By Ken Dermota
Washington - Yara Zubalskyj had a bum foot when she took her seat next to an obese man on a recent Lufthansa flight from Washington. But in Frankfurt, six hours later, other things hurt, too.
"He tried to keep in his seat, said Zubalskyj, 58.
"But he kept dozing and when he slept, his elbow kept hitting my chest."
Zubalskyj is one of a growing number of travellers crowded by wide-body passengers who cannot fit into the standard, 43cm airline seat.
One-third of Americans are not just fat but obese, due to junk food diets and lack of exercise, according to official US statistics. The waistline problem is growing.
Airlines are caught in the squeeze, by passenger "air rage" and at least four lawsuits in the United States - all by overweight travelers.
Zubalskyj said she may become the first to sue an airline on behalf of the slim.
"I think they should be sued - by people who are not obese who do not deserve to be hit," she said.
What hurt Zubalskyj most, however, was her pride.
Lufthansa's flight crew suggested she move. She protested that she had reserved a so-called bulkhead seat to accommodate her foot. The only empty seat with foot room was in first class. Lufthansa denied her an upgrade.
Lufthansa officials in Germany refused to return her phone calls, and only when she was back home did she receive an offer of $400 (about R2 500), she said.
"I found it to be very insulting and demeaning," she said.
That was also Nadine Thompson's experience - but for different reasons.
"I wanted to cry but couldn't," Thompson said.
Thompson is one of four overweight persons who sued Southwest Airlines over its policy of asking passengers who cannot fit into a seat to pay for a second one.
"I am overweight, but I'm not obese," said Thompson, 127kg.
She runs a cosmetics business in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Thompson said she liked Southwest so much that she was a frequent flier - until she was escorted from a flight by two armed sheriffs after refusing to buy a second ticket.
"I had my armrest down, seat belt fastened," Thompson said, when a manager boarded the plane and told her that for the comfort and safety of herself and other passengers, she would have to buy a second ticket.
"I guess I'm just a fat, black woman and I guess I'm not allowed to fly this airline," Thompson said she told the sheriff.
Thompson said the airline apologised, but too late. Her discrimination suit goes to trial in February 2006.
"It's not discrimination in any shape, form or fashion," said Southwest spokesperson Ed Stewart.
"We have a customer size policy," he said. "It's the same policy as every other airline."
So why is Southwest getting sued?
"We had an internal memo that had it enforced around the country," Stewart said.
He said other airlines drop the problem into the customers' lap, so to speak.
"This may come as a surprise, but the person in the other seat may not want to be sat on," said Stewart. He pointed out that Southwest had won the other three suits.
Southwest's policy is to charge for an extra seat only if the plane is full, Stewart said.
Luckily, Stewart said, less than half of one percent of passengers are affected.
However, the problem came at a tough time for cash-strapped airlines trying to shrink costs.
"As Americans are getting larger, seats are getting smaller," said Pat Funk, vice president of the Consumer Rights Travel Centre, a nonprofit group which tracks fliers' rights.
"Planes are more packed and there are fewer (available) seats," said Funk. Many of the airlines are downsizing seats, she said.
Seat width, now measured in hundredths of an inch, cannot shrink much, but the space from front to back does.
Funk, who travels a lot, once weighed 200 pounds. She said she trimmed down, in large measure, to fit into airline seats.
"It's claustrophobic," she said.
"I would be just as unhappy as the Lufthansa lady," she said.