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 ...
As you observed, it's more of a "training" issue.
Hey, don’t let it get you down. Being seated next to someone who slops over into your space does seem to bring out the hate in people.
I’ve read these threads before and it’s interesting.
I have absolutely no disagreement with the policy but the ticket agents should take a course in how to handle these situations. My daughter is an HR manager and they do sexual harassment courses all the time.
The agent should ask to speak to the person privately and there should be a private place for the seriously overweight individual to sit in a prototype airplane seat. It should be quickly obvious if an extra ticket is necessary.
Perhaps a conversation ahead of time when you plan to fly would let you know your options and prevent the danger of being bounced.
Practical advise (learned the hard way) for very small people flying Southwest.
Resist the temptation to take a seat in an unoccupied row. The fatties will make a bee line to sit next to you. Go ahead and take a seat by normal sized people and be safe.
What a great design!
Do you know who is using that seat configuration now?
Excellent Strategy!
BTW I was on a substitute flight (agents in Atlanta just wouldn't move to assure me of getting on my flight out so was forced to go through Memphis). While waiting for the flight (again, Memphis) I noted that the time was nearing to be boarding the flight that had arrived some 45 min. before. Agent at the stand said that our "crew" had landed on another flight across the terminal and were running a bit late. Another 35 min. and a number of us were giving agent a bit of trouble as flight was now almost 55 min. late, agent, clearly purplexed, paged flight crew. Nothing, finally a crew of three neared our area laughing and carrying on while one woman from their group approached agent saying something under her breath (at least not loud enough so those near could hear a word,) then turned on her heels to the rest of the "crew" and they all left.
Agent told us all that "another flight crew" would be sent to service our flight to my destination.
When this "crew" showed up, FA in charge (yes another "girley-boy" with an attitude like he had his thong giving him trouble, snapped at us and as we were entering the plain, told us to "hurry up." We let him know that we'd waited a long time to be in a "hurry (flight was now over 2 hours late.)
He refused to service plane, told every one to stay buckled up for entire flight (no weather trouble around) and practically attacked an elderly man who needed to use the john!
I am guessing that most people make their reservations and buy their tickets on line or at least by phone. Airlines should decide on a policy for over weight and simply large people and put it out there ahead of time. When an overweight person shows up at the airport they should already know that they will be asked to buy another seat. No one should be embarrassed in front of other passengers but they should not be surprised at the regulation either. They could be asked on line about their size and if they are wider than 17” or whatever it is, it could be settled right there.
RE: Perhaps what they need is something like they have for carry on. If your rear end can fit in this box..
Absolutely brilliant!!! :-)
Most fliers in First are business travelers and have no use for the chattering occasional flyer, small seats and rude stewardesses. Not that stewardesses are that much nicer in First, they aren't, but they are nominally better.
What I like in First is (usually) no children, especially the noisy 2-yrs old brats that love to scream and yell.
Oh, and I especially like being handed a steel knife and steel fork with my meal. See, I don't have to try and smuggle weapons through TSA, the airlines issue me a weapon.
I'd certainly hope so. If their bones weren't so big, they'd snap like a twig under the load of all that weight.
Can you imagine the outcry if they institute the buttbox?
My biggest problem is the seat in front of me that reclines too far back so you can’t even read a book or enjoy your beverage and pack of peanuts. ;-(
I think a 20% increase is a good thing. . .I would pay 20% more to ensure a less crowded jet. . .but then again, (not bragging), I only fly First because I refuse to be squeezed between the obnoxious and the smelly travelers that don't know, or respect, the unwritten rules of flying. See Up in the Air movie for a idea about what I am referring to. I value my comfort over saving a few bucks.
I travel over 150K a year, and I have seen what flies in the back and I am not going there. Again, not bragging. Just choose to spend my money on my comfort, not my chiropractor to un-kink my back, or lawyer because I strangled some snotty undisciplined brat that kicks the back of my seat.
Re: this is to point out obese people get and use handicap placard.
Not to whine, but I am 100% disabled from combat in Iraq and have to use leg braces to walk. I don’t even bother to look for handicap spaces at Wal Mart because most are taken up by grossly obese people. This poses a problem only if there is snow and ice to negotiate.
I think the 20% increase in fares will result in less passengers, less stress, better service, less screaming brats and nasty, self-centered ghetto pants-down below their butt me-me-me Coach travelers. Greyhound will see a surge in their ridership.
Which is fine, because we fly first (or at least biz, overnight, overseas).
I loved “Up in the Air.” Except that the gal was bizarrely skanky. Which was part of the story. I started presenting my boarding pass through the magnetometer like he did.
I don’t even fly for business. Not bragging. ;-)
Being seated next to someone who slops over into your space does seem to bring out the hate in people.
My biggest problem is the seat in front of me that reclines too far back so you can’t even read a book or enjoy your beverage and pack of peanuts.
(You really want me to sit upright so you can eat NUTS?!)
I’m seriously surprised at all the comments concerning these women coming from this site. I did not realize that I was logged on to DU lite with all the veiled and not so veiled insults thrown at these women.
I’m 6’ 3” and weigh 235 pounds. While I am not in line with the government’s idea of fit (less than 190 pounds) I have trouble fitting into airline seats and I’m not out of shape. What I will say is that if any of the people on her were to make these kinds of comments to me in person or to a member of my family, they would be eating their next several meals through a straw...and that would go for the idiots at SouthWest who made a spectacle of this.
LOLOL..... it may not be nice but still....LOLOLOL
A trapped terrorist trying to yell allah akbar but is muffled by a roll of fat...LOL
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