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Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

theguardian.com

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Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#21

Post by shiroiuma »

mjevans wrote: post #8
jwilber wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Whats utterly crap is the way large people are hounded into expensive seats on specious "it's your lifestyle" reason” I disagree. Airplane tickets are expensive and the seats are already extremely cramped. If you don’t adequately fit in your seat, why should the person at your side have to suffer?

Their point is that the seats are not sized to 'common people'. At the very least I'd say it's likely a not-small portion of American adults are larger than common airline seats want them to be.

Basically you're asking for the airlines to remove all economy seating and only have first-class-sized seating. That will massively reduce the number of passengers, and massively increase the cost to travel.

The laws of physics don't care about people's feelings.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#22

Post by shiroiuma »

vsnf wrote: post #19
defrost wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unit area material costs are small next to the costs of design, marketing, manufacture (where both extra large and extra small items take the same time to complete, have the same number of cuts and the same number of stitches -> same complexity of construction).

> same number of stitches The only way I can see this being true is if a stitch in this context defined as a singular piece of thread used for attaching fabrics. Is this a common definition? In the common parlance I'm most familiar with, a stitch is one "in-and-out" of the thread. e.g., "I got 17 stitches across my forehead". In that context, I can't see how he large and small articles would take the same number.

You're right, the number of stitches (and amount of thread for stitching) is necessarily going to be less for smaller clothes, but it's not very significant, unless you're comparing childrens' clothes to XXXXL.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#23

Post by Ichthypresbyter »

I remember a story a few years ago where EasyJet had to take some passengers off a flight because it was overweight.

In that case, it was because the passengers included a much higher than typical proportion of adult men and, as it was a flight from London to Geneva in winter, there was a lot of heavy winter sports equipment in the checked baggage.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#24

Post by defrost »

vsnf wrote: post #19
defrost wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unit area material costs are small next to the costs of design, marketing, manufacture (where both extra large and extra small items take the same time to complete, have the same number of cuts and the same number of stitches -> same complexity of construction).

> same number of stitches The only way I can see this being true is if a stitch in this context defined as a singular piece of thread used for attaching fabrics. Is this a common definition? In the common parlance I'm most familiar with, a stitch is one "in-and-out" of the thread. e.g., "I got 17 stitches across my forehead". In that context, I can't see how he large and small articles would take the same number.

Stitches as in "stitching actions" .. whether machine driven or hand driven there are motions required to line up a piece and stitch an arm to a body, to stitch and reinforce a neck loop, etc.

These are the things that take up manufacturing time - and time and build complexity is a greater cost than mere thread or material, therefore the cost of a specific jacket (say) is dominated more by the design complexity rather than the area of material and length of thread between a small Vs a large.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#25

Post by leoedin »

bsaul wrote: post #11
langsoul-com wrote: post #6

Wonder if they'll do what some airlines in USA do, people of larger weights need to buy 2 seats instead.

i've also never understood how a xxs clothes was the same price as an xxl one

It's the same with kids clothes. I think the labour and overheads are dominant - the cost of fabric is probably only a small fraction of the cost of clothes.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#26

Post by badpun »

ggm wrote: post #2

Pacific Island communities have to do this because of pretty severe weight issues with light aircraft and (without over-stating it) some beyond XXL local residents. People get hinky, but I think I'd rather get on an aircraft which understood it's risk exposure to overweight than not. Whats utterly crap is the way large people are hounded into expensive seats on specious "it's your lifestyle" reasons: If aircraft seat…

> Whats utterly crap is the way large people are hounded into expensive seats on specious "it's your lifestyle" reasons: If aircraft seating dimensions cannot accommodate people then just like the ambulance services, they need to adapt to the weight profile of the community they serve.

Airlines, like other companies, serve their owners, not the community. If the community wants to compel the company to do something, they can do it via legislature.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#28

Post by pm215 »

js2 wrote: post #16

> forcing JAL to lay on an additional service for 27 wrestlers I've never seen "lay on" used this way before, but from context I take it to mean they added another plane. According to Mirriam-Webster "lay on" is used by the British to mean "hire" (as in the opposite of "lay off") and I suppose this is a similar use. -- U.S. English speaker.

as a UK English speaker I'm not sure I've ever heard "lay on" used to mean "hire" as M-W claims, and the OED doesn't seem to list that as a sense. The usage in this sentence is the sense the OED defines as:

"To provide for the supply of (water, gas, etc.) through pipes from a reservoir; to provide (a telephone line). Hence, to make arrangements for, to provide (refreshments, entertainment, transport, etc.)"

and which M-W defines more briefly as "provide, arrange".

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#29

Post by lawn »

langsoul-com wrote: post #5
ggm wrote: post #2

Pacific Island communities have to do this because of pretty severe weight issues with light aircraft and (without over-stating it) some beyond XXL local residents. People get hinky, but I think I'd rather get on an aircraft which understood it's risk exposure to overweight than not. Whats utterly crap is the way large people are hounded into expensive seats on specious "it's your lifestyle" reasons: If aircraft seat…

When I buy 1 plane ticket, I expect 1.0 of a seat. Not 0.7 seats, nor 0.9 seats. Exactly 1 seat, no overhang, no getting squished. No invading the seats airspace. Exactly 1 seat.

If you're twice the width compared to a regular person, then that's just not feasible.

Re: Japan Airlines lays on extra plane after sumo wrestlers make too heavy to fly

#30

Post by hinata08 »

There was a story like that a few years ago.

An ATR42 on a commercial flight had to interrupt it take off above V1=VR, after the plane failed to rotate.

Pilot suspected bad weather.

BEA concluded to rugby team on board.

They then made recommendations about how to sit these guests. It's only in French, unfortunately https://bea.aero/les-enquetes/evenements-notifies/detail/acc...

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