This one will definitely be filed under ‘Grumpy Old Dad’. I thought about it for a few days and cannot see how this one doesn’t fit the bill. That said, I am sure many you will agree with me. This topic is a problem. This could equally qualify under the heading ‘Angry Old Dad’.

Flying to UK 

It is that time of year again. Dani and myself have flown over to the UK so he can visit his family there. It all started well with an on time flight. We boarded. Dani sat in the window seat I had the middle seat. Then our row sharing passenger boarded. Some enormous fat bloke. Really. Far too big for one seat. He sat down next to me and I immediately had to lean towards Dani. This man was far too big for a single budget airline seat whose space is already limited. While most men my age are struggling to keep their midriffs in the 30s (inches that is) this fat man must have been over 100 inches in circumference.

It’s just not on….

This is not the first time. It has happened before and I have seen other unfortunate, normal sized passengers suffering the same space invasion. And there is no need nor excuse for it. Why don’t airlines insist on them buying a pair of seats so that they can spill into their own (paid for) space only?

I paid for two seats and got one and a half. This fat f***er paid for one and got the same. How is that fair? Instead of me leaning into Dani’s space you might expect such people to be the one to make the move. I would have been within my rights to say “Hey fat man. It’s your lard arse spilling out of your allotted space. Why the hell am I leaning out of the way?  You lean over (into the aisle) for most of the flight.” But I didn’t. I suffered in silence as people tend to do. But this will not be the end of it. I intend to make a formal complaint to the airline.

New Seat Class

So: Should there now be a new class of airline seating? The bigger airlines offer first and business class seating- both usually too expensive for most people. Many also offer something a little more affordable – usually called something like ‘premium economy’ or ‘economy plus’. I propose that these budget airlines offer a new service/seating Semi Economy or  Economy Minus ! You pay less but only get half the seating space. Why not? They are already selling limited space seats at full price for crying out loud!

Then when you arrive…

I have been using the relatively efficient Gatwick airport for months. For this trip we returned to the UK landing at the much smaller Liverpool airport. That disastrous combination that is Liverpool airport and the (ironically named) “UK border force” produced the predictable results of long, slow queues. The miserable and useless “border force”  dossers are the first impression many people get of the country when they arrive at the airport. It’s a real embarrassment.

Final thought…

Despite the seating situation  I actually ended up watching the ‘Shaun the Sheep’ movie with Dani. So in the end I probably would have spent most of the flight leaning over into my son’s space. But that’s not the point. Is it?

Am I over-reacting or do you agree? Has something like this happen to you? Please let me know.