Roksana wants bigger passengers to have to be checked before they fly to make sure they fit
A video grab of Roksana and the woman sleeping beside her (Jam Press)(Image: )
A woman says passengers who are overweight should be ‘checked like hand luggage at the airport’ after she was ‘squashed’ in her plane seat for hours by a woman who ‘used her as an arm rest’ and refused to get up to let he use the toilet.
Roksana Ashcroft, 22, was flying from Bangkok to London Heathrow, via Kazakhstan, after a month-long holiday when she found herself next to a larger passenger. Roksana claimed that the lady was “using her hip as an armrest.”
Roksana, from Nottingham, said: “I was sitting in the middle seat with a large lady to my right on the aisle seat who was using my hip and leg as an armrest. She was very rude when I asked her politely to let me out to go to the toilet seven hours into the flight, when I was in a lot of pain from her resting her arm on me.
“She refused to stand up, which is when, after 15 minutes, I decided to press the button to call for a flight attendant who was very helpful and didn’t take her ‘I’m too tired to stand up as an answer’. I was mortified. As soon as the lady sat down, she instantly lent her arm in front of mine, so it was like I was being pinned back by her arm.
“The flight was very uncomfortable and left my hip and leg in a lot of pain. I had to lean over to my boyfriend the whole flight to try and give her a bit more room. I believe airlines should either make seats bigger and accommodate plus-sized people, or they should bring in some sort of check-in method that would stop plus-size people from hanging over their seats just like they check baggage.”
The incident happened on an Air Astana flight on January 3. Roksana shared a video of the woman with the caption: “I’m sorry, but can we please start a petition for larger people to have to book two seats. Not to be rude, but because I spent nine hours with a lady leaning her arm on my hip and leaving me in so much pain”.
She said: “I took the video to document my journey as I do a lot of different vlogs. The reaction online has been quite mixed. A lot of people were agreeing and reposting the video, but then I had quite a few comments from people stating I should be buying an extra seat for myself instead of her.
“I obviously disagree with that after paying for a seat that I fit into perfectly fine. I understand not everyone wants to be filmed in public, but I think situations like this should be spoken about more to avoid these situations.
“A lot of people in the comment section have shared their own similar experiences. Air Astana is quite spacious compared to other airlines and offers booking a full row to yourself.”
Others were divided, as some agreed with Roksana and others slammed her for filming the passenger without her consent. One person said: “Can we please start a petition to stop filming people without them knowing.” Someone else said, “Or you could buy a first-class seat.”
Another person added: “I’m a bigger person and this is why I don’t fly. Because I don’t want someone filming me.”
A fourth person said: “I am a big lady and I always pay for two seats. It saves so many problems. I’m big because of medication so hopefully when I am off it I can go back to buying one seat.
“Do not expect to get the seats at the same price as everybody else.”
Someone else said: “Need to charge for person’s weight as they do with cases and provide larger seats.”
Another person added: “Airplanes should be like rides that have a specific seat size. If you can’t fit, you can’t fly.”
An Air Astana spokesperson said: “The airline regrets the impressions experienced by the passenger. Air Astana adheres to the principles of respectful and equal treatment of all passengers, and does not tolerate discrimination based on individual characteristics, and operates in strict compliance with aviation safety requirements.
“Passengers who prefer additional personal space may choose alternative seating options with enhanced comfort.”
