Petite Woman Bumped from SWA for a hefty passenger.

[DawnCt1]

She may have been traveling stand by but she had paid for her one seat....as did the passenger that bumped her. He only paid for one seat. I think that Southwest made a big mistake on this one.

Petite woman bumped from plane for hefty passenger
5-foot-4 woman lost her seat so that late-arriving passenger could have two

Chris O'meara / AP file
Southwest Airlines is the same carrier that made headlines earlier this year for booting filmmaker Kevin Smith off a flight because he was deemed too large.
by Michael Inbar
TODAYshow.com contributor

It’s irritating enough to get bumped from a flight. If you are already seated on that flight, having to walk off the plane adds a little indignity.
But to be told to leave a plane because a too-large passenger needs two seats? It turned into a seeing-red, head-scratching moment for one frequent flyer.
A female sales rep (who requested anonymity in interviews) revealed her strange tale to the Sacramento Bee, relating how she was asked to vacate her seat aboard a Southwest Airlines flight shortly before the plane was set to leave Las Vegas for Sacramento last week.
The woman, a petite 5-foot-4, 110 pounds, said she was flying standby when agents sold her the last seat available on the plane. She had already stowed her bags and was settling into her seat when an attendant told her she had to leave immediately.
When she was told her seat was needed because a late-arriving passenger’s girth was too wide for just one, she had some questions.
“It didn’t seem right that I should leave to accommodate someone who had only paid for one seat,” the woman told the Sacramento Bee. But she was even more upset because, she said, airline staff acted rudely and inconsiderately when she asked for a further explanation.
Southwest regrets how the situation was handled, according to airline spokeswoman Marilee McInnis. “We know that this was awkward and we should have handled it better,” she told the Sacramento Bee.
While saying the airline plans to apologize to the bumped passenger, McInnis said Southwest staff may have acted more swiftly than usual in booting her because the overweight passenger in question was only 14 and they were trying to spare the teen embarrassment.
Southwest Airlines has been kicking up controversy about weighty issues lately — earlier this year, renowned “Clerks" director/actor Kevin Smith was bumped from a Southwest flight because he was too big to fit into one seat.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38414189/ns/today-todaytravel?gt1=43001

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

She may have been traveling stand by but she had paid for her one seat....as did the passenger that bumped her. He only paid for one seat. I think that Southwest made a big mistake on this one.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38414189/ns/today-todaytravel?gt1=43001

I feel bad for both of them. Not only did the lady have to be inconvenienced like that but the situation for that must overweight passenger be very embarrassing.

I don't really understand though... why are they making a point to say that woman was petite?

 

[DawnCt1]

I feel bad for both of them. Not only did the lady have to be inconvenienced like that but the situation for that must be very embarrassing.

I don't really understand though... why are they making a point to say that woman was petite?

Because her weight wasn't the problem. It adds some irony to the situation for sure.

 

[mjkacmom]

You had me until the end. If the late passenger was an adult, I would've been mad if I had to give up my seat because he or she needed 2. However, as a parent of a 14 year old (only 115 pounds, btw) who is flying alone this week, I would've gladly given my seat up (okay, maybe not gladly ). Children travelling alone can be nervous - what if this was a connecting flight, and her previous flight got in late?

 

[sunnyday123]

I would be highly annoyed if I were that woman. I get that it's stand by, and apparently the other passenger wasn't but the fact that they told her it was because he needed two seats and only paid for one would just annoy me.

eta: Just went back and saw the passenger was only 14. I'd still be extremely annoyed, but it would've stayed inside on the plane.

 

[DawnCt1]

You had me until the end. If the late passenger was an adult, I would've been mad if I had to give up my seat because he or she needed 2. However, as a parent of a 14 year old (only 115 pounds, btw) who is flying alone this week, I would've gladly given my seat up (okay, maybe not gladly ). Children travelling alone can be nervous - what if this was a connecting flight, and her previous flight got in late?

Children flying alone usually check in as that and get special supervision.

 

[DrCavin]

IMO SW did the right thing, minus the staff "airline staff acted rudely and inconsiderately' and that is subjective...

Im not certain if the 14 year old was charged for the extra seat once he arrived or not. I am sure he did not book an extra seat when he made his reservation, hence the seat the lady flying stand-by as able to get.

When you fly standby you take a chance you wont make the flight.

 

[FireDancer]

I thought SWA had a policy of charging for a second seat if needed. I didn't see anything in this article mentioning if this person was charged for the second seat. If the person in question (regardless of age) only purchased one seat when two was warranted they should have been the one bumped IMO and told they will need two seats on the next flight.

