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.

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.

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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