Originally Posted by flapshalfspeed

1) Obese people have much higher lifetime health costs than in-shape people--I don't want to pay for someone else's laziness and poor eating habits

2) Obese people have an elevated risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke--diabetic shock, heart failure, and strokes are all things that can and do happen unexpectedly to obese individuals.

In short, it doesn't matter how great an obese person's Captain skills or personality is--your weight is a liability and it costs me money because I'm paying the same as you into our health plan, and you're pulling more out of our pool of premiums than I am.

I don't mean to come off as insensitive or cruel--I understand it's easy to fall out of shape in this job, and there are certainly genetic factors and bad eating habits instilled in some communities/families which contribute to our nation's obesity epidemic (ahem, the South).

It does not matter how competent or hard-working you are as an aviator--your weight is a safety issue, and the US is essentially the only country on Earth that allows people with high BMIs to fly airliners.