From the icy cold aircon to little leg room, there’s nothing worse than being uncomfortable on a flight.
TikToker @micarlolm however had more of an issue with the size of his seat than anything else.
He posted a video captioned: “This was Problematic I tell you. Placing three chubby persons in the same seat” of himself struggling to get into his seat along with passengers sitting next to him.
He describes himself and the two ladies with him as “dik” (chubby in Afrikaans).
He compares the seating on the flight to sitting on a taxi, because he and his fellow passengers are so tightly squeezed together.
“We don’t need seatbelts, we are airbags. We are covered!” before chuckling heartily.
“Die FlySafair is a Quantum,” he reckons.
He continues by saying that he will not be using the airline again.
“No serious guys. FlySafair is not the best for me,” he adds.
He points out that he can’t even see the seatbelt.
Then adds that perhaps the seating allocation has something to do with balance.
“Maybe it’s thin there in front and chubby at the back,” he comments.
He then asks one of the flight attendants for an extended seatbelt.
@micarlolm This was Problematic I tell you. Placing three chubby persons in the same seat.😬![CDATA[]]>😅![CDATA[]]>🙄 #flysafair #sama28 #tiktok #tiktoksa #viraltiktok #SAMA28 #coloured ♬ original sound - micarlolm
We contacted FlySafair to find out if their seats are in fact narrower than those on other domestic carriers.
“No – we operate the standard pitch for an economy configuration on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft,” commented their chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon.
“In fact ours are a little more spacious than other options because we invested in the slim framed aluminium seats. The frames are made from a thinner but very strong aluminium so the seat itself actually has a smaller profile allowing for more space for the person setting in it.
“Investing in custom-made especially narrow seats to torment larger customers would cost us extra and that’s not the low-cost model. Also we do actually want people to be comfortable,” says Gordon.
So what can be done if a passenger finds their seat to be too small?
“If a customer is really unable to fit into a seat, they generally know about it before they arrive, and they purchase the blocked seat option for the extra room,” comments Gordon.
“As per the video, they then request the extra seatbelt extenders to get the belts around them. If there are vacant seats open, crew will try to accommodate larger people, for their comfort and for those seated around them, but generally larger folk will do the responsible thing for their comfort and book that service to block the middle seat.”
While the video, which has been viewed over 260k times, is all about the seating issue on the plane, viewers are more entertained by how he can change his accent and the language he speaks so effortlessly.
“lol 😂you changed your language and accent 20 times. Being South African 🇿🇦 is amazing guys 😂😂😂,” commented one viewer.
Another said: “The accent versatility?!! Peek South African 👌😭”
“Being South African is not speaking all the languages, but when someone does - you know what they’re saying 🤣😭,” chirped another.
IOL Travel