Interesting read, comments and Beat of Hawaii’s take on this.
6 thoughts on “Hawaiian Airlines News: Seats, Beds, Traffic and Controversy”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel News » Hawaiian Airlines News: Seats, Beds, Traffic and Controversy
About being weighed by airline: As I remember, Samoan-based Polynesian Airline routinely weighs all passengers, at least on interisland flights. Somewhat embarrassing, but understandable considering the smaller planes in use. And by the way, Pago Pago is not pronounced Pah-go Pah-go as you have it, but Pah-ngo Pah-ngo, with the “ng” pronounced as in “siNGer” and not “fiNGer.” (Comment from former long-term resident of independent Samoa, now relocated to the Big Island of Hawaii)
I feel for and sympathize with large people. To be fair to all, any thing that has to do with me and my wife and children flying safely in that plane to our destination takes priority. I know weight distribution and the amount of fuel are real issues and I will support the airlines’ decisions. Don’t second guess the expertise of people who are responsible. I do not want my children to be screaming in terror in a plane going down in the ocean or crashing somewhere. And it does happen. I was at Chicago Ohara airport years back when the TWA flight crashed on take off and killed everyone on board. There were people who cancelled their flight and went home that night.
Some of this is common sense to a limit. Last flt in Aug on Hawaiian Air to the mainland my wife and I were in middle seats. Nice gentleman next to me gave his wife the aisle seat. Problem was he was not tall but had really broad shoulders. When he sat down and tried to fold his shoulders in I could not use that side at all, so I gave him more room on his side and for the next 5 hours I sloped my shoulders towards my wife. I had a sore shoulder for 2 days. That was my call but I do understand when people say no to an uncomfortable seating arrangement for 5 hours.
:I have been an airline employee for 36 years loading aircraft all the while. Every bag’s weight and where it is put counts toward proper aircraft balance, trim, smoothness of flight and fuel utilization. Pilots can even tell when people are walking up the aisles. Even “kid-counts” are taken as a percentage of passengers so pilots can set trim, fuel planners can calculate out consumption and airplanes can fly within their design limits. So please don’t get upset when your weight is brought into the equation or you are asked to change seats to help balance the numbers and don’t “rock the boat” so to speak.
When a person of SIZE purchases a ticket – they, of all people, should KNOW they are a person of size and measure themselves at home so they know ahead of time how much space they realistically take up and book accordingly. They should not put themselves in the position of being embarrassed at the airport by needing to be weighed. Does Hawaiian Airlines have a protocol similar to SWA? All airlines should. I am a small person who spent several hours wedged between TWO people of size whose hot bodies pushed against mine the entire flight and I was not able to even put my arms on the armrests! I had to keep my arms crossed in front of me. It was the most horrid flight of my life! Now, even if it costs extra, I pay for a seat assignment ahead of time and always get an aisle seat. Never again will I be put in that position. And SHAME ON PERSONS OF SIZE who do this to others. Sure, they may have a metabolic syndrome, but they are still large and should consider this when purchasing tickets. I think SWA’s policy of refunding the second seat is a good way to handle the situation. All airlines should adopt this policy.
Inquiry: Someday, would be nice to see space for wheelchairs with tie-downs on planes as buses, trains, taxis & Disney boat rides do. Cruise ships do not require tie-downs. Do you think this will ever happened for the wheelchair bound on airplanes? Many mahalos!
I have flown on Hawaiian may times, and have never been asked about weight. My son is also 6’4″ and has never balanced out the plane. There is rarely an empty seat.