Airline Seat Spillage

Maybe the airlines have finally done it with their every decreasing seat spacing, extra fees and generally uncomfortable rides. A case in point is making lawyers everywhere smile. it seems that an Emirates airline passenger is suing the airline after he says he had to sit next to an obese passenger for nearly nine hours on a July flight from Cape Town to Dubai. Since I am approaching a fat status myself I will restrain my snide remarks about this. But I have been in a similar situation, and mostly since the airlines started cramming extra seats on their planes by shrinking the size of seat space.

According to Italian newspapers Giorgio Destro, a lawyer from the northern Italian city of Padua, claims the “spill over” from the man seated next to him ruined his trip. Giorgio says he asked crew to find him another seat, but that they were unable to do so because the flight was full. Sure Giorgio is a lawyer and they sue for anything. Still, this is a problem I have observed more and more as people get fatter and seats have gone on a diet. I am actually almost motivated to root for Giorgio to win this case. Sigh....I feel embarrassed to root for a lawyer.

The bad news for Emirates is that Giorgio who says he’s a member of the Emirate frequent flier club. If this is how Emirates treats its club members, I suspect the normal passengers should run for cover. To his credit, Giorgio is making a reasonable request in his suit. He is suing for about about $847 in compensation for his fare and $2,232 in damages. I am uncertain if anyone else has sued in Italy for fat seat mate trauma. But the airlines will be watching this one. if lucky and Giorgio wins the airlines might reconsider their "Let's torture the passengers" policies.

“For nine hours, I had to stand in the aisle, sit on seats reserved for the cabin crew when they were free, and in the final phase of flight resign myself to suffer the spill over of the passenger at my side,” said Giorgio. And he took a picture of the fat guy spilling on top of him to prove his case. Emirates has said it cannot respond directly to the comments since the litigation is pending.