'Petite' woman thrown off plane to make way for obese teenager who needed two seats

Originally posted by fleetlord
I think there is a bigger issue here than weight. The woman who was thrown off this flight was an adult. The kid who took the seat was only 14. The article also mentioned she was alone, so then we have two options. Either have an adult alone, or have a 14 year old girl alone. I think that the airline chose the responsible option, and it is just a sad consequence that this flight happened to be so overbooked that somebody had to be ejected.

then if that's the case, one of the flight attendants should get off the flight and inconvenience everyone and deprive them of their beverages while in flight, because I'll be damned if I will waste my time and money getting off that plane. What if the woman that got off needed to be somewhere for business? What if she lost her job because she was late? What if she needed to attend a funeral, or a wedding? Maybe her own child was sick or family member, and she was going to visit them, maybe for the last time?

The fatty should have never been given the option to board the plane if it was already at maximum. She can either wait in the airport lobby for a new flight, or the oh so caring airport can get her a room in 1 of the 5,000 hotels located around almost every US airport. . . Whats the worst that can possibly happen to her, except for dying of diabetes while waiting for the next flight..

[edit on 28-7-2010 by BiGGz]

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by The Chez
I know lots of people with a thyroid problem, both over and under, and they don't need two plane seats, infact they're not even fat! There's a lot of excuses, and 'it's not her fault', but sadly, I don't buy 99% of them.

Sorry but I have to call BS on this one. Sounds like you have a problem with people that aren't fit and trim. I didn't say she had a thyroid problem but I'll wait on that as opposed to castigating what could be a major medical condition.

I am not fit & trim, but I am not obese either! I've seen so many people this size in the UK, including kids as young as 8-9 waddling along the streets, there's either an epidemic of thyroid problems/medical complaints, or people are just eating too much, end of.

[edit on 28-7-2010 by The Chez]

Originally posted by Vitchilo
People from the UK, it's 2010 outside your island... better wake up.

Well the rest of the world has moved on to Metric. So who's in the backwoods?

Originally posted by The Chez
I am not fit & trim, but I am not obese either!

One doesn't have to be fit and trim to have a problem with those that aren't.

I've seen so many people this size in the UK, there's either an epidemic of thyroid problems/medical complaints, or people are just eating too much, end of.

OK, which is her problem Dr?

The Daily Mail is crap... here's a bit more information...

ABCnews

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said via e-mail that sometimes the airline is "faced with extenuating circumstances and we try to make the best decisions possible." The woman was placed on another flight to Sacramento "within the hour."

"The flight was completely full and after boarding an adult passenger who was not originally booked for this flight, we learned a young customer traveling alone once onboard needed more than one seat to get safely to her final destination," McInnis said. "We requested the adult customer take the next flight to accommodate the young, 14-year old traveler who was being met at her destination."

McInnis acknowledged that the airline should have first sought volunteers and said Southwest apologized to the woman and refunded her one-way airfare.

Don't know... Seems rather reasonable to me, if this is the extent of it.

Link and Video

I'm in Canada. I manned a booth at a trade show last week. Of the thousands of people that passed by there were probably only about 8 women I noticed under the age of 30 that didn't have at least a small role of fat where there shouldn't have been one. Times are changing and the transportation industry is going to have some growing pains while it changes to accommodate.

And if that plane has crashed and burned everyone alive in it, that 14 years old would have saved the life of that other person and everyone would be singing a different tune.



Anyway they give her a flight within the hour... so no big deal.

I was on a plane once, and the person who was going to sit down next to me was enormous. He tried to lift the arm rest between the seats up, I put it down. He complained to me that it would be uncomfortable for him to sit with the armrest down.

I'm not a small person. I asked him how comfortable it would be for me if he lifted the armrest up and spread into my space, which I already thought was pretty tight.

The flight attendant came by and asked if there was a problem. I said that the arm rest was going to remain in the down position otherwise there was going to be a problem. She stated that it was my right to have it down. I didn't get kicked off the plane but the big guy next to me was pretty grumpy.

www.sacbee.com...

The local woman was flying standby,

en.wikipedia.org...(air_travel)

On most modern airlines, flying standby occurs when a passenger travels on a flight without a ticket for that specific flight.

So the woman is bitching she could not get a early flight so she picks on a fat kid? She never had a ticket for the flight she had a ticket for a later flight.

a sure fix to this problem would be for all airlines to charge passengers by weight...and width.
A baby in a car seat/travel seat is about as wide as a small adult.......babies are charged a full fare currently so taking the weight into consideration would greatly reduce the ticket price for a baby.....

An obese person who takes up 2 or even 3 seats would be charged accordingly.....
Charging by weight and size would NOT be discriminating because it would effect everyone equally.

They could have weight categories for pricing like under 100, under 150, under 200, under 250 and so forth....in 50 lb increments.

Since it truly IS a weight issue and a plane full of 3rd graders takes less fuel than a plane full of professional wrestlers, they should have been charging by weight from the very beginning.

Getting to pay less for plane tickets would also add good incentive for all chubby people to loose some weight.

reply to post by intrepid


So I guess we should change the number of months in year so we can count them on our fingers to?

I saw this on the local news. I believe the airline made the correct decision. This woman that was "kicked off" was flying standby, so the obese passenger had priority. It's bad enough that the kid is fat and has to deal with that, but imagine the emotional trauma caused by the embarrassment of being removed for her booked flight simply because she required extra room.

That being said, her parents should have booked her 2 seats.

[edit on 28-7-2010 by Aggie Man]

Originally posted by LadySkadi
The Daily Mail is crap... here's a bit more information...

