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

I did say this but i made a brief mention of this I quote have you seen the size of airline seats

This is outrageous! I'm sick of hearing about how models are too skinny and it's hurting our children, yet being fat is much better, apparently, than being skinny. This is simply due to the overwhelming number of fat people in America, to whom politicians cater. Disgusting and I think that Southwest is disgusting for much more than this incodent. The airline company is known for being rude to passengers and trying to be far too politically correct. I will never fly SW Airlines or give them any business what-so-ever.

--airspoon

Your right being fat and worrrying about heart disease, diabetes and other fat related diseases is much better than your body literally falling apart. No they are just as bad and in some cases they can be worse then eachother.

In an ironic twist Kevin Smith was thrown off the plane for being to big..

So, we are getting more lenient on people who are big now so its ok for you to get fatter and fatter and smaller people will have to take a back seat for things?

Interesting that.. Oh here is the story on him being kicked off the flight..(not same flight however..)

Kevin Smith Thrown Off Flight

Ironically I noticed its the same company that kicked the skinny person off..

Anyway here are a few quotes for the lazy people out there..

Smith, 39, the director of films including Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Clerks, had purchased two tickets to comply with Southwest Airlines policy that requires larger passengers to buy two seats.

He then decided to go standby for an earlier flight and was seated on a plane on which there was only one seat left. He was then ejected from the plane.

He wrote: "I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?

"I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?).

Southwest's "Customer of Size" policy requires that travellers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat.

Interest what the above quote there states eh? Yellow to show my point.

Interesting things are... interesting...

Looking through the thread, here is a few quotes that really show the "true colors" of people's opinions about others that have a problem, and are different then themselves.

I would have suggested they put the fatty down were all the luggage is, I'm sure there's some room down there

I'm also not in agreement a minor should be big enough to need two seats, sorry but I had to!

The fatty should have never been given the option to board the plane if it was already at maximum. . . Whats the worst that can possibly happen to her, except for dying of diabetes while waiting for the next flight..

Is it bad that I find this very funny. It’s probably not true or rather the article has exaggerated it either way i still find it very funny. I would have thought it would have made more sense for the fat person to stay on the plane, that way they can use he/she to plug any holes in the fuselage.

Also, it's actually unhealthy to even be around fat people.

I think I wrote a thread on demanding a non-obese section at public places.

Hmmm I can be tolerant, but when it comes to fat people I am rather intolerant

passengers would have to be weighed and those over a set limit disallowed to fly. period

Classy ATS, real classy...

its not that we are getting ok with it trust me. It is that the airline didn't want a lawsuit on its hands so it made some ajustments to make this the best they could for them. thank you media for humiliating someone who is diffrent

Originally posted by ZombieJesus
Looking through the thread, here is a few quotes that really show the "true colors" of people's opinions about others that have a problem, and are different then themselves.

I would have suggested they put the fatty down were all the luggage is, I'm sure there's some room down there

I'm also not in agreement a minor should be big enough to need two seats, sorry but I had to!

The fatty should have never been given the option to board the plane if it was already at maximum. . . Whats the worst that can possibly happen to her, except for dying of diabetes while waiting for the next flight..

Is it bad that I find this very funny. It’s probably not true or rather the article has exaggerated it either way i still find it very funny. I would have thought it would have made more sense for the fat person to stay on the plane, that way they can use he/she to plug any holes in the fuselage.

Also, it's actually unhealthy to even be around fat people.

I think I wrote a thread on demanding a non-obese section at public places.

Hmmm I can be tolerant, but when it comes to fat people I am rather intolerant

passengers would have to be weighed and those over a set limit disallowed to fly. period

Classy ATS, real classy...

So would you class gourging on supersize happy meals a problem beyond the control of the person doing it? Being as 99% of all obese people are chronic overeaters, causing themselves a self inflicted injury, is that not their fault? By feeling sorry for them and accomodating them physicaly, we are only aiding the problem, it's like giving alcohol to a drunk who can't get served at the bar, we're not helping him, we're helping to kill him.

Being obese isn't anything to feel proud about, or good about, or that you have the ultimate right to be obese, it's up to you.

We are presenting FACTS, not judgements.

Not aiding the problem would be telling them crap and making them feel bad about themselves. Did you know that overeating and undereating is usually a self confidence problem and they do that because they have to. It is like cutters, but at least cutters can hide their shame. You intentionally make anyone with weight problems feel uncomfortable making them gorge. I am not saying you should pat them on the back. You should help them with theropy for some cases. Don't jump to conclusions that it is a choice all the time.

