Obese people who are flying internationally will have to wait a while until U.S. courts decide to pick up any similar issues. But for now, in Canada, functionally disabled obese people will have the right to a free extra seat when flying inside Canada. The ruling by Canada's Supreme Court brought an end to appeals that were brought forth by Canadian airlines, in response to the Canadian Transportation Agency's (CTA) ruling on seat policies for people who are functionally disabled.

The ruling by the CTA primarily required that airlines provide a free extra seat for a functionally disabled person's caregiver or personal assistant. But then the ruling was expanded to include, "functionally disabled by obesity for purposes of air travel", which is a significantly different definition of obese than is used in the medical world.

For medical purposes a person is considered obese if they have a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher or are 20% over their target weight. The CTA doesn't provide a clear definition of obese for air travel; only suggesting that airlines follow Southwest's policy of determining "passengers of size" based on whether or not the arm rest will go down.

Those of us who were leaning toward Delta Air Lines because of its policy of allowing a free first checked bag can now abandon any favoritism. As of December 5 (just in time for the holidays!), it will start charging $15 for the first check bag. That figure is pretty much what everyone's charging these days. Only upstarts like JetBlue and Southwest don't.

The news, though, brightens in a few quarters. Simultaneously, Delta has decided to halve its fee for a second bag from $50 to a more sensible $25. Not many of us check two bags, though, so the net effect will still be negative for most casual travelers.

The major American airlines, now that they've got you on the hook for your checked bags, are relenting on their fuel surcharges. Delta and Northwest are eliminating their fuel surcharges. It's about time, too, since it's gotten pretty hard to defend them. The price of oil peaked back in the summer but is now less than half what it was at its peak, and in the past month, it has fallen about $30 a barrel.

The tale of the scrimping airlines gets curiouser and curiouser. And shiftier and shiftier. Continental has announced that it will reduce the maximum size of its passengers' carry-on bags by a full six inches.

That's right. As of November 1, if you try to tote a bag measuring more than a total of 51 inches, by the rights the airline can turn you around and force you to pay to check it. The new rule says that domestic carry-ons can't measure more than 45 inches.

Gee, Continental, this stricter rule wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that as of October 7, you now charge $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second, would it? After all, there are lots of people whose bags fit in the overhead bin just fine today, but as of the Thanksgiving flight rush, could potentially be forced to shell out for them. You wouldn't be taking advantage of consumers, would you? You won't take these new rules as an opportunity for the extra-charge police to stop passengers with a poorly timed gotcha, right?

Even though summer isn't over yet, for those of you who travel over Thanksgiving, it is already time to start thinking about booking your flights.

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest flying times of the year and this year there are going to be a lot fewer flights available. In an effort to save on costs and in hopes of being able to raise prices, airlines are cutting back on the number of flights they offer. American airlines is shrinking its flight capacity in its main US markets by up to 12% in the Fall and United by up to 16.5%. (Southwest just announced it would cut 200 flights, or about 6%, but not till January, 2009).

Travelers in certain markets will find the cuts much more severe than those percentages imply. If you are used to taking a direct flight, from, let's say, Albany to Chicago on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you will have half the amount of flights to choose from -- four this year, down from eight last year, according to a report from USA Today. From Boston to Chicago there are three fewer flights, from San Diego there are two fewer flights, and from Pittsburgh there are six fewer direct flights on that route that day.