FYI: Southwest refused overweight passenger

[dalitos]

This is a subjective subject, and the way things are handled today are VERY VERY VERY subjective!

Sure, there are meassurements and other technical ways to decide if you are overweight/obese or not, but as OP said, sometimes the numbers give wrong results such as in a very muscular person, etc.

Now the random process in which someone looks at you at the airport (or anywhere else) and decides if you are overweight or obese, or 'thin' enough to sit in just one seat.. that is TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE and unfair. The stewardess who decided this young man had to buy an extra ticket if he wanted to fly was (unfortunately) given the authority to decide on the matter, but no aids in making her decission a true one.

I agree with the OP about having a seat at the CKIN area to see if pax fit comfortable, I agree for the airlines to have some kind of size chart based on height/weight to aid decission process of one/two seats, even if that means having a scale and height messure at CKIN, yes, I am serious! It would suck to be taken to a room to be meassured, but it sucks even more to go through what this young pax and so many other people go through every day.

[nrdsb4]

I used to work with a guy who was one of the nicest people in the world. As time passed he got larger and larger. Travel for him became a nightmare as he never knew what would happen when he tried to board an airplane. Also people seated around him were often far from polite in what they said to him.

 

The company wouldn't buy him an extra seat and he couldn't afford to do it on a regular basis. When we flew together or if there were several of us, we made sure we were all seated together so we could get him fixed up the best we could.

 

But the stress of trying to fly made him sick and he had to give up traveling. That was the end of his job. He has been on an economic downturn ever since. I truly believe that if people had just been polite to him, he would have been able to continue traveling and to keep his job.

I agree with the idea of having seats for people to try in private to avoid hurting feelings. Let's be as nice to each other as we can be, please!

 

I agree that there's NO excuse for being rude or nasty to heavy people. But with all due respect to your friend, his livlihood and ability to travel were completely under his control. Being "skinny" would be impossible for many people unless they engaged in unhealthy practices. But there are very few people who cannot achieve and maintain a weight which doesn't require two seats to travel. The human body wasn't designed to be obese; widespread obesity and (now morbid obesity) is a relatively new phenomenon.

[kicia]

I truly agree that there should be a seat sizer for people similar to the luggage sizer for carry on luggage. I weigh less than 100 lbs. but if I have a 60 lb. bag I have to pay extra. My total weight would be 160 which is less than a lot of other people alone even if they are not obese. I would like to see a total weight put into effect. I also don't want someone else to halfway sit in the seat I paid of. I don't see why I should be penalized for being small. If there were such a "people sizer" that could eliminate the question of whether a second seat would need to be purchased.

[Fattony]

A person can fit the medical definition of "obese" without being so large that they cannot fit in a standard airplane seat.

 

For sure. I was just responding to the poster who said "overweight" is a subjective term. In fact, being too large to get into a seat is somewhat more objective, though one person may say "I'm fine, since the arm rests will go down" (I think that's what the overweight film director said), while the person sitting next to them may have a very different opinion. Not sure if having seats to try on in the airport would solve anything: tickets would already be purchased, so the options would be limited, especially if no two contiguous seats were available or if the passengr was not willing to pay double fare. Remember the woman who insisted that a movie theatre have a special seat for her in the aisle? This issue is going to continue, and any "solution" will be expensive. Maybe the airlines cessation of free meals is just designed to get us all to slim down and fit into our seats-- they're doing it for our own good :-)

[nrdsb4]

Remember the woman who insisted that a movie theatre have a special seat for her in the aisle? This issue is going to continue, and any "solution" will be expensive.

 

 

I never heard that one. Was it a news story or something on Cruise Critic?

[PennyAgain]

I agree that there's NO excuse for being rude or nasty to heavy people. But with all due respect to your friend, his livlihood and ability to travel were completely under his control. Being "skinny" would be impossible for many people unless they engaged in unhealthy practices. But there are very few people who cannot achieve and maintain a weight which doesn't require two seats to travel. The human body wasn't designed to be obese; widespread obesity and (now morbid obesity) is a relatively new phenomenon.

 

For some people the stress of trying to loose weight to keep a job actually makes the situation worse. After making that posting I decided to telephone our large friend to see how he was doing. He has been following the teleivision program The Biggest Looser and says he is following their diet suggestions and has been loosing a couple of pounds a week. His weight has always been a big family issue with all sorts of relatives offering opinions and criticism.

 

He is working for a company that isn't holding his weight against him and has a free fitness center membership for any employee who wants to have one. We are all hoping that he will find a happy place in his life.

[silentbob007]

It's the seemingly arbitrary application of this policy that I find disturbing.

[nrdsb4]

For some people the stress of trying to loose weight to keep a job actually makes the situation worse. After making that posting I decided to telephone our large friend to see how he was doing. He has been following the teleivision program The Biggest Looser and says he is following their diet suggestions and has been loosing a couple of pounds a week. His weight has always been a big family issue with all sorts of relatives offering opinions and criticism.

 

He is working for a company that isn't holding his weight against him and has a free fitness center membership for any employee who wants to have one. We are all hoping that he will find a happy place in his life.

 

I like to watch The Biggest Loser. Their results are extreme, though. But the foundation of the program isn't anything complicated: it's exercise every day and decrease calories by making healthy food choices (note I didn't say "diet" or "deprivation." It's simple, just not always "easy."

[wrp96]

It's the seemingly arbitrary application of this policy that I find disturbing.

 

Can I just say that I love the irony of someone with your handle posting on a thread about this topic?;):p:D

[Palmetto Lady]

Since I weigh 20 lbs less than the average American woman, do I get extra credit????

Would they average out our weights since my husband is larger than average??

[paul929207]

Since I weigh 20 lbs less than the average American woman, do I get extra credit????

Would they average out our weights since my husband is larger than average??

Sorry, but no credit for being small, nor can you average out with DH.

 

But I know how you feel. I have less hair than the average man, but don't get a discount on my haircuts

[imsulin]

I live in the Deep South, and have been here for about 10 years. I will say that I have never seen so many extremely overweight people concentrated into one area than anywhere else I've ever lived! I was really shocked, but most people here seem to think nothing of it. My conclusion is that it's the food (and the way it's cooked) and the lifestyle. This is not just adults, but many kids as well. I've seen some people take up two chairs in restaurants Doctor's offices, and in even the Social Security office. I know that genetics and medical conditions can play a factor, but I think that's the exception. There have been many national and local TV segments about this issue over the last few years. I fly SWA a lot, and they use 737 aircraft exclusively. A 737 has 3 seats/aisle/3 seats. That's the configuration. I don't think you can blame SWA for their 2-seat policy. For every "ample" person allowed to sit in a single seat in a filled row, there will be two complaints from the other two passengers in that row who have to lift the armrest between them just to be comfortable, and then SWA has to deal with that. Amusement parks have the same restrictions on their rides. If you can't fit into the seat, you can't ride. Obesity is a strange condition to me, and I'll admit that I don't completely understand it. I don't want to be "crowded" on a 5-hour plane ride, and that's why I gave up my seat to an "ample" person on one SWA flight.