Both Marianne at the Rotund and Big Liberty have good posts up about Flying While Fat, and I thought I’d add my tips on flying in Australia and some (OK, one) international destinations.
The main domestic carriers are Qantas and Virgin Blue, supplemented by budget Singapore-owned Tiger Airways, Rex (Regional Express), and JetStar, Qantas’s budget subsidiary.
I’ve flown both Qantas and Virgin Blue often enough, and have never had any problems with respect to my size. I’m 155cm/5′ tall and about a size 26 at the hips and 22 on top. Recently very few flights I’ve been on have been full, especially at off-peak times, like daytime on a weekday.
Qantas: I fit into the economy-class seats on Qantas’s 737s, and it’s not painful to have the armrests down but it is more comfortable to raise them. The seats are the same width as on their 767s. The armrests do go up on most seats, and the seating charts available on the Qantas website indicate which. The only exception is that the armrests on the window side are not raisable. I usually need a seatbelt extender, though you get the odd plane where the seatbelts are longer for some reason. The Qantas flight attendants have always been perfectly polite about getting me one when I ask. I have not flown on a Qantas Dash-8 but according to their website the seats are the same 17.5″ width as other planes.
Business class seats on Qantas are about 30% wider and have more legroom, but cost three times as much usually. There is no economy plus on Qantas domestic, although sometimes they fly a 747 between east and west coast to move the planes around and you can luck out and get a whole row to yourself on those!
JetStar flies Airbus 320 and 330-200s. I’ve never flown with them but I have heard from people who have that it’s much the same fitout and service as Qantas.
Virgin Blue: Seating is much the same as on Qantas on their 737s and 767s, and also on the new Embraer 170/190 jets. The armrests go up again except for the window side. Embraers are 2 x 2 seating, so there are no middle seat worries. Virgin Blue flight attendants have also been super nice about getting me a seatbelt extender.
Virgin Blue’s Premium economy seats are not wider than regular economy. They just have a kind of console/armrest thing where the middle seat it, and slightly more legroom.
Seating tips:
For both Qantas and Virgin Blue, online check-in is available, and I highly recommend doing it as soon as it’s open, usually 24 hours in advance. Go for a row at the back of the plane, and an aisle seat is usually best as you can raise the outside armrest. They usually do seat assignment from front-to-back, so if the flight’s not full, chances are you will get an empty seat next to you. From what I’ve read from airline reps, they don’t have a compulsory two-seats-for-fatties policy as they know that nearly everyone who’s quite large buys two seats or goes business class anyway.
Rex is a regional airline and so flies turboprop Saab 340s. I couldn’t find any information on seat width, but other airlines with the same planes have 16″-17.5″ seat width listed on SeatGuru. The layout is also 1 x 2, so if you called to check whether the armrests went up, a seat in the single-seat row could work out for you.
Tiger - I’ve never flown with them. They’re a very budget airline – no business class, user-pays for everything. That’s about all I know.
Internationally, I’ve flown with British Airways on their 747s. Seat width is a standard 17.5″. The flight attendants were also very very nice and polite, and one on-the-ball fellow even brought me an extension without asking as I rolled my eyes upon seeing that the seatbelt was about 2cm too short. “Here you go, sweetie! Aren’t these seats just ridiculous?!” 
He also showed me the trick of putting the complimentary pillow on the tray table so my meal tray would sit flat, as my belly gets in the way of the tray table folding all the way down; and he also asked the person in front of me to put their seat back up so it was as un-uncomfortable as possible.
Again, online check-in is a good idea. Go to SeatGuru and check out the seat plans first. I was travlling with my boyfriend, and on most 747s there are a few outer rows at the back with only two seats in them. We picked one of those and while it’s a little bumpier down the back of the plane and you get people queuing for the toilet standing next to you – if you don’t mind that then those seats are a good choice.
British Airways Economy Plus seats are no wider than standard economy and may in fact feel smaller as they have the solid armrests that wedge you in.
I’ll be flying with Cathay soon, and I’ll be interested to try the new style of seating they have – it’s a “shell” seat and some people have said they’re terribly uncomfortable, complaining of too-thin padding on the seat and lack of leg-room as the seat slides forward instead of reclining, while others have loved them. I’m short enough that legroom is rarely an issue, and I’m well-padded myself, so we shall see how they are. They’re the same width as usual, apparently.
Happy trails!
