United gets tough on obese -- sort of

United Airlines has refuted a story about its new policy on overweight passengers by a radio station in Chicago, where the airline in based.
The story, originally reported by WBBM, incorrectly claimed that the carrier had instituted a harsh policy in which if a passenger is too heavy to fit into a seat they must buy a second one, without exception.
That piece elicited a torrent of media response. Robin Urbanski, a United spokeswoman, said the carrier received about 100 calls from reporters in the first few hours. And, judging from the comments here on the blog, where we reported on the initial piece, it clearly hit a nerve with legions of passengers.
Urbanski said under the new policy, which basically puts United in line with industry standards, passengers who are too heavy to fit into a seat may have to buy a second ticket.
What constitutes too big? Passengers must be able to fasten a seat belt with an extension, put their armrests down, and not infringe on another guest’s seat.
If they cannot, airline personnel will try to make an accommodation, which is to say if there are vacant seats they will try to get two together and let the passenger take both without having to pay for the second seat.
If the plane is full, the passenger must get off and rebook. The airline will try to make an accommodation but may have to charge the passenger for a second seat -- at the same rate as their original fare instead of at exorbitant last-minute prices.
While this new policy reflects industry standards, it would appear from comments to the blog that there is no shortage of passengers who would like to see policies toughened up.