Too Fat? Southwest Airlines Forces Hefty Frequent Flier to Buy Two Seats

Breitbart.tv ^ | 09/16/07

[MotleyGirl70]

“And the lady stops and says, ‘Sir, you need to have another ticket.’ And I said what for and she said, ‘because of your size.' I hate to admit it but I was in tears.”

VIDEO

[rwfromkansas]

But they are cheap...I will take it if it is cheap.

[Triggerhippie]

I don't want some slob's arm and leg in my area. Just eat less!

Whatever... I'm 6'2" and can't fit in an airline seat from front to back. One leg always ends up in the aisle and I have to do some F'ed up yoga thing to get the other one in. Eating less won't make me any shorter. The airlines cram folks in like sardines, then the bastard in front always has to recline into your lap...

[Texas Mom]

The overweight didn’t stand up for my right to smoke on the plane.

Thud! Now that's funny.

[Triggerhippie]

When you can't fit between the arm rests.

Well I'm screwed then. I can fit my butt in the seat but my shoulders never will (always in the aisle and encroaching into the next seat). Sh!tty airline seat planning isn't just the bane of the 435lb club...

[Triggerhippie]

Exactly. Only the extremely weak-willed have trouble quitting smoking.

If you think about it, it’s the easiest thing in the world to quit. You just *don’t do it*.

[bootless]

I still wouldn’t mind flying them - a friend who attended my dad’s WW II reunion said that when she flew them, the cabin crew asked everyone to remain seated upon landing so returning service members could get off the plane first. AND the pax applauded the men and women as they got off the plane.

[Myrddin]

My son didn't read the instructions on the Chantix initially. He stopped smoking and started the Chantix. It wasn't until the 3rd day that he realized he was allowed to still smoke until the Chantix nullified the "reward". Like you, he really wanted to quit. His 3rd month of Chantix sits unopened at this time. He told his mom this evening that he didn't need it.

[A knight without armor]

I think it should go only by weight. There would be scales at the check in so people could not lie. The airlines set a maximum weight like for instance 170 lbs. If you exceed that you have to buy two tickets and have two seats. Period. Or you do not fly. I mean I’m overweight myself but I know it is only fair to other passengers and safe for the airlines. It would just be a regular fact and not anything personal so I can’t see getting upset about it because big is big and it's not like they are revealing a secret. As I said in a previous post, here I thought that was already the standard policy. But I can tell by all these comments to the contrary I thought wrong. Guess it shows I have not had an occasion to fly in years.

[Past Your Eyes]

Maybe they need one of those devices at the gate or the ticket counter like they have for luggage with a big sign that says:

IF YOUR ASS DOESN'T FIT BETWEEN THESE TWO ARM RESTS WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM, YOU MUST BUY A SECOND TICKET.

[abovethefray]

Good call

[Hoosiersailor]

I think going by weight is a pretty bad idea. I am 6’3” and about 220 pounds, I need to lose about 10 pounds but I am not considered obese. I don’t see why I should have to pay more because I was not born a 90 pound woman. Now if I was like 300 pounds and took up more than one seat I could see charging for two seat. The airlines could be a little more considerate. Since I usually fly on the Navy’s dollar, upgrading isn’t always an option but I have had a few places mainly Delta who has been good about getting me a seat with a few extra inches for my legs.

As for charging by luggage and passenger weight, that could be bad and good. When I take my seabag with all my uniforms, the bag weighs dang near 75 pounds. My friend with the same amount of uniforms weighs about 10 pounds less because he is a little over 5 feet tall. 170 pounds is definatly not enough weight. I have worked my butt off to drop almost 20 pounds and guess what, I still take up the same amount of space and I am not considered obese.

[HIDEK6]

If it’s not, and there’s room to seat the passenger where he or she will not inconvenience someone else, I say no harm, no foul.

It's only no harm if there is enough room for every passenger to have two seats.

Skinny people like to spread out, too.

[Ditter]

Still mad because they made you stop smoking on the plane? Have some cheese with that whine, fat boy!

[HIDEK6]

Considering he was at the boarding gate, they basically made him buy a ticket for a seat that had not been sold.

If it had been sold, he couldn't have bought it.

No bought tickets had been previously sold.

What's your point?

[zerosix]

Yeah, I know what you mean about the two "bath a month guys,"

I was stuck between two very large guys who sure could have used some "Left Guard" as well as his "Right Guard." Each used the arm rests as well as part of my upper seat.

They straddled their legs so as I barely had enough room to squeeze both legs tucked tightly together. This was for a very long flight, as I recall and of course, no one will trade for a middle seat, if there were any seats left.

I've been so very tired of this situation for decades but only recently has SW even ventured into charging a huge person for two seats.

While I don't fly their airline, I just want to hug whomever came up with that solution!!!

[HIDEK6]

Go figure.

Figuring: 80% chance they won't = 20% chance they will.

He hit a one in five shot. Those odds are better than calling the roll of one dice.

[Ditter]

My daughter is in the process of stopping smoking with Chantix right now. If my husband would just stop chewing, but I don’t expect that to happen.

[Disambiguator]

I guess it all depends on whether the width is measured at the shoulders or the waist. I just pulled a number out of thin air without looking up how wide airline seats actually are.

[PAR35]

It’s ok if they touch the armrests, as long as they stay inside them. I just don’t want them overflowing into my seat.

[HungarianGypsy]

I have long maintained that to sit comfortably in those seats...a female can’t be much over about 160 and a male over about 140 pounds.

So, real men cannot sit comfortably.