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Plight of the tall traveler

Take pity on the tall traveler who is faced with this in economy class (Image: Eric Schmidt)

Take pity on the tall traveler who is frequently faced with this in economy class (Image: Eric Schmidt)

Oversized travelers frequently make the news, but the over-wide version gets all the attention. Well, what about the over-tall version? 

Anyone over six feet tall can probably relate to the plight of Eric Schmidt, a frequent traveler who at six feet, six inches tall, is frequently scrunched into submission on long flights. He thinks airlines should offer unsold exit row seats to tall travelers, and not charge them  a fee for the upgrade.

Schmidt is so fed up with bruised knees that he’s started a campaign to convince airlines to give special dispensation to tall travelers. His first move was to create a twitter account designed to attract other tall travelers, and hound airlines into action.

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We asked Schmidt to state his case for TravelSkills and we’d love to hear your opinions.

Sit in a chair facing the wall. Position the chair so your knees are touching the wall, no matter your posture. Now, sit there for two and a half hours. This is what it’s like for anyone over six feet tall in a regular coach seat. 

In the good old days, tall folks like me could just mosey up to a gate agent before a flight, explain our predicament and the agent would kindly offer us an exit row seat– the golden ticket for the height-disadvantaged. We would accept the responsibilities of helping in the case of an emergency in exchange for some precious extra space for our long legs.
 
Then a terrible thing happened.
 
Airlines realized they could charge for “upgrades” to exit rows and suddenly there was competition for those seats. Common sense went out the door and, too often, people who aren’t even tall or fit enough to lift their luggage into the overhead compartment get to sit in those seats.
Tall guy
 
Even worse, when these seats go un-purchased, flight attendants refuse to allow tall passengers, bruised knees and all, to move to those empty seats mid-flight unless they pay the fee. It feels like the airlines are taxing us for being tall. It’s completely unethical and illogical. In an emergency, wouldn’t you want the most able bodied people on the flight there to help?
 
A few years ago, I reached the zenith of my anger, so I did something about it.
 
A Delta gate agent refused to give me an exit row seat, despite all of them being available, unless I paid an extra $65. I refused out of principle. So, I sat there at the gate and created my most valuable tool– a twitter account called @ExitRow4TheTall.
 
Through Twitter, I am able to connect with like-minded people and, most importantly, annoy the airlines. There are 25-50 complaint tweets per day by a diverse group of tall passengers that contain the words “exit row.” The airline that most frequently gets complaints from tall people is United Airlines (whose CEO, another tall guy, recently resigned amid corruption investigations #HowAppropriate).
 
It’s time for lawmakers to intervene, because this is a clear example of big business picking on the little guy– or the tall one in this case. In the friendly skies, I think there should be a few basic rights for how much space we should have to avoid physical pain.
 
I testified to the Department of Transportation and the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection in Washington D.C. in April, but change will come slowly unless we have strength in numbers.
 
If you agree, and have a twitter account, please follow @ExitRow4TheTall and tweet your displeasure, being sure to include airline handles in your tweets. If you’re at the airport or on the plane, let the airline employees know you disagree with their policies of not allowing tall travelers easy access to extra legroom seats. Call your local representatives and tell them your height should never be exploited for profit.
Tall travelers

So what do you think, readers? Should airlines offer special dispensation to tall travelers in the form of free access to unsold exit row seats? Please leave your comments below.

 

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Comments

  1. I am 5’10” but wear the same size jeans as my 6’5″ little brother. I don’t understand why people continue to fly in miserable conditions “on principle”. I was thrilled when airlines started to allow me to buy a seat with extra leg room. If I can’t upgrade to first, the extra room is great, it makes a huge difference, even in a 90-minute flight. My problem in those seats is that my shoulders are exactly as wide as a coach seat … little wiggle room, but nothing like the knee problem. I swear, I don’t know how really big lumberjack-size guys fly at all.

  2. Are these tall passengers frequent flyers? If they fly enough miles annually, they are then entitled to extra leg room seating without a fee. With regard to exit rows, many passengers who fly 50-100K miles a year like those seats too! What about airlines that don’t offer seats with extra room? If airlines gave them away to everyone (not just their frequent flyers), then there would be no need and the extra leg room seats would be eliminated. Be careful what you ask for!

  4. the airlines have crammed more seats into less space while your average person has gotten taller and bigger. having to fork over more $$$ just because you’re tall and want to not be in pain is sad. I’m barely 5′ tall and when the person in front of me drops their seat back, I have hardly any room. I can’t imagine being over 6′. it’s also not comfortable for the person in front of a guy who has his knees jammed into the back of their seat.

  5. I’m 5’10 – and most coach seats now have my knees right at the back of the seat in front of me. Airlines need to be pushed (regulated) into more pitch between rows…..

  7. Consumers binding together is an important point, and one we should follow. None of us has found enough power to use the only leaver we have – not flying – to effect some change. Which is the reason Ken’s argument that we choose to fly is incorrect.

    I did change jobs. I used to fly 300K miles/year domestic. Now it’s +50K miles/year. United didn’t seem to care about loosing the 50 cents a mile in revenue I was giving them… not a single phone call when they lost $125K a year.

  9. Seems like the best solution is to give everyone in economy more leg room by removing some of the seats. I’ve never heard anyone complain about having too much room in economy – short or tall. The airlines are making plenty of money and giving us more room would make for a better flying experience for all – including the crew! Why try to band aid the real issue.

