British Airways denies return flight for 226 kg man

Toronto Sun ^ | NOVEMBER 10, 2013 | QMI Agency

[rickmichaels]

A 22-year-old man has to find an alternate way to return to his native England after British Airways refused to allow to fly with them because of his size.

Kevin Chenais, who weighs 226 kg (498 pounds), was in the U.S. receiving treatment for a hormone disorder, according to CBS News.

BA says it refused to allow him to board on of its flights in Chicago because of health and safety requirements.

In a statement, a British Airways spokesperson said, “Our customer service team worked diligently to find a solution…Unfortunately, it is not possible to safely accommodate the customer on any of our aircraft."

“If they could bring him here with that problem in economy, there was a way to take him back by economy but just get him back home for his medical treatments to continue,” Kevin's wife, Christina Chenais, told CBS.

Kevin requires round-the-clock oxygen and full time medical attention.

The couple says it plans to travel by train to New York and board the Queen Mary II to England, all taking time and money they can’t afford.

[ClearCase_guy]

I generally believe that any business can refuse to do business with anyone they want (or don't want, as it were).

But to send him out of the UK and refuse to bring him back seems pretty unfair.

[Argus]

They could boom him down into the hold of a tramp steamer, like King Kong.

[spokeshave]

Kevin Chenais, who weighs 226 kg (498 pounds), was in the U.S. receiving treatment for a hormone disorder

Ha....and the UK National Health Service is a model for Obamacare....

And just wait till they start issuing orders to the doctors to match client with the care required....and prescriptions....don't forget all those complex prescription orders.

I see not just amputations on the wrong limb....but on the wrong patient.

and don't expect quick response for a broken arm:

And so you have an acute appendix....?

Mark Wattson, 35, from Swindon may have been the victim of botched surgery after he had to have his appendix removed twice

To his shock, surgeons from the same team told him that not only was his appendix still inside him, but it had ruptured - a potentially fatal complication.

In a second operation it was finally removed, leaving Mr Wattson fearing another organ might have been taken out during the first procedure.

The blunder has left Mr Wattson jobless, as bosses at the shop where he worked did not believe his story and sacked him.

Mr Wattson told of the moment he realised there had been a serious mistake.

'I was lying on a stretcher in terrible pain and a doctor came up to me and said that my appendix had burst,' he said.

'I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told these people I had my appendix out just four weeks earlier but there it was on the scanner screen for all to see.

'I thought, "What the hell did they slice me open for in the first place?"

'I feel that if the surgery had been done correctly in the first place I wouldn't be in the mess I am today. I'm disgusted by the whole experience.'

Mr Wattson first went under the knife on July 7 after experiencing severe abdominal pain for several weeks. He was discharged but exactly a month later he had to dial 999 after collapsing in agony. Mr Wattson

Mr Wattson was readmitted to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon after his appendix ruptured.

Nurse will see you now

Sit back and enjoy your Obamacare.

[TheThirdRuffian]

[Hardraade]

He needs to convert to islam, and BA will give him a cockpit seat.

And halal meals, and a footwash.

[MUDDOG]

35 stone 8.

[Gay State Conservative]

Airlines should have the right to treat such people differently.They could,IMO,require them to buy two coach seats or fly Business or First.They also should be able to avoid any liability in the event of an accident.And they should be able to accommodate them in such a way as to minimize the difficulties they might cause in an emergency evacuation (unable to move quickly..or at all...thereby preventing others from reaching an exit).

[ClearCase_guy]

I have no problem with any of that. But it seems that BA changed the rules halfway through the game. Leaving? No problem. Here's your seat ... have a nice flight. Coming back?? Oh, we don't accommodate people like you ... have you considered the QEII?

That's not cricket.

[Still Thinking]

Apparently it’s not a problem, since they flew him out on the outgoing leg (unless there was some problem during that flight). OTOH, if there’s weight limits, then they should make you check a box that said you’ve read them. Absent that, then they sold him the ticket (promised to deliver something) without checking for circumstances that would prevent them from being able to do so. Then it’s their problem to make sure he gets what he bought, even if it means buying him a ticket on another airline. But they got him there, so what’s the problem?

[GATOR NAVY]

But to send him out of the UK and refuse to bring him back seems pretty unfair.

It sure seems that way, but maybe the trip to the States was such a cluster they declined to repeat the experience.

[Vendome]

Put him on a barge and a diet.

[Tax-chick]

I agree. Unless we’re missing information, it seems like it was “safe” to fly the man to the U.S., but not “safe” to fly him back.

[bert]

They realized the mistake was made and determined not to repeat it. Merely allowing him on the plane was an unacceptable liability risk

Fairness is not an issue. Only liability, risk and money matter.

The unfair guy is the fat one

[angry elephant]

Maybe the UK and France do not want him back

[garandgal]

There was another story about this on here the other day. He has been here in the US (at Mayo Clinic) for a year and a half.

Presumably, something about his condition has changed that now makes it unsafe for the airline to fly him. And, he is taking the train to the East coast to board a ship...so apparently no one else would fly him even that far.

[Hugin]

Presumably, something about his condition has changed that now makes it unsafe for the airline to fly him.

More likely the airline policy changed during that time.

[Sherman Logan]

BA is not the only airline that flies across the pond.

[dinodino]

Assuming that there are no medical issues associated with going to altitude, BA should have offered this guy the opportunity to fly by buying three side-by-side economy class seats. The guy weighs as much as three people, so he’s using the fuel of three, and he no doubt needs 1.5 seats per ass cheek.

[ifinnegan]

Notice how in the first sentence the writer starts off with an overt lie:

“...British Airways refused to allow to fly with them because of his size.”

And in the third sentence the writer exposes the initial lie:

“BA says it refused to allow him to board on of its flights in Chicago because of health and safety requirements.”