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

Breitbart.tv ^ | 09/16/07

[Justeggsactly]

Solution: Put all those fatties in adjacent seats. Sit them next to each other. Watch the fun!

[John123]

I can't wait til they charge supermodels double for distracting looks!

I have very sad news for you buddy... they are already covering the girls up with blankets...

[MotleyGirl70]

Lol. Well-played my FRiend.

[Brilliant]

Not the first time anything like this has happened.

[Andyman]

I’m with you. My 100-pound daughter was charged $70 for overweight luggage while some 400 pounder gets to board at no extra cost.

[A knight without armor]

That is not true. A lot did.

Smokers themselves did not win the battle either.

[Thud]

Check the last panel of the September 15, 2007, Opus cartoon here:

http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/wpopu/

[Sonny M]

Just looking at this logically.

He was ready to board.

He had gone to the gate.

The ticket that he was forced to buy, had no been purchased (and in all likelyhood, would not have).

So, question to all Freepers out there.

Was he just forced to buy a ticket, that would have otherwise gone unsold?

And to accomadate him and anyone else, couldn't he simply have switched seats with someone who was next to an empty seat? This is assuming, he was not already going to be seated next to any empty seat.

[DoughtyOne]

Looks like they made a mountain out of a droll Hill.

Look, we may not want to admit it, but 435 pounds is two people. If the guy is going to cause undue discomfort for other passengers to the point they can’t put anyone next to him, he should pay extra.

I will say that the plain must be full before that route should be taken. Even one extra seat would be enough for him to forgo having to pay double.

[Sonny M]

I think if a person fills two seats, they should buy two seats, if the plane is going to be full

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

[MotleyGirl70]

My mom flew for the first time a few years ago and she said the guy next her was rather chubby and his fat was overflowing into her space. It didn’t make for a pleasant flight.

[traditional1]

Good. I seem to get the center seat between two of these guys below sometimes, and 6 hour flights with them last forever!

[Sooth2222]

I've always thought to be fair to everyone, they should sell tickets by weight: passenger + luggage.

(And I'm 6'3" and weigh more than average if you're wondering.)

[cmsgop]

Great! That means the seat you might have been in will be empty and I can slop over into it.

Be my guest, I'll even give you $5 so you can have the Non-Allergenic snack of the day....

[LibFreeOrDie]

Put a supersized person on every flight, give ‘em 2 seats, and make ‘em an Honorary Air Marshal. They get to sit on any terrorist/hijacker/nutcase/drunk for the duration of the flight.

[Koblenz]

What if someone is really tall and their knees go into the seat in front? Do they need two tickets too?

[Past Your Eyes]

On Southwest, you can sit anywhere there’s an empty seat as you trundle down the aisle.

[af_vet_1981]

I leave that choice to the airline. SouthWest does tend to fill its planes. I would rather fly on an airline that asserts its reasonable authority on its flights so as not to inconvenience the majority of its passengers.

[chaos_5]

If I was in charge of running an airline I would sell tickets by the pound. Here is an aviation bottom line, “weight and balance”. Given this, you can “hold” a seat for a down payment. When you get to the check in counter, step on that scale. You will either be charged more for your weight, or given a refund if you come in under your deposit.

With this plan, no one can cry discrimination,. All passengers pay per the pound.

[Sonny M]

My company just paid $8000 for a last minute business class round trip ticket for me from Paris to New York (can you say, rip off?). For that kind of money, I shouldn't have to put up with a chain smoking 430 pound guy oozing over the armrest into my seat. If I'm wrong, please explain why.

Your right, except I don't think thats what happened here.

By the fact that he was ready to board, and was told to (and able to) purchase an additional seat, implies they had at least one, unsold seat.

If they have empty seats, why make him pay for two?

I believe they did it, simply because they could.