airline travel
dealing with overweight passengers on flights
mistreatment of overweight passengers on flights
Director Kevin Smith was kicked off a flight for being too fat!
By veromar
@veromar (1453)
Argentina
February 16, 2010 5:45pm CST
It's true. It happened over Valentine's weekend.
http://www.usmagazine.com/healthylifestyle/news/director-kevin-smith-kicked-off-plane-for-being-too-fat-2010142?page=2
The Southwest Airlines captain of the flight had Smith removed from the flight because he said he was a "safety risk". Ok. He's a big guy. He says he always buys 2 seats, which is what heavy people have to do in order to fly these days. He twitted about the whole experience and received apologies from the airline and the offer of a $100 voucher, which he declined. Some of his twitter followers suggested he start his own airline. lol. Americans are fat. No way around it. Why don't the airlines address the issue instead of treating overweight people as "safety risks"? Why is it that you have to pay thousands for "first class" in order to have a little leg room? We, the passengers, get crammed into these tiny rows with tiny seats. Most airlines don't even give "freebies" any more. The service and wait time are horrendous. Delays, lost baggage, poor customer service and yet we continue to patronize these businesses. What's wrong with us?!?!?
2 responses
@cbjones (1147)
• United States
17 Feb 10
U heard about this earlier today on television. I was watching the Dan Patrick Show, on DirecTV 101 Network. After asking myself "why am I watching a sports show that often goes off topic like this?", I began to wonder about the current state of public transportation. If Silent Bob can't fly the friendly skies, then just how friendly are said skies nowadays any how?
I mean really now, Kevin Smith isn't freakishly obese by any means. I wonder if the pro wrestlers have to buy more than one seat when they fly. Paul White(Big Show, as they call him in WWE) is billed as being around 500 pounds, and somewhere around 7 feet tall. Try telling that giant mountain of a man that he needs to be taken off a crowded flight for some unknown safety reasons. If you can buckle the seat belt, there should be no worries.
If people around the guy worry about some excess mass getting in the way of everything, then whatever. Feel free to strike up a conversation with the person, and tell them about your concerns regarding their health. Maybe they'll take what you have to say to heart, and make some lifestyle changes in the near future. It's a win/win situation for everyone really. You get to make a new friend(if done in a nice way), and they won't have to hear about a safety risk, when the floor didn't give way upon entering the bloody plane, so their probably isn't a risk involved anyway.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
17 Feb 10
I would imagine it's embarrassing, as well as disturbing. That's right...."we pay". We pay for the seat, we pay for the nuts, we pay for the beverage, we pay for the "customer service". We pay a LOT to be able to travel by air and yet we are treated with disrespect. I don't know that I consider it judgmental. The airline has it's criterion that overweight passengers have to meet that will determine if they need to purchase an extra seat or not. Mr. Smith apparently purchases 2 seats whenever he flies, according to the story at the link I included in my original post. He follows their rules and yet was still kicked off. Unfortunately for the airline, Mr. Smith is a public figure with the ability to tell his story to millions. Maybe that fact alone will help the airlines to rethink their policies regarding overweight passengers. We'll see.......
