US: Oversized flyers a challenge for seatmates and airlines

Americans are getting larger and airline seats are shrinking. So confrontations between oversize airline passengers and their fellow travelers are inevitable. The average American man weighs 15 pounds more than he did 20 years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average American woman weighs 16.2 pounds more. The average seat pitch, a rough measure of legroom, has dropped from 35 inches in the 1970s to about 31 inches today. And the average width has shriveled from 18 inches to about 16.5 inches. Airlines are more sensitive to territorial seat skirmishes than ever. Oversize airline passengers fall into two broad categories. Some travelers can't fit into the seats because of their hip size. Others are too tall to contort into an economy-class seat with limited legroom. The ones that generate the most complaints are the ones who spread into the next seat. JetBlue offers seat belt extenders for oversize airline passengers on its site but is otherwise silent on its passengers-of-size policy. Other airlines require large travellers to buy two seats.<br/>