Obese woman demands airlines pay for free seats to accommodate excess weight

Jae'lynn Chaney, who is a size 6XL, called on the Federal Aviation Administration to update its policy to provide larger passengers with an extra seat, free of charge.

In an interview with CNN Travel, Chaney complained that airline policies requiring passengers to pay for the space they occupy are "discriminatory," suggesting that obese passengers are simply "asking for the same dignity and respect from an airline that someone in a smaller body gets."

"People with smaller bodies get to pay one fare to get to their destination," she said, "and we have to pay two fares, even though we're getting the same experience. If anything, our experiences are a little bit more challenging."

Chaney, who has been larger than average her entire life, has gained a following on social media by posting content related to the struggles faced by obese travelers.

In April, she started a petition calling for "a uniform policy across all airlines, mandated by the FAA, requiring plus-size passengers to be accommodated for free or reimbursement." It has since received nearly 20,000 signatures.

"Plus-size people face hostility while traveling, and the negative stereotypes and prejudices are amplified when on planes," she lamented, citing examples of "plus-size passengers having the armrests slammed down on them by other passengers simply because of their size."

As CNN Travel reports, while many US airlines have made it mandatory for larger passengers to pay for two seats, carriers north of the border were forced in 2008 to adopt a "one person, one fare" policy for domestic flights.

In 2022, nonprofit organization Flyers Rights petitioned the FAA to update the regulations regarding airlines' minimum seat size, however, a US appeals court struck it down earlier this year.