of Americans will be battling obesity. This problem expands beyond the US and it seems to be a global issue.
As a way to keep up with expanding waistlines, the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is offering extra wide seats on their new A320 passenger jet. A few American airline companies have already expressed interest in the offer in hopes of making fatter profits.
A spokeswoman said that this project was driven by US companies, but Airbus is also working to compete against US rival Boeing. Airbus wants to point out that their A320 jet is wider than Boeing's 737 jet, whose seats are only 17 inches wide.
"We are offering the possibility of a 20-inch (50cm) seat for larger people," Zuzana Hrukara, Airbus's head of aircraft interiors marketing, said this week. Standard seats on the plane are 18" wide.
To make room for these super-sized seats, all aisle seats would be expanded to 20 inches and the other two seats in the aisle will be reduced to 17 inches.
Hrukara explained that this concept is not just for those who are on the heavier side. "Mothers with children may be ready to pay a little more in order to be able to keep their babies in their lap, and large football players may be interested," she said.
Airlines predict that these wider seats will lead to wider profits. They would most likely charge extra for these wider seats, which could lead to $3 million in extra profits over 15 years. Pricing would depend on individual airlines.
The standard of charging extra money for extra-large passengers is already in effect for many airlines. AirTran and Southwest airlines require overweight passengers to purchase two seats if they are unable to fit in a regular seat. Southwest airline has been ridiculed and even been targeted with lawsuits for booting passengers off of flights because they were "too fat to fly."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