Originally posted by Krinkleneck
Not aiding the problem would be telling them crap and making them feel bad about themselves. Did you know that overeating and undereating is usually a self confidence problem and they do that because they have to. It is like cutters, but at least cutters can hide their shame. You intentionally make anyone with weight problems feel uncomfortable making them gorge. I am not saying you should pat them on the back. You should help them with theropy for some cases. Don't jump to conclusions that it is a choice all the time.

Unless someone force feeds them, then it IS a choice, saying anything else would imply they have no say over what they put into their bodies.
Therapy can only do so much, they must use their willpower and choices to change the destructive behavour, believe me, I have been through and still am going through OCD,depression & the lot, and at the end of the day, it is MY choice where I go with those things, nobody on this earth can influence that.

Can you really tell me the parents of an obese child don't know what they're doing? Kids will eat all the wrong things because they taste good, we as adults have a duty to educate and promote good health.

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

your right its someone's choice to do crack after addicted or heroin

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


I agree. We could speculate for days why the child is overweight. Perhaps she's on antidepressants or antipsychotics which can cause weight gain. Perhaps she has diabetes. It doesn't matter. She was a child who had a regular ticket. The lady who was told she couldn't fly was on a standbyticket. In the end she could not be accomodated. There was not room for her on the plane.
Airlines accomodate tall folk by letting them sit on exit rows and bulkheads where there is extra room. Large people taking up more seat room are no different When the tall person whose long legs bendand encrouch anothers leg room or the guy whose waist fits in the seat but his shoulders, arms and chest are greater than the alloted width of the seat perhaps because they lift weights.

If large people have to pay more than so should tall people. They are taking up space where my extra luggage could be. . Doesn't make sense.


[edit on 28-7-2010 by LAinhabitant]

reply to post by The Chez



I'm not making a personal attack here, just using this as an example.

You have made very clear your disgust for anybody that has a weight problem, and that that making fun of there problems and appearance is a perfectly acceptable form of helping curtail the issue.

Yet this is coming from someone with a picture of Kurt Cobain for their avatar.

So would you class gourging on supersize happy meals a problem beyond the control of the person doing it? Being as 99% of all obese people are chronic overeaters, causing themselves a self inflicted injury, is that not their fault? By feeling sorry for them and accomodating them physicaly, we are only aiding the problem, it's like giving alcohol to a drunk who can't get served at the bar, we're not helping him, we're helping to kill him.

Whats with the double standard?

Marauding a picture of Kurt Cobain, a widely known heroin abuser, who died with the aid of heroin...in a self inflicted manner, is alright, but having empathy for someone with a weight problem is deplorable?

reply to post by The Chez


i dont think she should have been thrown off the plane but the parents should have thought about the size of their son before they bought the tickets, or maybe they should have asked the entire plane if someone was willing to wait for a later flight perhaps with a first class upgrade or a simpler solution tho i dont know how legal it would be would be to have one of their flight attendents wait there or go home if she lived there with pay and take her seat and offer the lady a free flight for the inconvience ofcourse they would be alittle short handed but what restraunt isnt every now and then.

If you fly standby, you aren't guaranteed a seat and you can get thrown off for anyone. If another ticketed passenger had shown up before the flight left, she would have been removed. That wasn't the case, but still, that's what happens when you fly standby. I've done it a lot and got taken off flights at the last minute because there was no room.

I never went to the media to humiliate a 14 year old child, no matter her weight, because I didn't plan ahead like those who had purchased tickets in advance and/or was taking advantage of employee/family standby rates.

My opinion might change if she was pre-booked, but she wasn't. That's what flying standby is all about. This lady has some serious entitlement issues.

Originally posted by LAinhabitant
If large people have to pay more than so should tall people. They are taking up space where my extra luggage could be.

I know it's splitting hairs, BUT, your "carry-on" items are to go in the overhead compartment OR under the seat in front of you (per every pre-flight announcement I have ever heard), your items are not suppose to go under your own seat. So, the leg-room argument is moot.

Heroine addicts, cigarette smokers and alcoholics don't get special privileged in society, why should food addicts? Because we should pity them for looking so disgusting? They've suffered enough and should get to sit where ever they want eh. **** that, get off the plane fatty, the walk will do you good!

