Southwest Bumps Thin Woman from Flight to Make Room for Plus-Sized Teen: Was It Fair?

Southwest Airlines bumped stand-by passenger to accommodate heavy teen (bribriTO/Flickr Photo)

(CBS) A petite Sacramento woman was bumped from a Southwest Airlines flight to make room for an extra-large 14-year-old who required two seats.

The 5-foot-4, 110-pound woman, who was flying standby from Las Vegas to Sacramento, was buckled up and ready to go when the teen arrived late to the gate, reported the Sacramento Bee. She was surprised when flight attendants said she would have to deplane to make room for the teen.

When the woman - who did not give her name to the paper for fear of being perceived as insensitive - expressed irritation, airline employees began to "berate" her for complaining, she told the newspaper.

"We know this was awkward and we should have handled it better," said Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis, adding that normally the airline would ask for volunteers to give up their seats. In this case, however, flight attendants may have been rushing to make room for the kid in order to save him from embarrassment.

Southwest can't seem to win for losing. This is the same airline that made headlines recently when it booted chubby blogger Kevin Smith, 39, from his seat because he had to squeeze himself into it.

After the Smith incident, Southwest said his removal was for the "safety and comfort of all customers," maintaining that a large person could block passengers seated nearby from exiting quickly in the event of an emergency.

Southwest generally requires large passengers to buy two tickets. But in this case, the child's parents had purchased only one.

[desertdiva2u]

Which part of "flying standby" did this woman not understand? This article didn't even need to discuss the boy's size. The woman had a standby ticket and that's why she was bumped. End of story.

[2badd]

IF the woman was on standby and the kid wasn't then what's the problem. Now if both were on standby then there is a problem. Why weren't the parents required to buy 2 seats? Rules are rules and if they are enforced evenly then there should be no problems. Of course if the airlines quit squeezing in so many people the seats would be of a realistic size. I won't fly because of the seats and the fact I don't want to die of an embolism.

[rrozsa]

to Newster1: My grandparents (and their parents) ate a lot of fried and other high-fat foods on a daily basis - no one knew about cholesterol back then. But the big difference isn't so much greasy fat food as much as video games and white-color jobs. People just don't burn as many calories as our ancesters, who worked hard from sun-up to sun-down and didn't sit watching their @sses grow by the day. Just sayin'.

[braniff77]

The fact that this woman was thin has no relevance to the story, and it's a shame that it has been reported that way. The real story is that a seated passenger was taken off the plane to make two seats available for a large passenger. So the question should be: should a seated, albeit standby, passenger lose their seat to accommodate another passenger who needs extra room?

[paggypow]

IM sure there will be no shortage of bottom feeding blood sucking attorneys looking to climb aboard that gravy train.

Lou
www.anonymous-surfing.es.tc

[northof62]

Don't think that this story (and the vicious fattie comments) will not get back to the teen if he has any access to a computer. The woman doesn't want to be identified as insensitive - but goes to the news - identifies the airline and route - her story becomes a national story. You don't think that he will be able to identify himself as the centre of the complaint. Doesn't want to be perceived as "insensitive"? That went down pretty quickly. The airline didn't help by contributing to the story.

Successive generations of people have grown in size and height. Why don't airlines accomodate this and make wider seats. Why do they insist on small commuter planes that affect passengers of average size and height? Why do they cram in so many rows that your knees bang against the seat of the person in front of you and you can't lean over to reach your bag on the floor? How is it good for safety when average sized passengers can't even stand up without hitting their head on the overhead bulkhead? How nimble is the average person supposed to be if there was an emergency?

Some of these conditions are no better than steerage.

[newsterI]

flight attendants may have been rushing to make room for the kid in order to save him from embarrassment."

Thats when they SHOULD have said they didnt have seating available for him on that flight, simple, easy, done.

"Successive generations of people have grown in size and height. Why don't airlines accomodate this and make wider seats."

The airlines are responsible to replace costly airplanes because morons insist on stuffing their faces with McDonalds super meals and greasy fatty foods?
You didnt have this fat problem before fast food, not like we see today!
Good grief, you are only on an average flight for a couple or three hours or so at most! you spend more time getting TO and FROM the airports and going thru check in and all the rest than you do in the actual flight, buck up! it's cramped but it's a short duration.