I
7 comments ↓
The tip about the airplane being filled from front to back is really handy for me. I’m in New Zealand, and I’ve only flown domestically. Our airlines (Pacific Blue/Virgin, Quantas and Air NZ) don’t have other ‘classes’ with better/wider seats. Like you I do fit in between the arm rests but prefer not to have them down and I do need an extender belt (I weigh about 130 kilos). I was a bit worried about a flight I’m taking by myself in a coupld of months time to my sister’s birthday. Now though I think I’ll pre-select my seat as far back as I can and hope for no middle seat passenger!
I’m pretty small (size 12-14, 5’4″), so I don’t generally have dramas with airline seats – but I found Tiger TINY. It was only a Melbourne-Canberra flight (50mins or so), but I was glad to be off.
I’ve also found Jetstar pretty small, but I suspect that had more to do with a long flight (Melbourne-Darwin) and having the middle seat on a crowded flight than any size issues.
Interesting to read your thoughts on Qantas as I flew with the recently (Melb to Syd and the Syd to Armidale and then in reverse). I booked months in advance and did the online check in as soon as I was able to and I ended up with a seat in the very last row on the Melb-Syd leg of my trip so I don’t know that they do fill from front to back all the time. I also flew on a Dash 8 and despite what their site says, I don’t those seat are as wide as those in the bigger plane. Those seats were ok if you didnt mind touching the person next to you (legs) but if you did, it was bloody uncomfortable leaning into the window (as I did). I am a 22 the bottom and didnt need an extender but had to extend the belt fully. I was lucky that I had a child next to me on the Melb-Syd leg and an empty seat on the Syd-Melb leg. I had someone next to me on both Dash8 flights and one was ok as he was very friendly as we talked a lot and I didnt mind our legs touching. The other however didnt say a word to me and I was very conscious of making sure I didnt touch him, so I leaned into the window cavity the whole flight and ended up with incredibly sore shoulders and neck.
I have to do the whole flight thing again in a few weeks (same trip back to uni) and I hope I get lucky with seat mates/positions.
Admittedly I’ve never flown in a Qantas Dash-8. I’ve flown in a FlyBe (budget carrier along the lines of Virgin Blue) Dash 8 in Britain though, and it was only marginally smaller than the usual Qantas 737 seats – and I was travelling with the bf so it didn’t matter if we touched. I probably would have noticed more if I’d been sitting with a stranger.
Maybe Qantas fills up the seats in a different pattern to Virgin. Hmm. I think on Dash-8s they may spread the load around more evenly as it’s a smaller plane? Must find out. I now prefer Virgin for the short hop flights as they have the Embraer jets which are more comfortable than the Dash 8s.
On a flight last year from Townsville to Hobart I was in the highly embarrassing situation of having to ask for a seat belt extension.The flight attendant was very discreet,but I couldnt help but think people were looking!Be good if you could take your own extension-can you?So off on the same flight later this year.Been dieting.If I get into belt without an extension next time I reckon I will burst into tears of joy!
Just got back from flying with Aeropelican from Mudgee to Sydney. Seat arrangement is 1 x 2. I have flown on Airbus’747s 767s and Dash 8s. I have never in my life needed a Seat Belt Extension but I did on Aeropelican. The seats are just about the right size for a small size 8 teenager. Not a normal sized Adult or a size 22 like me. there was no way the belt was coming close and I even checked to see if it was caught somehow. I strongly suggest checking this out before flying Aeropelican.
I fly a lot, especially in SE Asia where most people are fairly petite, and I’m a size 22-24. I’ve always had nothing but kind and courteous treatment by the cabin crew if I’ve needed to ask for an extender (which has only happened some times when the belt has been especially short). I’ve found airlines such as Garuda and Merpati have shorter seatbelts than Jetstar/ValuAir… AirAsia’s planes are fitted out very similar to domestic Qantas flights, and most of them are quite new. The newer planes seem to have longer belts.
My flight to LA in 2010 with V Australia was great – their economy seats are a little wider, so it made the red eye long haul so much more tolerable. When flying domestically in the States, I found Virgin to be good as well… I flew Delta once and found those seats squishy.
All this is just from memory, not any meticulous note-taking, but I hope it is useful.
At home in Oz I’ve flown a lot with Rex and their staff have always been very friendly and helpful too. If you are worried, definitely try to get a seat in the single aisle of the planes that have the 2-1 seat layout. However I don’t recall the seats feeling any smaller than the usual Qantas flight. They are a different and older design and the armrests were quite low on the seat if I recall correctly.
Also, if you are ever flying around in the Northern Territory on the light planes (some of Air North’s services to remote communities for example), you often have to give your weight in advance because the small planes have a total weight limit. They check your weight at the airport, so just be straight up about it when booking so there’s no surprises when you get there.
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