Posted on 05/12/2011 11:55:20 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
After losing 120lbs flying has become less of a big issue for one woman.
But Kenlie Tiggeman, from Galliano, Louisiana, was cruelly reminded of her battle to lose weight this Easter when Southwest airlines said she and her mother were 'too fat to fly.'
Miss Tiggeman, a political strategist, and her mother Joan Charpentier, were on a stop-over in Dallas when they were singled out by an official in front of some 100 other passengers because of their size.
Another larger lady due on the same flight had also been targeted
'I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't know, just that we were too heavy to fly. Too fat to fly,' Miss Tiggeman told WDSU News.
The airline's 'customers of size' policy states passengers have to purchase a second seat if they cannot fit between the armrests, which are 17-inches across. However customers may be able to claim the money back if the flight isn't sold out.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Since she is facing adversity and still has a huge smile on her face...I'm going to say Republican.
When I was flying back to Milwaukee regularly I'd always know which gate had the flight to MKE without looking at what the destination board said. The big people always gave it away.
I have flown Southwest more than any other airline. The last time I did I noticed the seats seemed smaller (could I have gained?).
I also noticed how tiny the toilet was, I could barley turn around. . I asked the stewardess how do large people get in there and she said they don’t because they can’t fit. They can’t even back in.
I just wnet back to sleep.
As the plane flies in continuous circles, the fat asses are asked to move from window seats to the aisle seats?
Thank the Lord! Thank the NTSB! Thank whomever requires that exit row seat armrests are solidly fixed and cannot be raised! She complained bitterly to the flight attendant to no avail. She had to shoehorn her ass in there, but the bottom of her enormous butt never touched the seat!....a very long 2 hour flight for her and her husband.....
hardly a non sequiter
next time you pass a Wal mart stop and spend 10 minutes in the parking lot and then tell me obesity isn’t used as a handicap and that handicap plates aren’t given to people whose only problem is obesity. and then notice the obese people runningothers down in the motorized carts.
Dude this is NOT to malign people who have injuries that hinder their ability to exercize so get off you lil high horse. I think the obese people should be forced to park further away. At lreast they’d get some exercize and free up the nahdicap spaces for those who truly need it
this is to point out obese people get and use handicap placards.
No, it isn’t. It is patently unfair to require others to accomodate their imposition. You wouldn’t expect Fedex or UPS to mail a 200lb package for the cost of one that is say 50, would you? The fact is they do not fit in the seats, they should pay the airline for what it takes to move them from one place to another.
If you’re close to 6’ and weigh 180 to 200, you’re pretty close to capacity, and probably going to encroach into another’s space. If you’re just plain huge, like this woman, plain on buying two tickets.
I haven’t been on a flight now in over a year, I hope the Southwest seats didn’t shrink (or I grew, lol). Those toilets are crazy!!! I remember those being bigger. The one that really got me was one of those commuter planes (maybe United to Denver?) — I had to be crouched over the whole time, bathroom, seat, aisle... My chiropractor loved me after that flight...
Better to charge by “dimensional weight”. Like UPS and Fed ex already do. It’d be great if people were box shaped.
Yes, years ago on a redeye flight from Hawaii on on of those huge jets with 4 center seats, I was in the middle. A fat man slept on my shoulder for most of the flight. The flight attendants shrugged when I complained.
So your brilliant, informed, scientific method of detirmining that someone is simply obese, rather than obese because of some medical problem is because you see them in a walmart parking lot.
Walmart means they are just fat, no medical profile required.
You are brilliant.
Johns Hopkins must be waiting with a degree and a research grant for you.
They already do...it's called First Class!
Next time you fly do a quick check on First Class passengers. To me it looks like most of them are on the plus side.
I fly maybe once or twice a year,and because of hip, knee and back surgeries I am tortured by the seats in coach unless I can be assured of a seat in the exit row.
So now I bite the bullet and pay the premium for First Class, which is way more roomy and comfortable,especially on a Delta 757.
It was there that I noticed that about half the passengers were bigger than me...and I'm not a little guy...I do fit in the Coach seats but a 4-5 hour flight is sheer torture,whereas First Class is bearable.
That's if you don't mind paying up to triple the price!!
About thirty years ago my wife and I were on a short commuter hop on a 30 (or so) seater between NY and Philadelphia in the dead of winter. In front of us sat a guy so big he took up the the whole seat designed for two people and they had to strap him in with two seat belt extensions after taking out the arm rest. Needless to say we were scared $hitless. I certainly hope they charged him double!
I hope you wrote up the FAs to the airline — and the airline itself to the FAA.
Overweight people already pay more when they ride in their own cars, so why not expect them to pay more when they ride on an airplane? Perhaps not twice as much, but, 1/3 or 1/4 more for that second seat?
As the saying goes all excuses stink. Since matter can neither be created nor destroyed, obesity is the result of caloric intake greatly exceeding calories burned. There is no way around this fact. The "medical condition" argument is merely a way to place resposibility somewhere other than where it rightfully belongs in hopes of not hurting the feelings of the responsible party
bigger seats and I am all for that.
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