[Travelandtourism] Airline seats keep shrinking

Fri Dec 27 18:13:59 UTC 2013

When everyone responds, please reply all. I really appreciate it.
Peter Donahue, I do hope as well, that our resolution has a lot of meat to it, I have been asking the Travel & Tourism members and officers to work on this, but with the holidays, it has gone to the way side.
But it is time to start working again, especially, we need to get our thoughts on this resolution in time for the join meeting with NAGDU sometime in January.
I agree with you Peter, many people who are overweight have this issue, in fact, this was big news a few months ago when an obese teenager flew from France to the Mayo Clinic for treatment, now is he obese due to a medical condition and not from eating all day long, etc. He came here from France on British Airways. but when he was going home they gave him a very hard time, and then on the Eurostar train service from England to France because of safety rules, so instead. he was being taken across the English Channel by ferry. 
I have dealt with a weight issue all my life. But again, mine is also from a medical issue and not from over eating and not working out.
At the time Peter, maybe Marion Gwizdala (NAGDU) or other divisions, didn't think it was serious enough to look at since it wasn't a blindness related issue, and until it affected guide dogs, then maybe we will get involved. I am a board member of NYAGDU, and a guide dog user.
When writing up a resolution we have to think about all the areas of it. 
Peter as far as I am concerned and this division, we haven't heard anyone seeking other forms of flying transportation, accept for then Mark Sloan, which by the way, I haven't heard from him in over a year, and some of other people as well.
If people can afford private jets to get places, that is fine, but the majority of the average person cannot afford that, even the airlines itself,  many people cannot afford to pay for them.
Cheryl

Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateOffering the Best in Meaningful Travel Experiences for Everyone!Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com

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> From: pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com
> To: travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
> Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 11:50:21 -0600
> Subject: Re: [Travelandtourism] Airline seats keep shrinking
> 
> Good morning Cheryl and everyone,
> 
>     I warned about this several years ago. No one including Marion Gwizdala 
> took me seriously when I told him and others that shrinking airplane seats 
> would not only pose a travel barrier for large passengers but could 
> jeopardize our ability to keep our guide dogs in the cabin with us when we 
> fly. Perhaps this airline resolution that has been discussed here should 
> address the issue of less seat room and how it is creating problems for 
> passengers that travel with guide dogs. It's no wonder that some of us are 
> searching for flying options other than the airlines.
> 
> Peter Donahue
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
> To: "travelandtourism" <travelandtourism at nfbnet.org>; "nyagdu" 
> <nyagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Milton Taylor" <milt2533 at gmail.com>; "Marc Maurer" 
> <officeofthepresident at nfb.org>; "Maurice Shackelford" 
> <management at peachtreeradiofm.com>; "david stayer" 
> <davidandloristayer at verizon.net>; "Jemal Powell" <derek2872 at yahoo.com>; "Jo 
> Taylor" <miltjotaylor at gmail.com>; "Carl Jacobsen" <office at nfbny.org>; "Gary 
> Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Mark` Riccobono" <mriccobono at nfb.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 27, 2013 11:34 AM
> Subject: [Travelandtourism] Airline seats keep shrinking
> 
> 
> There are many commercials out there, that are making fun of these issues, 
> but they are happening, especially with airlines that do not belong to IATA 
> such as Southwest and Spirit Airlines, and some others.  Some have heard me 
> talk about IATA and some do not know what this is. I will be posting this 
> not only to Travel & Tourism, but to NAGDU and to some leaders in the 
> organization.
> Would love to hear your feedback on this subject.
> Yes, you are not going crazy or getting bigger and heavier. The fact is 
> that, the airlines are trying to take as much room as possible from the 
> space they already have on the planes, and add more seats. They make more 
> money because the get more passengers. The airlines can take a 150 passenger 
> plane and move the seats in and add up to 178 passengers.
> How do they do this, they take away the leg room, and for some of us this is 
> way to tight, even though that are not overweight will have issues breathing 
> or even relaxing on a 3 hour flight, like to Orlando in Fl.
> Airlines such as Southwest and Spirit are already doing this, and charging 
> more for it as well.
> Now for those of us, who are also more than just blind or use guide dogs, 
> how do we fit in, or where is the under the seat space, supposedly our dogs 
> and lie in when they force us to stick dogs under the seat in front of us, 
> well we wont be able to like this.
> What do you think?  Let us know.
> Also I mentioned an organization called IATA, which stands for International 
> Air Transport Association,  is the trade association for the world’s 
> airlines. It represents some 240 airlines or more than 80% of total air 
> traffic. IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy 
> and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive 
> Offices in Geneva, Switzerland
> "IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to 
> aviation.Travel Agent accreditation is available for travel professionals. 
> Full accreditation allows agents to sell tickets on behalf of all IATA 
> member airlines.Cargo Agent accreditation is a similar program.IATA also 
> runs the Billing and Settlement Plan, which is a $300 billion-plus financial 
> system that looks after airline money.And it provides a number of business 
> intelligence publications and services.Training covers all aspects of 
> aviation and ranges from beginner courses through to senior management 
> courses."
> The majority of all the airlines belong to this organization, as well as, 
> travel professionals, like yours truly can apply for card with them. I have 
> enough association cards, that allow me to book my clients, they are also 
> very expense to get an association with them for someone who is a home based 
> agent.
> For more about IATA - here is a link for all the information on them.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Air_Transport_Association
> Many of the Host Agencies have them, so you don't personally needs them.
> Southwest and Spirit do not belong to this organization, they have a choice 
> to do this, but if they were, they would have to comply with certain 
> standards, which they don't. So if you are contacting a travel professional 
> and they say they cannot book Southwest or Spirit, it is because they do not 
> belong to this organization. So in short, no more leg room, you must sit up 
> like a board, and I know myself, if I sit up that straight, it will prevent 
> me from doing other things, like maybe doing some work on the plane, or like 
> I said where do I put my dog, in the overhead area. That would be funny. 
> NOT!
> Cheryl Echevarria, PresidentNFB Travel & Tourism 
> Divisioninfo at nfbtravel.org631-236-5138www.nfbtravel.orgfacebook page: NFB 
> Travel & TourismTwitter: nfbtraveltour1
> 
> Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY StateOffering the Best in 
> Meaningful Travel Experiences for Everyone!Cheryl Echevarria, 
> Ownerwww.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> 
> Sign up for our e-newsletter by e-mailing us you first and last name, and 
> e-mail address to reservations at echevarriatravel.com, let us know if you want 
> just text or pictures in your e-mail.
> Echevarria Travel has partnered with Braille Smith. www.braillesmith.com for 
> all her braille needs.  Gail Smith is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama
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