Rotundity allowed by law (who knew?)

Flew home from NYC this weekend on Jetblue and the guy next to me didn't fit in his seat. It sucked. I wrote Jetblue about it:

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I had to fly home early from JFK to Long Beach this past weekend. It cost an extra $300 but it was an emergency so I paid the money and changed my flight.

I was in seat 16C. The man sitting in 16B was so obese that he could barely attach the seatbelt - it was stretched across him like a rubber band around a water balloon. He was so fat that I had to lift his fat and his arm out of the way to change the channel on my TV. 5 and a half hours of transcontinental flight and this guy spilling into my seat (and the seat of the person on the other
side). I'm not a big guy (6 feet, 180 lbs) but I could not sit straight up without leaning up
against him, pushing his flesh out of the way.

How is it possible that we paid the same price for our ticket? He was more than twice my weight and spilled into both my seat and the poor woman in seat 16A. How is it that you will charge someone for an extra bag, but there's no extra charge for someone who doesn't fit into their assigned space?

I understand that sharing an armrest can be a contentious issue but that's not the situation here. This is a four hundred pound man that literally did not fit into his assigned seat. There was no room to share because he literally occupied all of it (and then some). If I can't sit upright without someone pressing up against me because they're too fat then something is seriously wrong.

My question is, what are you going to do about this going forward? He could have moved seats (he refused when I asked him) but that just transfers the problem somewhere else, it doesn't fix it.

I asked the attendant what could be done but there were no other empty seats on the plane. I don't blame them for not being able to do anything - once the guy boards the plane you're pretty much stuck (figuratively, and, as it happens, literally).

I'm sure you have tried to address this before because it's costing you money. In different circumstances I would have exited the plane and requested a later flight but I had an emergency and had to get home.

Even so, why should I have to request another flight? If the ticket is a type of contract, it's the obese guy that is in violation, not me. Is it my responsibility to point out to attendants that someone doesn't fit?

Let me know how I should handle this kind of thing in the future.
thx.
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And they responded with the following, which was more than I expected. Also, the part in bold was news to me (I added the bold):

Dear Mr. Farley,

Thank you for contacting JetBlue Airways regarding Flight #209 on August 16, 2009. Your comfort while flying with us is extremely important and we recognize this was an extremely uncomfortable situation.

We apologize that you were seated next to an overweight customer. Because many JetBlue customers book online and utilize online check-in, we cannot see the size of the customer until we begin boarding the aircraft. At that point, we'll make every attempt to seat them in a row that might allow them to have two seats. By that time, however, it may be too late to adjust seating
assignments, and when a flight like yours is full, we do not always have that option.

This situation is extremely challenging for us as an airline. We recommend, if they ask us, that they purchase an extra seat as the arm rests can be raised between the seats allowing for extra room. We assume that for their own comfort, and the comfort for those around them, they will choose that option. If they don't, by law we can't force them to do so.

We regret that we do not have an alternate solution to this problem. Although we are working to find ways to rectify it, we can only advise at this time to alert a flight attendant and asked to change seats if space is available.

As a gesture of our apology for this experience, we have issued you a $100 travel voucher. JetBlue vouchers are not transferable and can be used as payment online at jetblue.com or by calling us at 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).