Would you believe? Yes, this is very odd but true. Southwest Airlines, the carrier famous for booting Kevin Smith, the larger than life actor-director off of one of its flights earlier this year because he was too large, did an about face last week in Sacramento, removing a slim passenger to accommodate someone who needed two seats.
The 5-foot-4, 110-pound woman who had already boarded the flight and taken her seat after standing-by to get onto the flight in the first place, was abruptly deplaned so that a very large, late arriving 14-year-old passenger could travel on the early evening flight to Las Vegas. Needless to say, the woman who is also a frequent business traveler was to put it mildly, stunned.
The woman, who requested anonymity in her interview with the Sacramento Bee newspaper, said: “It didn’t seem right that I should have to leave to accommodate someone who had only paid for one seat.”
Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis agreed, saying that the awkward situation should have been handled better. She said that Southwest intends to apologize to the woman, who also says that she was berated by airline staff when she challenged their decision to take her off of the flight. She did take the airline’s next flight to Las Vegas a short time later.
Do you have an odd air travel experience that you’d like to share? Drop me a note at minntrav@gmail.com and it could be the next weird airline story that I write about.
Comments
Pure insanity!!
How dare she be slim and exercise and watch her weight. They did the right thing by throwing her off the plane. I bet she had a couple of donuts after getting kicked off and only after that was she allowed on the next flight to Vegas (where she will undoubtedly take advantage of Vegas buffets in order to secure a flight home).
How do you know she exercises and watches her weight? You don't. She could eat more junk food than the kids does and get less exercise.
We have officially become a world of sheeple. Because some fat celebrity complains about being treated like he is...well...FAT, we have to over-compensate and start punishing people who have the nerve to take care of themselves.
If you are FAT, pay for two seats.
If you are FAT, you don't deserve a Handicap Parking Permit (get your fat butt up and learn to walk a little, it might help).
If you are FAT and don't like being treated like you are FAT, then lose the freakin' weight. Otherwise, shut the hell up and dream about Twinkies or something.
Yeah, if you only have one leg and also happen to be FAT, you should have to walk around like everybody else! FAT people don't get handicap passes because they're FAT; they get them because they have a medical issue where they can't WALK, which leads them to being FAT.
If it was easy to lose weight, there would be no FAT people. Have you ever had a food addiction? Did your parents raise you on junk food so that you were FAT before you could even walk? Have you ever been so depressed that your only comfort was food? NO? Then shut the hell up.
All fat people LOVE twinkies... just as all skinny people are complete assholes who think they're better than everyone. Go kill yourself.
Mr. Friedman, I am stunned as this woman was, perhaps because I 4'11" and weigh 102 pounds or so! Are you kidding me? People who cannot squeeze into one seat should pay for two. It is not anyone else's problem that that boy was so overweight! We are not talking about giving up your seat on the bus for disabled passengers. This is different. We shouldn't have to accommodate people who not only have excessive body weight, but who did not pre-order two seats! Thank you for sharing.
Wow...I am rather shocked. I used to live in Sacto and the SW personnel there were among the nicest I have ever encountered around the country. I used to fly back to Vegas and LA for work quite frequently and was never on a flight that was completely booked so even more surprised they had to kick someone off.
They definitely could have handled the situation much better - what a shame.
If you pay for one seat, you need to fit in it. If not, you have to buy two. this is outrageous.
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