Since the passenger didn't book his or her second seat it was not guaranteed. In essence that means at the time he arrived for the flight he should have been put on standby for that second seat. At that point both passengers are now on standy and since the "petite" passenger was on standby first she should have been the one on the plane.

SWA is usually pretty good at applying their two seat policy.

 

[Rora]

Ehh.. I understand that the airline wanted to reduce the embarassment the teen felt but I think the woman had a very valid point- she paid for her seat, and the teen only paid for one seat when she actually needed two. Even if the teen didn't know her size would require her to get an extra seat, if she had been an adult, she would've gotten bumped to the next flight considering the plane was at capacity.

I'm sure it's difficult for a child to travel alone but it doesn't seem right that the woman was forced to leave, IMO.

 

[MosMom]

Add it to the list of "boo hoo moments" we all face everyday. Some of us choose to handle those moments with class and some choose to cry about it and further embarrass a 14 year old obese teenager.

 

[freckles and boo]

I think it is rather obnoxious to contact the media and then request anonymity in a situation like this.

 

[DawnCt1]

Add it to the list of "boo hoo moments" we all face everyday. Some of us choose to handle those moments with class and some choose to cry about it and further embarrass a 14 year old obese teenager.

I think it is rather obnoxious to contact the media and then request anonymity in a situation like this.

It sounds like her angst wasn't directed at the other passenger but at the rudeness of SWA, who acknowledged that they handled it poorly. Perhaps she didn't go public until efforts to deal with SWA fell on deaf ears.

 

[akhenaten]

Add it to the list of "boo hoo moments" we all face everyday. Some of us choose to handle those moments with class and some choose to cry about it and further embarrass a 14 year old obese teenager.

I totally agree!!!! Shame on her for publicizing this..... she was on stand-by...

 

[DawnCt1]

I totally agree!!!! Shame on her for publicizing this..... she was on stand-by...

She was on standby, then she PAID for her seat, boarded the plane and stowed her stuff. SWA could have asked for volunteers at that point and offered compensation to anyone willing to "take the next flight".

 

[Rora]

Once you pay for your seat, you're no longer stand-by, according to my BIL who is a pilot.

Once this woman paid for her seat she was not a stand-by passenger anymore.

 

[srferson]

I thought SWA had a policy of charging for a second seat if needed. I didn't see anything in this article mentioning if this person was charged for the second seat. If the person in question (regardless of age) only purchased one seat when two was warranted they should have been the one bumped IMO and told they will need two seats on the next flight.

Since the passenger didn't book his or her second seat it was not guaranteed. In essence that means at the time he arrived for the flight he should have been put on standby for that second seat. At that point both passengers are now on standy and since the "petite" passenger was on standby first she should have been the one on the plane.

SWA is usually pretty good at applying their two seat policy.

I agree.

 

[NotUrsula]

If it was the last or second-to-last non-stop flight of the evening, then SWA essentially had no choice; you cannot put an unaccompanied 14 yo up in a hotel alone unless there is absolutely NO alternative -- the hotel won't allow them to check in unless there is a ground-stop. They probably had to get that girl on the flight. The fact that the girl was a Customer of Size isn't really all that relevant in this case, except that SWA needed to clear 2 seats instead of one.

SWA has admitted that they handled it badly. What they should have done in this case was ask for 2 volunteers at standard compensation, rather than follow the SOP of asking the last-on standby passenger to deplane. (If the late-arriving connecting "passenger" had been two adults, or even a child accompanied by an adult, the whole situation wouldn't have happened. They would have just been told, "so sorry, but the door has closed. We'll have to put you on another flight."

PS: I've been at McCarran in the wee hours -- it's not a place that I'd like to leave a 14 yo girl alone in overnight. Because it's Las Vegas and people do stupid things at the casinos, there were a fair number of people sleeping in the terminal, mostly men. It made me feel vulnerable, and I'm a grown woman. (I wasn't sleeping there, but I arrived at 3:45 am for a 6 am flight because that was when my transportation was able to get me there.)

 

[DawnCt1]

Once you pay for your seat, you're no longer stand-by, according to my BIL who is a pilot.

Once this woman paid for her seat she was not a stand-by passenger anymore.

 

[lillygator]

I don't think she should have been a stand by passenger with a paid ticket. .....also, if you need two seats you need to pay for them.....

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Add it to the list of "boo hoo moments" we all face everyday. Some of us choose to handle those moments with class and some choose to cry about it and further embarrass a 14 year old obese teenager.