Sprangles

Following on from those previous discussions:
The rules have changed in Canada. From today, all Canadian Airlines have to stop charging for extra seats for people that need them.

Canadian airlines have a year to stop charging those with severe disabilities for extra seats they need after a landmark decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency on Thursday.

The agency ruled that the country’s major air carriers must offer a single fare to those with disabilities, including the severely obese, who require two seats to accommodate them.

Also under the “one-person, one-fare” policy, they don’t have to pay extra for medical attendants that must be seated with them on flights.

I didn’t even know it was standard practice to charge people who need the extra seat. That seems as fair as making a blind person with a guide dog buy a ticket for their dog.

It’s interesting that the ruling for obese people is based on “can they get the armrest lowered”. I guess that’s reasonable, but it doesn’t really account for whether they make the person next to them uncomfortable. But then once you start thinking along those lines it’s a really fuzzy area and too difficult to police — there’s no way to really properly define “may make the passenger next to you uncomfortable” that’s easy to measure.

And something else that occurred to me — what about people with bad BO? I don’t think they make screening machines yet that can determine how bad you smell.