[rrozsa]

I myself have been bumped by a standby passenger because I arrived only 45 minutes prior to takeoff. That was my fault, and I would not expect them to unseat someone already boarded just because I bought my ticket in advance. The fact that he needed two seats means he should have purchased two seats or take a bus if he can't afford two seats.

[azsorceress]

I imagine this must have been a real dilemma for the gate agent(s). They had already let the standby passenger on - in essence giving her the seat - when the other passenger arrived (late), and unaccompanied by an adult. I think Southwest did the responsible thing by ensuring that the "child" got onto his scheduled flight - assuming that there was someone at the other end to meet him, etc - I think the safety of an underage passenger probably trumps the convenience of an adult who was, remember, flying standby. There's really no way to determine until someone gets to the airport whether or not they should have to buy two seats - just as people expressed sympathy for the lady who was flying standby and had to give up her seat, how about a little sympathy for the teen's mom? Maybe she is a single mom who could barely scrape together the price of ONE ticket to send her son to see his father - we don't know everyone's story. Situations like this are part and parcel of the conveniences that we take for granted in this day and age - if we all want to worry so much about fat people vs. thin people getting on airplanes, maybe we should have the airlines stop selling tickets online and make everyone go to the airport and be weighed before they could buy their ticket.

[rrozsa]

to azsorceress - Good post from a different point of view!

[boofatties]

Come up with a good excuse for why this poor single mom with barely a penny to her name (your scenario) didn't stick around to make sure her precious underage child was safely on her way? Had the parent been still available, instead of dumping her responsibility onto the airline, she could have been asked to buy an extra seat for her fat kid (hey, maybe they both need a wakeup call and get that kid some help!) If she couldn't afford it, then the kid should have been told No rather than inconvenience the person who was there on time and can fit into 1 seat.

Too many people keep putting responsibility onto others for their problems. The airline was wrong to inconvenience the standby flyer whose money they had already taken and they had already seated. The kid was late and too big to fit into a seat - the airline should have just said No. Maybe mommy and kid would get the clue that it's time for a diet and time management classes?? This event just shows the mom and her fat kid that they don't have to be responsible for themselves, others will fix their problems for them.

This is typical of our culture in these times - the underachievers and irresponsible ones are outnumbering and overwhelming the ones with their acts together, dragging us all down.

[djseavy]

We don't know why the kid is overweight. He might have a medical problem over which he has no control, or he could be lazy and eat like a hog. What worries me, though, is that this will start a trend with the airlines and parents of overweight kids: we want special treatment so our kid isn't embarrassed. For the kids -and adults - who are overweight only because of their habits, maybe some embarrassment might induce them to lose weight. To the parent standing by the airport on this one - what planet were you born on?

[bushie3]

Ok the airline had a policy in place, they chose not to follow it. "there bad" logic tells me, The parents knew what they were doing thats why the teen showed up late. "there bad" If you go to an amusement park and there a sign saying "you have to be this tall to ride the ride" is that discrimination because you are short. Also did South Western send a bill for the 2nd seat to the parents. Skinny women should be more then compensated because South Western employees did not do there jobs as layed out by South Western policy. Hey my be we should sue the U.S. goverment to do there jobs so states dont have to be the bad guys when comes to illegal immigrates. Now thats a novel Idea!

[djseavy]

Learn how to spell so we can decipher what you're trying to say. "There bad" is THEIR bad -etc. The spelling in this country is almost as bad as obesity.

[makemyday2day]

djseavy - Thank you! My sentiments exactly regarding the spelling and grammar in this country. So pathetic. What's worse, you and I will be condemned for even making this point. People don't care or make the excuse, "this is only a blog and it doesn't matter". Actually, it DOES matter because the more you practice and proofread your statements, the less likely you are to err when it really DOES count - such as in a cover letter or resume. In the department where I work, ANY spelling errors in a cover letter are automatically denied since it shows this person obviously doesn't pay attention to detail!

[justsignmeup]

So disgusting when fatty is nearby. I'd leave the plane on my own accord if there was a chance fatty could brush against me.

[2badd]

Remember but for the grace of God goes you. Not everyone who is fat chooses to be. Of course I guess not all bigots choose to be either. I feel very sorry for you and I hope you never get fat and have to figure out how to not touch yourself.