Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Too Fat To Fly?

On February 13th, Director Kevin Smith was asked to get off the plane because he was too fat to fly. He was on a Southwest Airline plane. As you will see in this story, many things contributed to that decision, first and foremost, that he was fat. 
Kevin had originally purchased 2 seats for the flight he was scheduled to take.  He says he bought the 2 seats because "I am anti-social and didn't want to sit next to someone and possibly have to make conversation." He didn't buy them because he was too fat, although he does say he is fat.
Kevin got to the airport early and wanted to catch an earlier flight.  The Southwest Airlines employee told him he could try standby, but there would not be two seats(together)available for him.  He told the employee he did not need the two seats. He was able to get on the flight. He sat in the middle seat between two ladies. One lady was leaning against the window, the other was leaning toward the aisle.  He said they were seated that way when he sat down.
Shortly after being seated, a flight attendant came to him and told him he would have to get off the plane as he was in violation of the company's Customer of Size Policy which states:
"Customers who are unable to lower both armrests and/or who compromise any portion of adjacent seating should proactively book the number of seats needed prior to travel. The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats and measures 17 inches in width. This purchase serves as a notification of a special seating need and allows us to process a refund of the additional seating cost after travel (provided the flight doesn’t oversell). Most importantly, it ensures that all onboard have access to safe and comfortable seating."
He was told that for "his comfort and those around him, he would need more space" and would have to take a later flight.
Kevin told the flight attendant he could put the armrest down and could fasten his seat belt without an extender. He was not too fat to fly.  The flight attendant told him he had to leave. He was subsequently booked on a later flight and eventually offered a refund for his ticket.
The reason this story got so much press is because Kevin started tweeting about it on Twitter. He is a popular film director (He directed Chasing Amy and Clerks.) and has over 1 1/2 million followers on Twitter. 
Kevin says a couple of days later he was contacted by a SWA employee who told him the confusion was a result of having a space issue on board with another passenger who had purchased two seats.  They were having problems moving already seated passengers to accommodate this person. The flight attendant made a judgment call that Kevin needed more space because of his size and he was asked to take another flight.
Because of the heat they were getting (and maybe because it was the right thing to do), Southwest Airlines subsequently apologized on their blog about the way the situation was handled.  Not good enough for Kevin. He told Southwest,
 “Get me a document to sign, and I’ll swear on my child’s life and penalty of all I own that I’ll never sue your Airlines. But just PUT THE FUCKING TRUTH OUT THERE THAT I’M NOT TOO FAT TO FLY, AND THAT THIS WAS ALL AN UNFORTUNATE ERROR ON SOUTHWESTERN’S PART.”

There has been much debate about this incident. Some comments:
 "As a very frequent business flyer on Southwest and other airlines, I'm a big believer in the concept of "owning" my seat while I fly. I bought that seat; the whole seat is mine for the duration of the flight. And when I'm seated next to someone who doesn't fit within their seat, they are using more space than what they paid for. In fact, they're using the space *I* paid for. How is that okay? How is that comfortable for anyone involved? If you need more room than one seat can provide, you should have to purchase it - unless, of course, the flight's not full. By all means, take up part of an empty seat, just not one that I'm sitting in."

"I certainly don't want to have to try and climb over some obese passenger who is stuffed into their seat in the event of an accident or other unexpected emergency."

"As an customer of Southwest and a 'larger' (fat) person, I can honestly say what little dignity I have left (once you factor in being a fat guy), is worth much more than $100 voucher, or buying two tickets out of fear of being booted.
While this may be a 25 year old policy, clearly its enforcement is capricious and Southwests' attempt to downplay this to ensure that fat folks won't cause trouble in the future is such a CYA move that its just insulting.
You've lost me as a customer, not because you've got rude employees but because of the 'It's not our fault it's his' PR attempt. Transparent and insulting."

Southwest handled the situation poorly.  Had the booking agent done a better job, Kevin would not have been let on that full flight because his size was an issue.
When I fly, I do not want to sit next to a person who is really fat, spilling over into my space, whether the armrest can go down or not. It makes for a very uncomfortable flight FOR ME. 
Am I prejudice against fat people? No.
Do fat people have rights? Yes.
But when that fat person infringes on my personal space that I am paying for, his rights stop there.
67% of the people in this country are overweight or obese.  This issue is not going away.


1 comment:

roffe said...

I agree with you, if you are too fat, you have to buy two ticket..
Expensive but necessary...

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