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Who, Besides Me, Hates Flying?
No lie -- airlines believe that the "average" male is 5'8" tall and weighs 170 pounds. And they design the seats in the cabin according to that average, packing as many seats in as possible. I'm taller than 5'8", and I weigh a lot more than 170 pounds. I can't fit comfortably in current airline seats. In addition to shrinking seat size, the overhead bins, well, aren't getting any bigger, so many passengers need to sacrifice their insufficient leg room by putting their carry-ons under the seat in front. Once down there, it is impossible to reach down & get into your carry-on, because there simply isn't enough room to lean forward & reach down. Add to the difficulties of getting through security, the shrinking food & in-flight entertainment, the long wait at the luggage carousel, and for me, flying is an absolute nightmare. So, do you like to fly? If you do, can you please share -- how tall are you & how much do you weigh? Also, how long are your flights? FWIW: Because of my extreme discomfort, I do fly first class if I do have to fly, but even so, the 1st class seats are shrinking and the food is getting worse. Aug 30 18 04:54 pm Link I love flying! You should get a sleigh and some reindeer! Aug 30 18 05:36 pm Link I'm a little taller than this, too, and heavier. I don't fit well in the seats and am constantly hitting my head on the seemingly lower and lower ceiling heights and bin levels. Whatever the case, I can deal with these things as I'm usually not on a plane for a really long time. What bothers me is the antics in the airport. Hundreds of hoops to go through, security believing I have something stuffed under my shirt (besides my stomach) until I attempt to undress and then they get angry because there are "families" around, take off my shoes, this, that and the other. Meanwhile anyone who wants to kill a lot of people just goes and does it seemingly unabated, everyone is dead, and they say "what a shame" or "thoughts and prayers for those who died". Aug 30 18 06:12 pm Link I am six feet two inches tall and I weigh 200 pounds. Thanks to deregulation, airline seats have not fit me in many years. Plus, in my advanced years, I have anxiety issues. I can't sit on an exit row. If I sit on an exit row, I will spend the entire flight watching the hatch, waiting for it to disappear into the slipstream. Thankfully I take a medication that helps mitigate the anxiety. Flying in a long metal tube, breathing recirculated air is something I absolutely loath. Airlines are not in business to serve the public. The flying public exists only to shell out way too much money for way too little service. Flying first class isn't even the treat it used to be. I do hold a private pilot certificate. If I could afford to own and operate my own airplane I would fly myself and my wife to whatever destination it is we need to get to. Just so you know, I love to fly. This year I have flown on a 1929 Ford Trimotor and in a Bell 47 (M*A*S*H) helicopter. I didn't pilot either of them but I did enjoy the flights. Aug 30 18 06:22 pm Link Sitting in a plane can be physically uncomfortable, but what has made me come to hate flying is the logistic snafus. Once a single flight gets off schedule, it messes everything up, because most other flights are too full to accommodate. Some of the international security stuff is a royal PITA. I had one transfer changed by the airline to a later flight because they determined 2.5 hours was not sufficient time to make a connection in Miami, and they were right. Aug 30 18 07:15 pm Link I love to fly, since walking takes a bit of time. Average height and average weight, which to say is overweight (or the "undertall"). I simply fall asleep sometime after rotation, and wake to the ding of the descent bell to fasten your seatbelts. Pity the people sitting next me. I warn them that I will snore, and do so loudly. I encourage them to nudge me if the snoring gets too loud. In all my travels, I only had one lady wake from a deep snoring session. I purchased the TSA pre-check, and really do appreciate using those lines. Well worthwhile for me. Modern air travel is affordable because the airlines can pack people into those aluminum tubes efficiently. If you wish to have more space, there are still some luxury airlines that cost ten times the normal price. go for it. Aug 30 18 07:46 pm Link I always had some notion that in the future they would offer essentially a special service upgrade you pay for inflight where they would put you to sleep and then wake you up when you reached your destination. that 7 hour flight from JFK to Heathrow to you would be 5 seconds. you just time travelled for all intent and purpose. of course you would sign a waiver, and of course this procedure is something we dont have now easily dispensed...but it makes zero sense to me to just be sitting for hours killing time. and alot of the times anxious. Aug 30 18 08:45 pm Link I am always jealous of people that can sleep on the plane. No matter how tired I am its impossible for me to sleep. Been taking the 10 hour flight from the west coast to Tokyo usually once or twice a year. Its torture. Aug 30 18 09:17 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: I haven't flown in years largely for this very reason. 