I’m a bigger woman & wept as I had to be ‘lassoed’ into a Ryanair plane seat – I couldn’t breathe, it was embarrassing | The Sun
A ‘curvy' beautician claims she was “lassoed” into her chair by a short seatbelt on a Ryanair flight – while plus-size passengers are exposed to “looks of disgust” from fellow travellers if they ask for extenders.
Katie Higgins was travelling from Glasgow, Scotland, to visit family in Cork, Ireland, and opted for budget airline Ryanair as they offered a direct flight between the two cities.
However, after the 33-year-old boarded the flight, she discovered that she was in for an uncomfortable journey – claiming her seatbelt was so tight it “lassoed” her to her seat.
The beautician says the seatbelt had no give and that there was barely an inch of room left when she pulled on the uncomfortably tight fabric that was cutting into her stomach.
Katie claims that she would have had to ask for an extender belt if the material was any tighter – despite the fact that she matches the profile of the average UK woman at a dress size 16.
The Ayrshire-based woman explains: "I flew on Friday, and I was lassoed by the seat belt. It just fitted, but if it had been digging into me anymore, I would have been very uncomfortable.
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"But if someone else was a different shape or a different size, they might not be able to tie it.
"With other airlines, you can usually pull the length of the belt a little and try to adjust it, but there was none of that.
"It was across me, and there was about an inch [of room] at the bottom and nothing else. If it was any tighter, I would have been very uncomfortable on the flight. There was no give.”
Katie says that she isn't “delusional” and knows she is a “bigger woman” but was left baffled when the belt didn't fit as she had lost two stone in weight.
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The part-time blogger shared her experience on Facebook, where she claimed that the budget airline's tight seat belts could harm “the self-esteem and mental health” of plus-sized passengers.
Katie says that the short belts are fundamentally a “safety issue” and believes that the airline could be viewed as “fatphobic” by some flyers.
She says: "I don't think it's fatphobic, but I think a lot of people could see it that way. I think it's them cutting corners more than being fatphobic."
The activist is now calling for the public to listen to the concerns of plus-sized people – rather than telling them to “lose weight” or accusing them of demanding “bigger seats”.
She says: "But people are like, 'oh you want bigger seats, [you should] lose weight' and so on and so on, but this is about safety.
"We don't want bigger seats. It's the belt – you wouldn't get into a car with a belt that doesn't fit. Your safety shouldn't have to be compromised."
Other plus-sized travellers echoed Katie's fury and said that they “can see the looks of disgust” from fellow passengers when they had to ask for an extender.
Katie says that her confusion only heightened on her flight home on the Monday [14th August] when she was given a fitting seat belt – which led her to claim that flying with Ryanair is like “potluck”.
The beautician claims that she hasn't yet contacted Ryanair about the issue as she believes that her complaint would fall on deaf ears but used her social media to shame them instead.
After sharing her post on Facebook, Katie claims that she was contacted by several plus-sized women who had been left feeling “embarrassed” after having to request a belt extender on a flight.
Katie shares: "I flew on Friday, and I was lassoed by the seatbelt. I flew back again on the Monday and the seatbelt was looser.
"So unless I'm doing magic tricks over the weekend, this is a bit of an issue.
"I was more annoyed than anything else, because it's like potluck getting on a flight – it's like, ‘Oh, who gets a belt that fits and who doesn't?'
"I haven't complained before because I feel like it would fall on deaf ears. It's one of those situations that's like, 'put up or shut up'.
"Maybe it's because it's a budget airline you [should] just expect these things, but we're not [even] getting cheap flights anymore.
"I put the post up on Facebook it would help someone else feel less alone. It could be quite damaging for people, to feel like it's just them.
"There's a lot of people who reached out and told me that they bought their own belt extender because they were afraid of the embarrassment.
"It's nothing to do with the size of you – it's to do with the size of the belt and the safety aspect of it."
Katie's post racked up more than 400 likes, shares and comments on Facebook, and several viewers shared their own experiences in the comment section.
One said: "Last year flying to Dublin, during the flight out the belt fit fine and I felt really good!
"On the way home, not a chance. I hated myself so much and it took everything I had not to cry."
Another said: "I'm so glad you posted this. I thought it was just me. I can't even breathe when I'm on a Ryanair flight and it's much too embarrassing to ask for the extender.
"I know I shouldn't be, because as you said, we all come in different shapes and sizes."
A third added: "I have just flown to Croatia and had to ask for a belt extender.
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"I don't give a flying f*ck what people think but you can see the looks of disgust."
Ryanair were contacted repeatedly for comment but failed to respond.
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