ArticleObesity science & practice2026
Do Commercial Airline Policies for Passengers With Obesity Carry Enough Weight?
Article in Obesity science & practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: The travel industry has a responsibility to accommodate the needs of all its customers, including those with obesity. It is not known to what extent airlines communicate accessibility policies to passengers with obesity. We sought to assess the adequacy and content of information provided by international commercial airlines regarding the carriage of passengers with obesity. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional analysis was conducted of policies relating to passengers with obesity that were available on publicly accessible websites of the 50 busiest global commercial airlines. Variables of interest included fleet description, passenger weight-related terminology, seating information, use of seatbelt extenders, special assistance information, use of artificial intelligence chatbots for customer service, and availability of customer information in the English language. Results: A diverse range of terms was used to describe travelers with obesity, with "customers requiring extra personal space" or "an extra seat for personal comfort" being the most frequently used descriptors. Seating information relating to larger passengers was provided by 86% ( Conclusion: While leading commercial airlines provide obesity policy information on their websites, there is considerable variation between carriers in the degree of information provided. There is a need for more transparent and standardized accessibility information for airline passengers with obesity.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.