5'8" and 170 may very well be the average, but that means there are plenty of people bigger than that. At 6'2" I find the size and shape of the seat to be excruciating on my back and legs. Aug 30 18 09:38 pm Link I have a love/hate relationship with flying. I love the feeling when the plane's taking off. It means I'm actually on my way to wherever it is that I'm going. Either off on vacation, or going home. I can put on my headphones/music and tune out the world, and go into a semi-sleep trance. Its very relaxing. The parts I hate are the usual ones... getting on and off the darned plane (security, customs/immigration, traffic to/from airport, etc.). I'm 6'1", under 200 lbs... so yes, seats are pretty cramped. I can put up with pretty much any discomfort for just 2-3 hours, and after 8 hours I can start to get pretty uncomfortable even in business class. Over 10 hours I get downright stir-crazy! But, I like the view from 30,000 feet up... its very relaxing for me. It gives me some down time and the view reminds me of how petty the day to day things are when you see the world from up there. If you can tune out the fact that you're pretty uncomfortable, you can really use the time to relax and do some big thinking. I also love the fact that with all the flying I've done, I have never crashed... not even once. That's always a huge bonus! Aug 30 18 10:23 pm Link I hate Airports, Security and Airlines I love flying with a passion !!! Every second of it ! Aug 31 18 01:10 am Link I love flyin' . . . oh, you mean in an actual plane . . . like a commercial airline kinda plane . . . nope, hate it . . .  The last time I really enjoyed a flight was on one o' these . . .  . . . but that didn't turn out too well either . . . SOS Aug 31 18 08:58 am Link In 2013 I went to China for a month on a Cathay Pacific flight. After getting out of the hassle at O'Hare, an amazing flight with cheerful attentive flight attendants. Ok, the flight was 14 hours which I would not like to do again. Twelve hours on the return. And had 7 flights within China on regional airlines with similar friendly flight attendants. Chinese airports were easy to navigate with sufficient signs in English. And sufficient translators to help non Chinese travelers get around. Security was there but not oppressive like U.S. airports. No undressing to go through security. And pat downs versus x-ray machines, normally by young fairly attractive ladies. In June I flew a U.S. carrier to The Bahamas. My first flight on a U.S. carrier flight since 2009. After China, U.S. airport and in-flight experience sucks even more than before. Aug 31 18 11:28 am Link rxz wrote: Cathay Pacific Coach... shoot me now. Aug 31 18 03:45 pm Link 5' 10", 160 lbs, am perfectly comfortable in coach but we always go for FC because travel is awesome and should always be approached as a gift you give yourself. Longest flights we've taken were Newark to Amsterdam (8 hours) and Miami to Sao Paulo (9 hours). Aug 31 18 03:59 pm Link I should add, I’m only 5-9- but I have very broad shoulders, almost two feet, so my wingspan is wider than most (if not all) economy class seats. If I have an isle seat, I’m constantly being bumped by people walking passed. Other seats depend on the size of the other occupants. Not too long ago, another guy with broad shoulders sat next to me in the window seat, while I had the isle seat next to him. He was sitting at an angle with a shoulder against the window, our shoulders were touching and my other shoulder extended into the isle. It was ridiculous. Fortunately, after take off, he was able to find another seat, which was good for all involved. There are many, many problems with designing things around average. Almost half off all people will be on the wrong side of average. Designing traffic signs based on 20/20 average vision is another example. A large percent of the population has worse than 20/20 vision but meet legal driving requirements. Aug 31 18 04:58 pm Link