Because Wednesday is boring, and I like to stir the pot.

[mijan]

The headline:
"Skinny Woman bumped off flight so overweight person could have two seats."

Yes, there were circumstances involved.  The overweight person was 14 years old and traveling alone, and had NOT purchased two seats.  However, the "skinny" person had paid full price.  Nobody was asked to voluntarily give up their seat - the skinny passenger

Comments

[ruisseau]

First of all, I will not fly Southwest Airlines because I'd rather not be humiliated and penalized for my size.

However, it seems that the following smart thing was done: a minor was not stranded. The following stupid thing was done: a volunteer to give up a seat was not found (Kit and I once agreed to a later flight when asked -- it happens). The only thing they may have been thinking was that the person who got bumped was flying on standby, which is a shaky guarantee of a seat anyway.

I don't believe malice was intended here and I actually have to approve of Southwest Airlines' decision to not penalize a minor.

[mijan]

Thank you for your well-considered comment! (I'm really just trying to collect a variety of opinions on the topic, to see how people react to it.)

I think my biggest point of contention in this whole story was that they didn't ask for volunteers. Often, people are quite willing to fly later, because they get perks for waiting.

I'm curious how people's analysis of the situation would change if the overweight individual was an adult.

[ruisseau]

Well, if it were an adult, the whole thing would become about fat-bashing, which is still considered quite acceptable even among some folks who are anti-discrimination. Of course, if it were an adult, Southwest would have made her pay for an extra seat and possibly wait for the next flight as the flight was full once the standby passenger had boarded.

I try not to get into discussions of whether fat people should pay more for things. The airline industry is one of the few who have *decreased* seat size over the years, while others, like theatres, have increased seat size.

[mijan]

*nods* There are many issues with the airline industry, and this is only one of them. General treatment of passengers is atrocious, and accessibility for MANY people is horrendous. For example, I actually have an old back injury, which mostly hasn't given me trouble in a few years. Army injury, not as recent as the knee injury. I CAN'T sit rigidly upright in a seat for more than a few minutes without severe back pain. In cars, I ALWAYS lean seats back, or stuff a pillow behind my lower back if I'm going to be in a seat for more than a few minutes

[gmonkey42]

Yikes, that's horrible. I don't get why in situations like that, they don't ask for volunteers to switch seats. I'm wracking my brains trying to think of a reason for them not to ask and I can't. Like do they think it would make other passengers uncomfortable, being asked to do a stranger a favor? Or are they just sociopaths who'd rather see someone suffer?

[gmonkey42]

I think the whole thing is going to become about fat-bashing anyway. The tone of the article was pretty bad IMO, especially the headline. It might as well have said "Airline Does The Unthinkable; Favors Fatty Over Real Person."

[affectingly]

Yeah, that was my initial reaction to the headline, too. I had to sit on my hands for ten minutes to just make myself calm down before even reading comments in case they were similarly toned. I only just *barely* fit in a single airline seat and I get increasingly worried that one day I won't! I mean, I haven't lost/gained in size in like 5 years, but it's always uncomfortable and I can't *imagine* how mortified this 14 year old was. I feel so bad for them

[mijan]

Thanks for chiming in. And that's the reason I opened this for discussion - because it was just an all-round bad situation, and I'm authentically curious about people's reactions to it.

And yeah, the title definitely rubbed me the wrong way, too.

[ruisseau]

And can I just say how utterly sick I am of the "this story is about a fat person, so let's not forget to show the huge butt of an anonymous fat person!" bologna?

(Notice how I didn't swear there?)