If you're a large passenger and you've been bringing your own seat belt extender to buckle yourself in on flights, the government has an order for you: Stop it.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a reminder to the airlines at the end of last month that their extenders -- which add 25 inches to the length of a regular seat belt by being buckled to the ones on planes -- are the only ones to be used.
But that's making some people who use or sell the extenders unhappy.
Peggy Howell, spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, says airlines often run short of extenders on a flight.
That, she says, can add to the embarrassment or frustration large passengers already face when they fly, such as being required to pay for two seats in some instances, she says. "Sometimes the airline doesn't have very many of them," Howell says. "Sometimes it's embarrassing to ask someone."
Many companies have long sold extenders for about $50 to $80. But the FAA said in its notice that it's concerned they may not be inspected and maintained as well as those the airlines use.
The agency said they "should not be used," even ones marketed as "FAA-approved" or "FAA-safe."
Bill Fabrey, proprietor at Amplestuff.com, which has been selling extenders for 15 years, says he gets his extenders from the same manufacturer that the airlines use -- and with an FAA certificate.
But the FAA says it's also concerned about the maintenance of personal belts, which can become stretched and less effective after a jolt.
"The maintenance issue is kind of silly," says Tim Barry, a former pilot who describes himself as a "fanatic" about safety and "also fat." "What do you maintain on a seat belt?"
In addition to potentially embarrassing large passengers, some of them say, the FAA's order risks slowing flight departures and inconveniencing other passengers, too.
Barry, who's president of Intelligent Technologies, which has sold thousands of extenders during the past decade to passengers, charter operators and small airlines through Extend-Its.com, recalls a flight out of Boston a few years ago when attendants feared running out of extenders.
If they had run out, he says, any passengers who weren't strapped in would have had to leave the plane.
"It was one of those freaky nights when they had a lot of big people on the plane," he says.
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