Airline passengers are getting bigger while the seats are remaining the same size.  The average American is 4-7 inches larger in the waistline since 1960, when the size of airline seats were determined.  The average seat size is between 17 and 18 1/2 inches wide.  Five decades later, Americans are wider as well as taller.  The airline industry has responded by requiring larger passengers to purchase extra seats rather than re-evaluate the size of their seats. 

A third of all Americans are now classified as obese, and the airlines are having trouble responding to the concerns of both the larger passengers and those that are seated next to them.

American Airlines, like most airlines, has a policy for larger passengers.  The airline tries to make special accommodations if a person's body is large enough that it prevents the armrest between the seats from being fully lowered.  American tries not to charge passengers for an extra seat unless there are simply no other options, and they will move a larger passenger where there might be two adjacent seats if it is not a full flight.  If the flight is full, the airline will try to book the larger passenger on another flight.  Each situation is handled individually on a case-by-case basis.

A notable case has gained the attention of the  media recently.  Kevin Smith, a famous actor and director, was recently kicked off of a Southwest Air flight for being "too fat."  Smith, a frequent flyer, had actually purchased two seats for travel, but later opted to fly stand-by on an earlier flight, where there was only one seat available.  Once being seated on the earlier flight, he was then asked to leave the plane because he did not fit comfortably in the seat.  Southwest, like American, tries to accommodate their larger passengers, if possible.

This has become an issue of not only comfort, but also passenger safety.  If a larger passenger cannot fit comfortably in their seat, they can pose a safety hazard by obstructing the aisle and blocking another passenger's path of exit in case of an emergency.  Airline policies on this issue have been in effect for over 20 years, they are just now making headlines because they have had to start enforcing them due to the obesity rate of Americans.