According to Google, I'm a similar height and weight to Mohammed Ali. Maybe when we were the same age. Something tells me he got (earned and paid for) different spacial awareness than the average Joe when flying. Not flown since a hairy helicopter photoshoot.. Curiously, at my last exhibition, engaged conversation with a genial visitor who appeared little older than the models I shoot. He casually remarked that he was an air traffic controller. But would never travel in a helicopter. Am sure helicopter users will be quick to give reassurance..... Sep 14 18 01:10 pm Link I am about 6'2" or a little less as I shrink in my senior years, and weigh 14.3 metric tons... ok well maybe not that much, but I shot past my ideal weight a couple decades ago...(maybe 260 now  ) So a coach seat in an airliner was an instrument of torture. Not just for me, but for the poor unfortunates forced to sit next to me. So I gave up coach literally decades ago. Business or first class became the only way I could get to a destination with any comfort at all. On planes with no business/first class I bought 2 coach seats. When I retired after I got sick, I flew a few more times, and found the increasing hassle and bother pretty much killed any enjoyment in travel for me. I was an Air Force puke- I flew a LOT with my butt strapped in a web seat, facing center line cargo in a KC-135. Compared to the web seats in a cargo plane, those coach seats on an airliner seemed absolutely luxurious to a 22 year old GI coming home....  As for helicopters. Amazingly useful devices. They have changed the way we do things in the world. But I wont fly on one, even at gun point. Damn wings dont stay still....and us Air Force types are wing watchers In truth, the rotor sound has such a negative connotation for me after a decade of news stories out of Vietnam that I just dont like them very much. Sep 14 18 01:46 pm Link rfordphotos wrote: Sep 14 18 02:33 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: You should be glad that there is a First Class. Add to the difficulties of getting through security, the shrinking food & in-flight entertainment, the long wait at the luggage carousel, and for me, flying is an absolute nightmare. I'm 6'2" and not as slim as I used to be in my younger days... :-(/ Sep 14 18 02:58 pm Link nwprophoto wrote: Luckily I can sleep literally everywhere. If I wanted to do I could lay down on a bank at Paris Gare de Lyon on a Friday afternoon and fell asleep within five minutes. (Not that I want to do so...) rfordphotos wrote: I love helos.Most of all when the helicopter tries to land on the landing pad of a 3500ts frigate at sea state 4 to 5... Better than any rollercoaster. Sep 14 18 03:12 pm Link Ha! Haven't flown in over 40 years and have no intention of changing my mind. I'm happy. Sep 14 18 07:19 pm Link I refuse to fly anymore. Having to deal with TSA and then be herded onto a plane and packed in with a couple hundred people I don't care to be that close to is just too much for me. Back in the 60's and 70's, it was fun to fly. Not any more. No thanks! Sep 14 18 07:39 pm Link If I have to get somewhere and flying is the best way, I fly. Sep 14 18 07:55 pm Link I love flying, but I hate flying! I love getting on an aircraft but it's the hassle of security and then the boredom of the flight. I am not a movie watcher so the IFE doesn't help. In April I took 4 flights to get from Seattle-NYC and on the longest flights of 3 hours I was still bored and just wanting to get to the next airport right there and then Sep 14 18 10:28 pm Link Used to fly weekly in the 80's within California. Don't think I ever checked a bag. Caribbean vacations at least a dozen times during the 80's and 90's. A few more painful trips since then and did my best to avoid flying.... Wife and Son got me a ticket to Paris last summer. LAX to Paris non-stop. At 6'5" this was extremely painful as my knees were imbedded in the seat in front of me on both flights. My knees still hurt.... Not sure if/when I will be flying again. Any less legroom and people will be standing during their flights... Sep 16 18 12:36 am Link Looknsee Photography wrote: I haven't had the opportunity to fly in way over a decade, but I used to fly a lot. Sep 16 18 01:16 am Link Still curious about helicopter safety. As said, at my last exhibition, an affable young chap, barely older than a typical model I would shoot, causally commented he was an air traffic controller and would never fly in a helicopter. Further questions only got wry smiles. No idea about helicopter safety. Only this guy. Academic for me. Past 30 years travelled UK and Europe overland. Sep 16 18 08:29 