Mumbai resident Anindita Roy is a traveller by heart. The digital creator and plus-size model, whose Instagram is all about body positivity and flaunting your curves, loves planning a vacation once every quarter. If there’s something she doesn’t enjoy, it’s the discomfort of air travel. It can be a dampener, she admits. “The seats in the economy class are relatively affordable, but they are really small and so are the belts. I remember once on a flight from Mumbai to Kolkata, when I asked for a seatbelt extension, a fellow passenger looked at me as if I was committing a crime,” says the 36-year-old, adding, “I am not ashamed to ask for an extension, but many who are my size or even bigger, find it embarrassing to ask for one because they fear being judged.” She feels that the first change that airlines could make, is to increase the length of their seat belts. 

Plus-size influencer Prableen Kaur has experienced similar discomfort while travelling. “Our big hips are not meant for airplane seats, even the leg room is less accommodating and it is awkward to ask someone else to make space for you, just so that you can sit comfortably,” she says.