  10. Pity the poor folks in the center seats between the tall and the fat. You can scarcely take a breath!
    Maybe the airlines need to consider some “bench” rows, use the love seat approach you find in hospital waiting rooms. Don’t charge for them (since you can’t help being tall), quantity limited, tall and fat would need to book early!

  11. I don’t think anyone should get anything for free that was not earned. If it is given great, but it should not be expected regardless of your plight. We all know the rules going in; no need to be mad about it when you cannot charm someone into giving you something for free.

    But airlines need to be held accountable for providing decent seating for everyone; after all they are providing a service. We all know that the seat sizes and the space between the rows have decreased and frankly we (as a society) have increased in size. Genetics or choice to be overweight does not factor into the truth of the matter – airlines are squeezing money out of everyone and not really providing a great product in return.

    Until we as a consumer group can force action (and not just one sector like big or tall or both), all of us are talking in the wind. Maybe tall people need to do what every other group that wants special treatment has done – lobby the lawmakers! And since everything is a disease, overweight people ought to do the same.

    And maybe after having so many exceptions we can just apply common sense and make a reasonable product/solution for everyone which is what should be done anyway. Or like others have said, just pay for a larger seat and get on with it. Either way, it is really a waste of time to vent about it on a web site and not take any real action.

  13. No tall people are tall because of poor life choices but because of genetics; most fat people are fat because of poor life choices. Comparing them is a false equivalency, though I concede that there is a small percentage of fat people who are so because of illness or medication.

  15. Seems like there is a fair number of angry, envious short people out there. I’m now following and will tweet aggressively. Thanks for taking up the cause!

  16. People forget they chose to fly. And saying their job requires it is a false statement, they chose that job that requires flying.

  17. No I don’t think they should be given special treatment. What about fat people, should they be given two seats? They know what they are getting into when they buy a normal non-premium seat. Why should they be given a better seat for free?

  19. To the mean spirited who think the larger of us should just pay up – what I would really, really like – is a distribution of seat sizes such that airlines can assign people who weigh 115lbs, to seats which have the same amount of room as those of us who weigh 230lbs do now.

    I’m “lucky enough” to have a permanent disability due to a scary adventure with cancer in one of my legs. Without the ability to get up and down or squirm around – I won’t be able to walk off of a plane after 5 hours in “economy economy”. That permanent disability with all the passes and documentation to go with it – doesn’t help me at all with the airlines.

    There just isn’t anyway to account for that. Airlines say: “Don’t like it, don’t fly”. But it’s a function of my job. I have to do 30+ round trips a year. I made my first Million Miles on UA nearly 20 years ago, and I take advantage of it – without that EconPlus, I likely wound not be able to fly.

    99% of us do not have the option to just upgrade – we live with corporate travel policies that prohibit any kind of upgrade – pay for it yourself you see. When my travel department makes complaints about taking the more expensive UA flight – then I tell them I won’t go. Which typically involves an escalation up three levels of management. Everyone loses.

    And what do you do when your flight cancels? Things are so booked now, there isn’t any buffer left to “pay for first class or confirm your upgrade/exit row seat in advance”.

    The way it is today – is not right. We’re not all the same size, and the current seats are just downright painful for a sizable percent of the people on the plane – I’m going to guess it’s 5 in 100. it’s not just tall people. At 6’2″ and 250 lbs – I was not overweight as a young man, I was just an athlete (was being key today). I didn’t fit. At 230lbs now – I still don’t fit, it’s actually worse now than it was 20 years ago.

  20. There’s another trend that’s even worse… the airplane with _NO_ seats that have enough legroom, even at a price. I’m far more worried about that spreading beyond ultra-discount carriers and Southwest than I am about having to pay for legroom.

  21. I am not 6 foot 3 but at 300 pounds I feel the pain in how tight seats are. Is it wrong that seats are so tight, yes and no. People seem to be paying the airlines, guess we don’t have any choice. But I can say this, I have now given up and any flight over four hours try to figure out a way to fly first class. It’s a lot of money but at my age I deserve not to feel the pain of being in a can for five hours. Wish the airlines could do some happy compromise.
    One last thing, I for one think it’s unsafe for a lot of folks having this kind of seating on flights over four, five hours. People over 50 that fly coach on flights of over ten hours, I feel that they could find themselves getting blood clots and other serious ailments as the airlines cash in with our pain. I really feel that congress or someone that has help the airline with these mergers that have made them money come up with some sort of compromise to make flying not as painful for folks over 300 pounds or over 6 foot 2.

  22. I am not on Twitter, but completely agree. I am 6’3″. I have Platinum status on Delta so can normally get economy “comfort”, but there should also be an effort to shame people who put their seats back – into your face – and leave them like that, even during meals. C’mon people! Think about those around you!

  23. Tall people make more money than the rest of us, tall men fare better with the opposite sex, they command more attention, project power and get more promotions at work. Any guy who wants to share the unearned benefits of being tall with me, I’ll pay their upgrades to exit row…never mind, to business.

  26. I hope these stories actually get some traction. I quit traveling for years because I am 6’4″ and athletic. I do not fit in the seats, and am in a huge amount of pain even after the shortest of flights. I only got back into traveling because I found travel hacking and now use whatever method I can to upgrade to business or first class. I will support any effort to shame airlines on this topic.

  27. I’m 6’6″.. I was short of UA Gold last year so I did a mileage run to confirm E+ seats.. worth every penny… I don’t care if another tall person is squeezed into row 36… If they allow people to move into those seats for free, it dilutes their value significantly.

  28. Easy solution — pay for first class or confirm your upgrade/exit row seat in advance. I’m 6’2″, and that’s what I do!

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