am Link I dislike flying, not from fear, or the lack of comfort, but because any flight longer than four hours is too boring for me. Sep 16 18 09:14 am Link While flying has become increasingly uncomfortable in steerage class, especially for the the tall or large, one huge improvement since the '80s and earlier is that one can fly without breathing toxic cigarette smoke. Smoking was only fully banned on all flights in 2000, though it was restricted beginning in the late '80s. Prior to that, at least for the prior 10 years or so, there were smoking/non smoking sections, which made it tolerably better. Except for one airline (perhaps PSA), that split the sections across the aisle, so it was a distinction without a difference. Sep 16 18 10:32 am Link noir wrote: it's about power failure. with a plane, if you have altitude, gliding down has a chance if you can find a place (field, road, beach) to land. with a helicopter, it's autorotation and much more complicated. depending on density altitude, gross weight, rotor rotational speed, and forward airspeed to maybe safely put the craft down. sospix wrote: it's a grumman G-73 mallard, with upgraded engines. have friends that have those (floaters). Sep 16 18 10:49 am Link Leonard Gee Photography wrote: The statistical risk of a crash is so small for airplanes as well as for helicopters that I do not care about either. Sep 16 18 12:05 pm Link My size is fine for plane travel, but the notion of flying is really weird for me to contemplate because I haven't been on a plane since January of 2000, before 9/11. Things are much different now than they were back before that event when it comes to plane travel, boarding a plane, packing a carry-on, etc. I will also add that I have seen many very large people take up two seats on public transit. I have seen obese people on buses who have taken up three seats (two for their body, and one for their stuff). There is apparently a PC term for this -- "Person Of Size" or "Customer Of Size". This is a different concept than what the OP is talking about, but I think it is still related to it somehow. Sep 16 18 02:05 pm Link Boudoir Studio wrote: That's the plan for the future with the bicycle style seat design. LOL Sep 16 18 02:49 pm Link I profoundly dislike traveling from the time I live my apartment to my final destination....Especially after 9/11. So far I have visited over 25 countries, most prior 9/11. Within Europe high speed trains are the best... From center of cities to centers. same in Japan! Sep 19 18 08:18 am Link IMAGINERIES wrote: ... eh... ;-/ Sep 19 18 11:44 am Link Kind of related to a fear of flying. Keith Miller is one of Australia's most memorable test cricketers. He flew Mosquitos over Germany and occupied France during WWII, and he once memorably said years later in a television interview: "Pressure? There is no pressure in Test cricket. Real pressure is when you are flying a Mosquito with a Messerschmitt up your arse.. That's pressure." Sep 19 18 07:44 pm Link I'm by no means a large person and can't deal with airplane seats. Last flight I was on this tiny Korean lady was sitting next to me and our butts touched the whole trip (and she amusingly somehow turned on 13 going on 30 on my TV because she fell asleep with her arm on the armrest that controls my TV). I would rather coast to coast Amtrak it, because even the coach seats are spacious. JetBlue is the most tolerable space-wise. Sure beats flapping my arms for 3,000 miles though, i gave that up in '14. Sep 25 18 10:49 am Link I don't fly anymore. Nothing to do with seats or security. I flew into Fiji a few years ago, no problem. Then had to take a smaller twin engine plane to one of the other islands within the group. Obscured by a thunderstorm/rain squall, the pilot approached the runway (which I couldn't see) & then aborted before flying around for a second attempt. Conditions hadn't changed the second time around either, but in we went. As we descended the runway & lights appeared in front of us & we landed perfectly. When it came time to leave I dreaded the small plane flight back to the main island. I contemplated a boat. Or swimming. Living in Australia there are big distances to cover for many trips. Lately though, I have taken to driving 10 or 11 hours instead of flying for 1.5 hours. Sep 30 18 02:32 am Link phoenixphoto wrote: I'll never forget the aborted landing I experienced in Paris back in the 70's in a big 747. Stormy/foggy weather, the pilot went to full-throttle when we were just hundreds of feet up... it was awesome... the power of those Rolls Royce engines was amazing. I though that was fun. Sep 30 18 03:05 am Link |
