Petite Woman Bumped from SWA for a hefty passenger.

[redlight]

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.

I agree. SW should have offered compensation.

The problem is the overbooking. I know why the airlines do it, but it's a bad practice.

 

[NotUrsula]

The story didn't say that the doors were closed . I have seen stand-bys removed from planes for late arriving ticketed passengers before the door is closed. In addition, we don't really know how many seats the teen's parents actually purchased, just that she needed two seats. The removed passenger assumes that they sold the last seat when it could be that the teen was simply stuck in security and not at the gate during boarding.

Add me to the "cry baby" camp.

Granted, the story didn't say that the doors were closed, but IME on SWA, once the standbys are let on, the door IS closed, so that is the probable scenario.

According to Ben Mutzabaugh's column in USAToday:

Still, Southwest spokesman Paul Flannigan tells The 33 News of Dallas/Fort Worth that extenuating circumstances made the situation difficult.
"The passenger in question was a minor who was traveling alone," Flannigan tells the station. "Normally if the passenger were an adult, she would be required to purchase an extra ticket, but we did not want to leave the 14-year-old stranded."

McInnis adds to the Bee that the airline's staff also may have been reluctant to put the teenage girl into a possibly embarrassing situation.

Southwest put the thinner woman on a later flight. Company officials say the airline will apologize to the woman and offer her credit toward a future flight.

As I see it, it wouldn't have been any different if the saleswoman was in the last open seat and a skinny kid had come in from a connecting flight -- she still would have been the last one on and thus the first one off if this is the protocol being used, because no airline in their right mind is going to strand a minor overnight in a major airport if there is any possible alternative. The problem is in the protocol -- SWA should have asked for volunteers in this instance.

 

[mom2boys77]

Totally agree!

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

 

[okeydokey]

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".

This sounds like a much better way to handle it. Someone would most likely have volunteered for the perks and everyone could have been satisfied.

 

[lillygator]

.....if this was an adult, we'd be debating a different story.

 

[robinb]

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding the situation but the 14 year old passenger wasn't assigned to the stand-by passenger's seat (nor did she/parent/guardian purchase it).. the 14 year old girl needed another seat after the woman already bought her unclaimed seat.

I don't think it's clear if the teen purchased two seats or just one. We are only hearing the assumption of the irate standby passenger who contracted the press in a snit.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I have to ask, how small are airline seats anyway? I haven't flown in 12 years but I don't remember them being so tiny that people couldn't fit (unelss they were enormous). Are they really that small or are the people who can't fit really that big?

 

[Rora]

.....if this was an adult, we'd be debating a different story.

Isn't that the truth...

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't think it's clear if the teen purchased two seats or just one. We are only hearing the assumption of the irate standby passenger who contracted the press in a snit.

From the article. SWA didn't dispute it.

“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.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, I am going to put on my flame suit and say that no matter what age the larger passenger is, if they were late, stand-bys had paid for tickets and boarded... SWA was dead wrong to go out of their way to accommodate any passenger who 1.) was LATE... and 2.) had not guaranteed themselves the seats required to meet their needs.

IMHO, book appropriate seats AND be on time... or ding, ding, ding, you lose.... try again!!!

This would clearly NOT be a case of an airline leaving a person stranded, or denying passage due to size.... This passenger was late... end of story. (unless of course, consideration was being given because they had just arrived on a connecting flight on an affiliated airline... Which would be known by staff, and then handled accordingly.)

PS: I am even laughing at myself here, because I know how outspoken I can be and how it might sound! But, seriously, once you are so late that your seat is sold to standbye, IMHO, that ought to be the final call.

 

[mjkacmom]

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

Actually, only when you pay extra, which we did when dd was 11. After that, she was on her own (so I was not very happy when SIL was late to the airport to pick her up last year, and she called me and asked what she should do...). I doubt someone would pay the "babysitting" fee for a 14 year old.

