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 ...
It's rude to single them out publicly, but it's absolutely fair to require additional payment if they can't fit in the purchased space.
If I purchase my ticket with the expectation that I get full use of the limited space I have purchased, I'm going to be furious if my arm has someone's fat flopping over it.
Hint: Life isn’t ‘fair’.
“It is patently unfair to single these people out.”
Life isn’t fair, and fair isn’t equal.
In general, using more of something you buy, will result in a greater cost.
It seems only fair that if you take up two seats, you pay for two seats. However, if I read this story correctly, they had already been on a flight. If they let them on the first leg of the flight, it’s not fair to kick them off and strand them somewhere.
I've wound up in the seat next to them.
Numerous times.
You ever flew 6 hours next to a person whose flesh rolls into your seat...?
Nope, especially when the cow farts out her breakfast of 12 sausage links.
No? If I buy a seat on a plane then it belongs to me for the duration. Another passenger has no right to infringe upon that space.
Lol, you’ve sat next to one of those too?
This thread will probably be a lot of fun for people who like fat jokes, and others will seriously raise the issue of weight capacity on airplanes, but if the woman quoted above is telling the truth, then the airline involved may have a problem.
If the airline has no published weight restrictions for passengers and they are basing their decisions regarding who is 'too fat to fly' solely on the personal opinion of whomever happens to be working the boarding gate, then they might find themselves in a bit of legal trouble. Did they ask her how much she weighed when they contracted with her, via a ticket purchase, to fly her from one city to another?
I am in 100% agreement that having to sit in 'coach' next to person who is, quite literally, flowing over and around the confines of their own seat makes for a miserable time for everyone involved. I think it is in the best interest of the airlines and their passengers to develop a solution. However, if the airlines want to refuse to allow people above a certain weight to fly, or perhaps require super-heavy people to buy two tickets, then they need to adopt actual standards and then uniformly enforce it.
Not Too Fat. Too Ugly. . . . .
Yes, we know, bigger seats and I am all for that. But what now, what do you recommend now, after all, what about the poor guy who bought the seat next to the fat ladies? The fat ladies bought one (1) seat, they did not buy a part of a second seat.
My recommendations? First, I would like passengers to shower, brush their teeth and wear clean clothes, and avoid wearing stinky perfume like they showered in it. It would be wonderful if passengers did not trundle on the jet all loaded down like they are a homeless street urchin. Additionally, I would like to see passengers stop yammering away about nonsense when I DON'T CARE that they are on their way to see Aunt Elma. I want passengers to quit blathering on about how wonderful it is to be groped by TSA, just because in their mind it is peachy that we are being molested just make sure a 90-yr old Swedish Lutheran lady doesn't have 3.5 ounces of shampoo.
And I would like to see the Airlines hire nice, young helpful stewardesses and get rid of the old, angry and obnoxious “flight attendants” that act like they are prison guards.
That's not asking for much, is it?
It’s not fair to the person who sits next to them and has to end up sharing *their* seat with them. I’m sorry that it’s difficult (and I’ve fought with my weight, I’m not unsympathetic, it’s hard, and sometimes it’s embarrassing and sometimes people aren’t very nice). But it’s not the rest of the world’s problem.
I wonder how she would feel if when she orders her next meal, the man at the next table is hungrier than she is and gets 1/3 of her dinner, even tho he pays the same price? Will she think that’s fair?
Thankfully Southwest is doing its best to keep pigs from flying, which is one of the reasons they are my favorite airline.
“patently unfair”
I am not small but I think you need to consider what the airline is selling.
If it is a certain size seat then I think it’s fair.
You need more food than my 5’2” tiny aunt, I assume. So should the restaurant sell you a 12 oz steak for the same price as they sell her a 4 oz steak? That’s not reasonable.
Granted you did not choose your height, but, she did not choose her shortness, either. She had to pay to customize her car to accomodate that. She didn’t expect the car manufacturer to customize for her for free.
This is why we need high speed rail.
A nice flat car or open gondola should do the trick.
It sounds like they don't want the pigs to fly
The airlines already treat us like freight, why not charge by the pound?
I wonder what this one weighs.
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