Passenger forced to stand for seven hours on U.S. Airways flight because of 400-POUND man sitting next to him
- Arthur Berkowitz flying from Anchorage to Philadelphia
- One of longest possible domestic flights without a stop
- Said it was dangerous as he couldn't use his seatbelt
- Obese man said 'I apologise, I'm your worst nightmare'
The passenger who had to stand during a seven-hour flight because of a morbidly obese man sitting next to him has today spoken about his ordeal.
Arthur Berkowitz, 57, said his 400lb neighbour on US Airways Flight 901 from Anchorage to Philadelphia made it impossible to get into his seat.
The obese man spilled over into Mr Berkowitz's personal space and he could not move because the plane was full so he was forced to stand up.
Dangerous: Passenger Arthur Berkowitz had to stand for a seven-hour flight after a morbidly obese man next to him made it impossible for him to sit down
He said the obese man was very sorry. 'The first thing he said to me was: "I want to apologise - I'm your worst nightmare",' he told MailOnline.
'He was a real gentleman. The first thing he said to me was: "I want to apologise - I'm your worst nightmare"'
Arthur Berkowitz
Mr Berkowitz added that his ordeal in July presented a safety risk because he could not use his seatbelt for take-off and landing.
'I didn't fly from Alaska to Philadelphia on Flight 901,’ Mr Berkowitz told consumer advocate Christopher Elliot’s blog. ‘I stood.’
'His size required both armrests to be raised up and allowed for his body to cover half of my seat,’ he told the website, elliott.org.
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The flight from Anchorage to Philadelphia is one of the longest non-stop U.S. domestic flights and Mr Berkowitz thought he had a spare seat at first.
Apologies: US Airways has said sorry for the incident, which it described as 'regrettable', and it offered the passenger a $200 voucher in compensation
But before the door closed the airline asked a late-boarding passenger who weighed 400lbs to sit down next to him in the last empty seat.
FAT ISSUES IN THE AIR
There is no legal weight limit for passengers on U.S. commercial flights but some airlines such as Southwest ask customers who cannot fit into one seat to book two.
It says if a passenger cannot lower the armrests on one set they must buy another - whatever they weigh.
The second seat's price is refunded if the flight does not oversell, says consumer website Smarter Travel, which advises big passengers to travel off-peak.
Mr Berkowitz has been flying with US Airways for 50 years, he said.
He added that there was a young exchange student from Eastern Europe on the same row as him who was 'pinned up against the window' by the obese man because there was so little space.
Flight attendants whom he told about the problem said they could not help him as he was not allowed to sit in their jump seats.
‘They were sympathetic, but could not do anything,’ he told elliott.org. ‘No other seats existed on plane.’
Mr Berkowitz claims they admitted their gate agent had made an error in allowing the passenger to board without having bought two seats.
New policy: AirTran - part of Southwest Airlines - announced last month it will begin forcing fat passengers on its planes to buy a second seat from next March
US Airways has since apologised for the 'regrettable' incident. A statement said: 'Our intention is to offer the best travel experience possible.
'The details you have provided indicate that we have failed to meet our intentions.' It offered Mr Berkowitz a $200 voucher in compensation.
'I didn't fly from Alaska to Philadelphia on Flight 901. I stood'
Arthur Berkowitz
But he called this 'inappropriate' after paying more than $800 for the ticket. He also complained the airline has not fixed the safety issue.
'I reviewed his case and agreed with him that US Airways might want to take another look at his complaint,' Mr Elliott wrote on his blog.
'I mean, leaving a passenger with no alternative but to stand for almost seven hours - if that’s true, then this might be one of those rare cases when a full refund is in order.'
Mr Berkowitz told MailOnline he raised the issue primarily because he wants the airline and authorities 'to develop a policy on safety'.
TOO FAT TO FLY: CASE STUDIES OF AIRLINE GRIEF
Cult film director Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, California, last year because he didn't fit in a single seat, despite having booked two seats for the flight.
The director of Clerks and Chasing Amy took to Twitter in disgust, saying: 'I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)'.
Southwest later apologised and put him on an alternative flight.
The same airline was also implicated earlier this year when it banned a woman and her mother, saying they were 'too fat to fly'.
Political strategist Kenlie Tiggeman, of Louisiana, and her mother Joan Charpentier, were on a stop-over in Dallas, Texas, when they were singled out in front of 100 other passengers and told they should have bought two seats each.
Again Southwest apologised and let the women on to the plane, but Miss Tiggeman said: 'Their sensitivity level needs to change, period. It needs to be different.'
In another incident last year a man flying to Toronto to visit a dying aunt was escorted off an Air Transat plane at London Gatwick and told he could only fly if he bought two seats.
Sandy Russell, 32, from Wolverhampton, Britain, could not afford the £928 ($1,444) and his aunt died two days after he was due to see her.
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