 

[torinsmom]

So, wouldn't the teen be embarrassed anyway, because what are the chances that his seat and the seat of the woman who got booted were right beside each other? He would need two adjacent seats, right? So they probably had to make someone is his row move as well to make room for him.

I don't think they should have called the stand-bys until the gate is about to close. After you put someone on with their carryons, that is too late to boot someone, IMHO.

MArsha

 

[wilderness01]

Well, I am going to put on my flame suit and say that no matter what age the larger passenger is, if they were late, stand-bys had paid for tickets and boarded... SWA was dead wrong to go out of their way to accommodate any passenger who 1.) was LATE... and 2.) had not guaranteed themselves the seats required to meet their needs.

IMHO, be on timbook appropriate seats AND be on time... or ding, ding, ding, you lose.... try again!!!

This would clearly NOT be a case of an airline leaving a person stranded, or denying passage due to size.... This passenger was late... end of story. (unless of course, consideration was being given because they had just arrived on a connecting flight on an affiliated airline... Which would be known by staff, and then handled accordingly.)

PS: I am even laughing at myself here, because I know how outspoken I can be and how it might sound! But, seriously, once you are so late that your seat is sold to standbye, IMHO, that ought to be the final call.

Ok, I'm putting on a flamesuit too, because I agree with you.

Also, it doesn't sound like it was the last flight of the day from SWA's response, so why couldn't the late teenager have been supervised by staff and put on the next flight?

Are teens routinely allowed to make connecting flights? I thought they are supposed to go direct? Isn't that the point of making sure they are on the flight and then having someone meet them at the gate?

If I had a teen flying I would make sure they were at the airport on time and put them on a direct flight. If you are late, no matter what your age, you wait for the next flight. Sorry.

 

[FergieTCat]

Why were the sizes of the passengers being discussed at all?

If both passengers had been "petite", I doubt it would be in the media or an issue.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Why were the sizes of the passengers being discussed at all?

If both passengers had been "petite", I doubt it would be in the media or an issue.

The size is very relavent to why the one passenger was removed from the flight. There was a seat available for the obese minor. There was not an extra seat available. The passenger was bumped from her paid for seat so that it could be used gratis by the obese minor in addition to her purchased seat.

Had both passengers been petite or even average sized, no bumping would have occurred.

 

[pilotwife_02]

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.

First I think this story is TOTALLY one sided, it's all from the perspective of the person "wronged".

There are no facts in the story pointing to whether or not the overweight teen paid for two seats. The story assumes what the irate passenger says is true. It was never confirmed with SWA. And of course SWA is going to say sorry. They are trying to avoid a media backlash and doing their PR crap.

And how "late" was the teen? The story is going by what the kicked off passenger was saying. Perhaps "late" to her means the teen walked one as they last boarding call was made. I do that all the time when I'm traveling if I don't need overhead space and I have an aisle seat (or as a family we have a whole row). Why be on the plane any longer than you have to. Just because she claims she was given the last seat doens't mean she was the last person on the plane. They could have cleared standby passengers before they started boarding (again, this happens to me all the time, since I fly standby quite often, my guess is that the gate agents like to clear the list perhaps thinking we want to board as soon as we can).

How do we know they didn't ask people if they would give up seats and no one volunteered. I've been a few flights were that happened. They announced 4-5 times and kept upping the ante, but no one took it.

And as for the crew/staff acting rudely, my bet is that they probably had to get stern with her after she started getting upset and perhaps they took her being upset the wrong way.

We certainly don't know all the facts here, just the story from the burnt passenger. I wish they were able to interview some of the other passengers on the plane to see what really went down on that plane.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

And you don't see a compromise from SWA anywhere here? Offering any passenger adequate compensation to give up a seat usually sends a stampede running to the first Flight Attendant for a free seat anywhere in the USA.

