'Fasten your seatbelts' might be a common phrase meant to signal the start of a thrilling ride, but for one budget airline passenger, the thrill quickly turned into unanticipated discomfort and embarrassment.

Katie, a size 16 beautician from Scotland, recently shared her unnerving experience on a Ryanair flight where she felt 'lassoed' into her seat due to an uncomfortably tight seatbelt.

Katie shared her uncomfortable experience on a Ryanair flight. Image source: Facebook/Katie's Curvy Closet.

Katie voiced on social media her frustration and disbelief over the incident.

'So here I am lassoed into a seat on a flight. I didn't need an extender belt but any shorter, I would have. So how…is this normal?'

The average woman in the UK and Australia is a size 16, reports say.

For Katie, this was particularly baffling as she had never faced such an issue earlier despite being a regular flyer.

'We are all different shapes and sizes,' Katie explained.

'I understand you have to expect lower standards with budget airlines. (But) the belts have always fitted before I lost two stone (12.7kg) yet on my last two flights I’ve been pinned to the seat, so calculate that my pals.'

Katie’s tale is not one of isolated discomfort as it echoed sentiments shared by passengers globally.

‘Many of us would feel ashamed or embarrassed,’ she said.

‘These kinds of incidents can be so harmful to one’s self-esteem, mental health and the rest.’

After sharing her ordeal, Katie received messages from others who had faced similar tribulations.

'It's unreal how many people have felt the same,' Katie expressed.

'People have had to request extender belts. They've felt mortified and feel like it's been just them so I'm letting you know IT'S NOT JUST YOU.'

'Why should we be made to feel s*** because we don’t fit the mould?'

Her post resonated with a large number of passengers who (also) had endured unpleasant experiences.

One shared: 'I thought it was just me on my last two flights–couldn't believe how smaller they are. I thought it was me getting too big.'

‘It’s awful! I remember I’d only ever flown budget airlines... and I always felt paranoid and anxious! I was a larger woman back then... It winds me up that these really low-budget airlines do this. Makes you feel horrendous,’ another said.

Another chimed in and conveyed their fear of flying because of such seemingly 'small' issues. 'The flying fear is real, another reason why I won't be flying... Thank you for saying it out loud, these ‘small’ things create more stress–cutting back seat belts is beyond a joke!'

‘This is so true, the past couple of years, I have definitely noticed a difference and my hubby too. I had to ask for an extender last time and was horrified,’ a fourth shared.

And a fifth said: ‘I feel your frustration. Nothing [is] more embarrassing [than] when you have to ask for an extension. But then the extension means the belt isn’t tight enough.’

Key Takeaways

• A Ryanair passenger from Scotland has expressed her frustration on social media after feeling uncomfortably 'lassoed' into her seat due to a short seatbelt.
  
• The size 16 woman, Katie, was surprised by this as she has not had issues with seatbelts on previous flights, despite recently losing 12.7kg.
  
• After speaking out, Katie received messages from others who had similar experiences and felt embarrassed or shamed when in need of a seatbelt extension.
  
• Many social media users responded to her post, sharing their own uncomfortable experiences with aeroplane seatbelts and commending Katie for highlighting the issue.
  

Have you felt the same way about aeroplane seatbelts before? Let us know in the comments below!

 

[magpie1]

have great empathy toward your flying experience.......this sort of thing really should not be an issue for passengers, whether flying on budget or more costly planes......passenger comfort and safety should be any airlines first priority, how that can be overlooked in todays flying on any commercial flights just beggers belief. Lets hope that this airline investigates the problem that you encountered on your flight and fixes it. You definitely shouldn't have had to endure that uncomfortable episode......don't feel embarrassed at all, if anything feel bloody annoyed that you had to go through this with this airline.....hope that you follow this up with them in terms of a complaint from a very irate customer.

 

[Trudi]

Oh, the poor thing!

If she can close the seatbelt, great - she has no cause for whingeing! If she can't, she needs to request and extender.

Sometimes I can close the seatbelt, other times I have to ask for an extender.