I'm not talking about the girl specified in the article, because she is a child, but as far as many of the general comments in this thread go, what's with the spite directed towards women who don't look anorexic? I saw one post mention how many women the member saw in a day with "roles (sic) of fat where there shouldn't be any"

I always get a great chuckle out of the vast number of men out there who make those types of comments and look down their noses at any woman over 130 lbs. That's a conspiracy of thought pattern manipulation in and of itself, IMO. 10 years ago, in my pre-marriage dating days, I was all about the Rubinesque women. Not talking about 3 bills and up here, but nature places fat in strategic areas on the female body for a reason: attractiveness. God help us if this trend of disparaging that natural strategy continues.

Thrown off? Ordered off? How very dramatic. Are we sure she wasn't politely asked if she would give up her seat for a guaranteed seat on the next flight out and maybe a free round-trip ticket? That's what they usually do, and usually they ask for volunteers.

If not, bonehead move by the airline.

Too bad the obese teen wasn't wearing a veil...that would have been far more dramatic

Edit to say oops...missed the standby part If that's the case, this movie gets

[edit on 7/28/2010 by ~Lucidity]

First of all how "big" was this girl? I ask because I flew recently and on the last flight we were 30mins late taking off because their count was off. They were suppose to have like 46 people but they were only counting 45. We sat there until the guy infront of me finally spoke up and said he had paid for two seats because he was told he had to because of his size. I looked at him and was shocked! He wasn't fat just stocky, yet he was told he had to purchase two tickets...We took off late because he was obviously too embarrassed to say something. If he didn't say anything and they did their count right then everyone else would have just thought the seat was an empty seat. I can tell you that this guy was not overtly obese to where he was hanging into another seat. I could have sit comfortable next to him no problem...

Personally plane seats are small period and I am 5'2 110lbs. and I think they are small.

I do think that if someone who is obese by their own actions should pay for two seats on a plane. There is no need to be that big to where you need two seats. I am aware obesity can be genetic and that some can't help it, those people imo have a handicap and maybe they should have a few seats available for those people too. My grandmother was obese and it wasnt due to diet either and she had a hard time getting around because of it. To me this is no different than someone with a muscle disorder who can't get around. Neither person asked for it, they were born with it.

As for the girl, she was traveling alone, which isn't unusual and I am sure she was embarrassed. The poor kid probably gets picked on for her size and now people are making a big deal out of the women being asked to leave the flight. Yes it's her parents fault if it isn't a medical disorder....Also didn't it say she the "petite" woman was flying on stand by?? If she were asked to wait for the next flight for any other reason would people have been so mad? NO they wouldnt have. Flying stand by means just that you stand by and wait until it is your definite turn. IF this woman is suing (havent read the whole article) then she is just plain stupid and is using this as opportunity for fame or money or sympathy...or all the above.

reply to post by LadySkadi


Exactly right, LadySkadi; and later on page 2, Aggie Man and Muckster basically got it right.

(I saw the thread start, went to have dinner, came back...and FOUR pages already....and going off topic).

I worked in the airline business long enough to know that what the gate agents (customer service agents, or whatever moniker a particular airline assigns them) have a tough job, and are on the front line of most personal abuse than ANY OTHER emplyee group in an airline!

Further, it is irrelevant that this 14-year old was overweight....she was what is known in the industry as a "UNAM". That acronym varies, again depending on company, but it means the same for all..."Unaccompanied Minor". This is a very, very serious responsibilty the airline undertakes...not only on a human level, but on a LEGAL liability level.

They are, in effect, taking on the role of temporary 'legal guardian' for that minor, from the moment the responsible adult drops him/her off, until the designated OTHER responsible adult assumes proper custody at the destination.

Further, upon more details, it has been shown that the woman in question (the one removed), although on a "full fare", nevertheless was NOT originally booked on that particular flight! her original reservation was for the later flight, and the airline was doing her the favor of accomodating her, per request, on the earlier departure.

The UNAM had a reservation ON that flight, and therefore (in the arcane "pecking order" of airline logic) had priority. The additional fact that she was a UNAM gave her special attention, as well. AND priority.

Southwest Airlines has long had a policy they adhere to, when it involves very obese passengers, to accommodate them in TWO seats...(most seat designs, the armrest is moveable, and swings upward and out of the way). It was a corporate decision they made (and made news with it, here in the States) some years ago. They view it as a 'comfort/safety' issue.

SO, as mentioned....this is just an inflated story, by that particular newspaper, apparently in order to stoke sales.

Must have been a slow news day??

It IS amazing, though, the mentality that results in this garnering so much attention....and the mistaken reasons attributed to the situation. When viewed calmly, objectively, and with allthe facts presented, it DOES become a "non-story". It is a shame that such garbage results in so much time wasted, over-analyzing it....







[edit on 28 July 2010 by weedwhacker]