ABCnews

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said via e-mail that sometimes the airline is "faced with extenuating circumstances and we try to make the best decisions possible." The woman was placed on another flight to Sacramento "within the hour."

"The flight was completely full and after boarding an adult passenger who was not originally booked for this flight, we learned a young customer traveling alone once onboard needed more than one seat to get safely to her final destination," McInnis said. "We requested the adult customer take the next flight to accommodate the young, 14-year old traveler who was being met at her destination."

McInnis acknowledged that the airline should have first sought volunteers and said Southwest apologized to the woman and refunded her one-way airfare.

Don't know... Seems rather reasonable to me, if this is the extent of it.

Link and Video

Thanks, I did look extensivly for another source, but I didn't come across this.

I really think this is a 50-50 issue, there have always been 'larger' people as much as there has always been thin people, but I really feel in the last 10 years or so, obesity has become more and more of a public health issue.

Kids are particularly at risk, some of them eating nothing but junk morning to night and then some more. Why should we feel sorry for those people who have done this to themselves? We all know there are people who have, and who are, doing this to themselves.

It is a form of self harm, most people who are obese due to overeating know this, but they fail to change their ways. It's like drinking, smoking, or anything else. Nobody forces a smoker to smoke, there is no medical condition that causes a person to smoke, so the choice is ultimatly theirs.


This is not discrimination or my personal preferences, this is mearly fact.

Ok I can see what you are saying that one the girl shouldn't be that big, two that women shouldn't have had to be kicked. This all plays in the what I like to call the no fair cracks of life. Yes that girl must have been big, but have you seen the seats on an airline. Also how do you know that she doesn't have a disease or an extreme form of one like cushings no body is the same. Another thing the airline decides who pays what price got a problem with that go to the complaints office. For once take a look around fat people aren't treated great few people care about their feelings. How many of them are the center or top of the social tree. How many of them are treated like actual people. It is a discrimiation, everyone is still entitled to their own opinion. When you start forcing them down on other people and start tearing people apart because you don't like who they are and what they represent you are in the wrong. It is as bad as being racist, but people care if you are racist. With the way you speak but it may be the way I am interpreting you but, you sound like you are saying the fat deserve what they get which is not always the case in my opinion. Just because 99.999% is one thing doesn't mean you can label the entire group that. Show a little empathy for both sides. As for the petite women, I feel bad she was booted. I hope she got a refund or a later flight at least. The airport can't hold children or they get kidnapping charges, hope you read it all and you see from my side. Get back to me if you want looking forward to seeing your response bye bye : )

Originally posted by JBA2848
So I guess we should change the number of months in year so we can count them on our fingers to?

You are right. I'm sorry. I forgot the sacred rule. The US IS the center of the universe.

While I wouldn't be too happy getting kicked off a flight so that someone who is overweight enough to fill two seats gets a ride, the airline seems to have acted in the most reasonable manner. It's not the airlines fault that this teenager is that size, and at that age, not the teenagers fault either. Her guardians feed her and should be choosing what she eats, as they are paying for it.

The woman got put onto another flight very quickly, I don't see the issue here, apart from the Daily Mail, but that's more of a personal issue that I have.

Should the teen have had to pay for two seats? I don't think that minors should, but adults definately should.

reply to post by LadySkadi

The Daily Mail is crap

Indeed it is... The daily mail does what it always does... Takes a story and twists it until it fits their agenda.

Sensationalism designed to enrage the center right middle classes, by giving them the illusion that they are persecuted by a demon called "political correctness"

And of course they lap it up... because it does, after all, help alleviate the guilt of living in wealth, while 70% of the rest of humanity lives in borderline poverty.


With regards to the story... regardless of if you believe the kid to have caused her own weight problem or not... she is a child... and therefore it is our duty to protect her!

Peace

[edit on 28-7-2010 by Muckster]

No one should be charged extra based on weight, and the fact that this was done at all seems to political, in other words staged to try and drum up more money for themselves.

The problem was easy to sovle, she had to have a ticket booked and if she was that overweight then the tickets would have been sold and the decision made at the front desk to the correct number with tickets would have gone aboard. Period. So this seems to be a problem with the employees, and staged for a political agenda, which usually means, ripping off the public even more.

Its not a weight issue at all. And we don't have to pay more. Just have better judgment at the ticket booth.

Originally posted by Unity_99
No one should be charged extra based on weight, and the fact that this was done at all seems to political, in other words staged to try and drum up more money for themselves.

The problem was easy to sovle, she had to have a ticket booked and if she was that overweight then the tickets would have been sold and the decision made at the front desk to the correct number with tickets would have gone aboard. Period. So this seems to be a problem with the employees, and staged for a political agenda, which usually means, ripping off the public even more.

Its not a weight issue at all. And we don't have to pay more. Just have better judgment at the ticket booth.

But isn't that the same thing? They would have had to judge, based on her size, how many seats she required, and should be charged for, so that's still based on weight.

reply to post by intrepid


I agree with you that thyroid issues can make it hard to maintain ones weight, but it's not insurmountable. My dad lost his thyroid at 28. He was always able to make weight when he was in the army and maintains a decent weight. It's not a light weight but it's still healthy. He'll tell you he has Mexican disease (short and wide lol). Men do have it easier than women with regards to weight issues though.

Either way, I don't think they made a bad choice here. The obese girl was a minor. They couldn't just dump here there. The other woman got a flight within a hour. Sounds like a whole bunch of ado about nothing. Maybe they should have asked for volunteers but, coulda, woulda shoulda. Oh well, everyone is alive and got where they needed to go.