Airlines in Canada Can’t Charge Extra for Heavy Travelers

Remember the hullabaloo from ‘weight conscious travelers’ when Southwest Airlines said they’d begin to charge overweight people for an extra seat?  Some people were outraged…but hey, it costs more to tote around a 300 pounder than a regular sized person.

In Canada, however, the law is now on the side of the big people.  A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada states that some airline passengers don’t have to pay for the extra seat. That’s because in some cases their obesity is caused by a medical condition.

Calgary lawyer Linda McKay-Panos, who must weigh enough to fill two seats herself, said she was bruised on an Air Canada flight in 1997 when she had to squeeze into a narrow bulkhead and so she sued.