Did Southwest Airlines Discriminate Against an Overweight Passenger Again?
Southwest Forces Woman to Purchase Two Seats After Her Vacation
Now, I know I tend to eat a lot on vacation, but how much would one person have to eat after a beach vacation to warrant a whole other airline seat? Either Guillory gained an enormous amount of weight during her vacation in the Bahamas - so much so that she no longer fit in an airline passenger seat - or Southwest Airlines made a grave error.
So what exactly is going on with Southwest Airlines and their policies?
The truth is this is not unique to Southwest Airlines; this policy has been in place for 30 years. But, it is only recently that the policy has been brought to light, thanks to America's problem with morbid obesity. When someone is grossly overweight and he/she attempts to sit in one airline seat (a tiny airline seat that can barely accommodate an average-sized person), his/her body parts tend to encroach on his/her fellow passenger's seat, which clearly is unfair to the paying ticket-holder who fits nicely in his/her one seat.
So who is too fat to fly?
According to Southwest Airlines, being obese is not enough to warrant an extra seat because, if large passengers can use a seatbelt extension and not encroach upon a fellow passenger's armrest, then they are fine because the armrest is the definitive gauge. The armrest is approximately 17 inches wide. So, for obese customers who cannot lower both armrests, they must purchase an extra ticket.
The good news is that, if the flight is not sold out and there is an extra seat available to accommodate the obese passenger, the airline will refund the passenger. Or, if there is a later flight that can accommodate the large passenger, Southwest Airlines will put the passenger on that flight for free. See, Southwest isn't heartless after all.
In fact, Southwest Airlines states on their website that they advise their employees to use discretion when speaking to larger passengers about this delicate issue. However, they also suggest obese passengers come forward and opt to speak to a representative about their seating needs at the time of booking.
So why can't Southwest Airlines make their seats larger?
If passengers want to continue flying on a low-cost airline, the seat widths have to remain as they are. If Southwest Airlines widens their seats, that means they'll be able to fly less passengers, make less money per flight and they'll have to charge more.
So does Southwest Airlines discriminate?
Though Southwest has received some bad press lately, the reality is Southwest Airlines clearly states they are not discriminating against overweight passengers because airline travel is excluded from Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by Section 12141(2). Southwest Airlines goes on to list that its seats are regulated under 14 CFR ยง382.38 Seating accommodations (i) "Carriers are not required to furnish more than one seat per ticket or to provide a seat in a class of service other than the one the passenger has purchased."
Sources:
Southwest Airlines
KHOU
Published by Bobbi Leder
Bobbi Leder is the author of the picture book, THE SECRET POLICE DOG. Leder has been published with a variety of print and web-based magazines, websites, anthologies, and newspapers. View profile
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12 Comments
Post a Comment"...so southwest is not heartless after all"?
I was judged by looks alone to be too fat - no measurements taken. I was on the last available flight - right from a client - I had no choice. The refund maybe a hassle for US residents, sod the forigners! - yet I need to waste time, effort and much of my self esteem to refund me for a seat I was forced to take. It ruined my whole week. Being obese is so much "fun", in all walks of life - Thank you south west, for reminding me!
How awkward :)
Wow!!!
I saw the picture of her claiming she could fit in her seat--the reality is that she is severely obese and was over-filling her seat and the one next to her. It is not fair to other passengers to have a morbidly obese person's flab squished onto them, in their bought and paid for space.
Claiming you can put the arm rest down, as a means of stating you meet the policy, is totally ineffective if your butt and your upper torso encroach 4-6 inches into both the asile on one side, and the seat on the other side. In the seat, with the arm rest down, she looked like she had a tourniquet around her mid-section and was exploding all around. Who would want to sit next to her? Who would give up their paid space to accomidate her bulk? Normal people have rights too. Nobody wants to ride with someone else's fat, in their seat, pinned against them for a long flight--I have been there, and absolutely have hated it.
If my next flight places me next to an obese passenger, I am going to raise suc
Hmm... how would I feel if I was on a 5 hour plane trip and stuck between two over 300lb. people.. would they accept my lawsuit over my discomfort for not making them buy 2 seats?
Seems like obese people get a lot of flack these days; it's almost a crime in America. But the truth is not everyone can be physically perfect, and it takes all kinds of people to make a world. Why not make them buy a first class ticket instead?
I totally agree with the ruling that grossly obese people who do occupy two seats ought to pay for two seats. In these days where an airline is struggling to stay afloat (sic) it's only fair that if a person occupies 2 seats, they pay for them. However, if this woman flew out in one seat, trying to charge her for two on the way back is a unfair and biased. But just how to you determine if a person can fit into a seat or not?
I'm iffy on this one!
I don't fly SW for a number of reasons.
yo are very objective in this article, gret job. I think the problem is tha it is left to the employee's discretion and there isn't a hardfast rule of thumb. While one person may view someone as very large, another may percieve them as just big, probably why she didn't have to buy double there, but did on way back