If you, like me, have traveled a lot, you've encountered this problem: A seatmate who overflows.

It is certainly belaboring the obvious to note that if one pays for an airline seat, one would expect to have full use of that seat — all of it. I'm not a small guy myself, but I can fit within the confines of a standard airline seat. If someone can't, I see no problem with expecting them to buy two seats so as not to subject me to constant contact with their fleshy, sweaty selves.

Southwest Airlines (and all I can say here is thanks, United!) sees things somewhat differently. They are giving people of girth an entire free added seat (or two!) at no added cost — to the people of girth, that is.

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines is being celebrated by "passengers of size" on TikTok after they discovered they can request complimentary seats – one or two, depending on needs – to accommodate their girth. 

Customers whose bodies "encroach" past the armrest are entitled to an extra seat, according to Southwest's inclusion policy. They are currently one of the few, if not the only, airlines to offer free seats to larger passengers. 

Southwest provided its policy to Fox Business which said that passengers of size "have the option of purchasing just one seat and then discussing your seating needs with the Customer Service Agent at the departure gate. If it’s determined that a second (or third) seat is needed, you’ll be accommodated with a complimentary additional seat."

Well, this certainly does solve the "encroachment" issue for travelers who have some care for their health and appearance and eschew blowing up to Titanian proportions. But the "free" part, well, that's just an evasion; the cost of this will be borne somewhere, and that somewhere will be by the people who can fit in one seat.

Air travel is uncomfortable enough as is, and not only are the major airlines trying to crack down on what competition exists, but some seek to limit what travel we can take. But now passengers of regular girth will pay higher ticket prices to accommodate the plus-sized, and that's not at all fair.

Airlines are in the business of selling seats on their aircraft. They have fixed and variable costs to cover. To be profitable, they have to sell a set number of seats, and giving away any seat without extra charge to a customer of girth means that cost has to be passed on somewhere else.

Here's the thing that makes this even more ridiculous: Read the linked article and take note of the "plus-sized" "traveling experts." These do not appear to be people with serious medical issues that can cause uncontrolled weight gain; there are a few of those, mostly endocrine system issues, and those come with noticeable effects. These "traveling experts" appear to be young people who simply lack self-control.

Southwest Airlines is, of course, a private company. They are free to set their own policies and practices. But this is a dumb move, will likely cause them to lose some passengers of normal girth, and will cut into one of the few selling points this ultra-economy airline has to offer: cheap tickets.

My own airline of choice, United, has this in their "Accessible Seating" information:

We require that all passengers fit comfortably in their seat on the plane. You may have to make additional arrangements if:

• You can’t buckle your seatbelt, even when using a seatbelt extender.
• The seat armrests don’t stay down when you’re in your seat.
• You’re in the space of the seat next to you when seated.

If you can’t sit comfortably in your seat on the plane, there are a few options available.

Those options all include paying for another seat. That's how it should work. Southwest's practice essentially has normal-sized passengers subsidizing the bonus-sized ones. That's a bad policy. 

I'll stick with United.