Heck yeah! Whenever we are flying back from vacation, as soon as we get thru to the gates, we always go right up to the desk and offer to be bumped and they take our name down. We have gotten bumped twice and got free round trip tickets to anywhere within the continental US within in a year.

I bet SW made this decision based on who would be more likely to sue. They probably figured a child left behind and possibly being considered discriminated against, would carry the most possibility of a lawsuit. So they kicked off the woman. I think the airplane should have offered compensation to anyone willing to be bumped, but taking into consideration they may have had to rearrange several passengers to accomodate the girl who needed two seats (eg. the only passenger willing to take up an offer of being bumped may be in a full three seat row. So that person giving up one seat would not help unless they moved a few people around) would probably be an issue and may spawn more complaints from other passengers who have to play musical chairs while they might be missing a connecting flight.

 

[FergieTCat]

The size is very relavent to why the one passenger was removed from the flight. There was a seat available for the obese minor. There was not an extra seat available. The passenger was bumped from her paid for seat so that it could be used gratis by the obese minor in addition to her purchased seat.

Had both passengers been petite or even average sized, no bumping would have occurred.

I realized by error after I hit "post", but I didn't want to backtrack by editing.

It is not clear whether the larger passenger had paid for two seats. Judging from what I've read in the past about SWA, I think it is highly unlikely that they would have favored the obese passenger if that person did not purchase two seats.

Also, I think the more "mature" passenger could have handled herself a little more maturely. As for SWA, I have no comment.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I realized by error after I hit "post", but I didn't want to backtrack by editing.

It is not clear whether the larger passenger had paid for two seats. Judging from what I've read in the past about SWA, I think it is highly unlikely that they would have favored the obese passenger if that person did not purchase two seats.
Also, I think the more "mature" passenger could have handled herself a little more maturely. As for SWA, I have no comment.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on the bolded part. SW's policy on the two seat rule has always been controversial. Throw in an underage passenger into the equation and you've got yourself a publicity nightmare. I am going to guess they did not ask the girl to pay for another seat because she probably had no means to pay for another seat (like a PP pointed out). It also would not have been her responsibility to arrive to the airport on time, but the adult who brought her (I know it's not SW's responsibility, but once she was left in their hands, it would have looked really bad if they "punished" her for her lateness since she probably was not able to influence when she arrived at the airport). If this story had gone the other way around (the child left behind due to her size), we'd be hearing a lot more about it. Who is going to sympathize with a petite, anonymous female vs an unattended minor who is overweight? That's rhetorical, because some people on this thread agree the woman was wronged. But the majority of Americans would probably be a lot more upset if the girl was left behind, and that's who SW, or any company has to take into consideration. The majority. Now if this was not a story involving a minor, I wouldn't really have much to say. I would just side with the woman who had paid for her ticket. But the fact that it involved a minor most likely influenced SW's decision, as it does my opinion.

 

[FergieTCat]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on the bolded part. SW's policy on the two seat rule has always been controversial. Throw in an underage passenger into the equation and you've got yourself a publicity nightmare. I am going to guess they did not ask the girl to pay for another seat because she probably had no means to pay for another seat (like a PP pointed out). It also would not have been her responsibility to arrive to the airport on time, but the adult who brought her. If this story had gone the other way around (the child left behind due to her size), we'd be hearing a lot more about it. Who is going to sympathize with a petite, anonymous female vs an unattended minor who is overweight? That's rhetorical, because some people on this thread agree the woman was wronged. But the majority of Americans would probably be a lot more upset if the girl was left behind. I'm guessing.

And I respectfully disagree with you.

SWA has never shown an iota of courtesy towards obese passengers. If the 14 year old could not fit into one seat, SWA would not have hesitated to remove her AND would have released yet another story to the media with yet another example of why obese passengers inconvenience petite ones.

And judging from what I've read on the Dis lately, the American public (assuming the Dis is a good cross-sample of the demographics of the US) would have applauded SWA for leaving that obese passenger on the tarmac. And then berated her parents for overfeeding her.