meecal

Best news all day. Less fat people on the airline I fly most often.

cheepneezy

Dear Southwest,

Please stop apologizing to this guy. Let this blowhard go off and fly someone else.


Sincerely,

cheepneezy

N965VJ

I can, unless KS was making threats. Are we talking about onboard “security” or “safety” here?

bescobar

Let's not forget the poor passenger forced to sit next to the Smith the fat guy. His body over hangs the arm rest; there is no place to hide from the warmth or sweat from his body.

The airline's error was allowing him to board w/o having 2 seats available for him. I congratulate the captain. He can fly the flight he had a reservation for. Southwest: Don't back down!!! Let him go away.

freeflyin

+1

jhayes_1780

IIRC, the original CoS policy was around since the early 80's.... its most recent revisions are from 2002.

While I have not flown WN in quite some time, I have always admired their CoS policy, and IMhO believe it is the "fairest" in the industry.

Also, the FAQ's of the CoS policy seem to give quite a bit of answer to questions and statements posed here: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html

IAH Oil Man

Wow, it amazes me how cruel people can be and say publicly. I can only hope that others treat you the way you treat others....

PhoenixRev

You forgot to mention that fat people never bathe, steal from elderly people, are serial arsonists, and worship Ba'al, but only on Tuesdays.

DeaconFlyer

Correct me if I'm wrong, but refunds are only issued if planes aren't full. If a refund is issued than the plane isn't full.

lhr_pdx

It strikes me that this is purely a case of badly managing the policy and poor communication skills/attitudes.

If you actually listen to his Smodcast you'll hear that the main issue is not necessarily the size issue but the airline's inability to be honest about the reasons for off loading him, PLUS the piss-poor way they treated another CoS on the next flight too. THAT's the big deal.

justhere

You are making the assumption that every flight has a CoS on it. Issuing a refund 99% of the time is only on flights that have a CoS on it. What about all the flights that are full and don't have a CoS on them?

tusphotog

Irrelevant. If someone is a problem on the ground, who knows what'll happen up in the sky.

I wasn't on the plane, so I don't know if he was threatening, swearing, or if he said "I'm not getting off the plane." I can only make a judgement by what has happened after the fact. Reading KS' Twitter posts shows he was a loose cannon. I don't care if that's his "style," how he is, or whatever. There's a way to be upset and express it without using the F word. I don't care if you're a "famous" (I use that term very loosely in this case) director, or an average joe. It makes him look like a total blowhard.

returnoftheyeti

You may or may not like Kevin, or his style, or his FBombs. But you should listen to his rant about this. At 53:00 minutes he starts to talk about how WN told another COS that she might need to purchase another seat.

Ignore the rest of the hour plus rant, but listen to that part. Also at 58:00 min.

SAPMAN

I ask all who thnk WN policy is wrong to tell me how to determine if a person is too big to fly in 1 seat (with passenger next comfortable). I maintain there is no perfect way. So some rational guidelines and judgement are necessary.

As to if the those seated next complained -- I would guess fewer than 10 % complain even if they have a good reason - not wanted to risk a confrontation.

Also about 95% of overweight people could reduce their size if they have the determination. Not possible?, watch Biggest Loser. Just lower food intake, proper diet, and exercise. You do not have to be skinny to fit in the seat - I did easily at 220 lb (6 ft tall), and even better now at 200.


With the way this country is going, probably will have many CoS on each flight in 15 years. Maybe answer is bigger seats, but fewer pax on each flight will = higher cost for the rest of us.

As an observation, I would guess the USA has over double the % of obese people vs. other nations.

FlyerX

I'd love to sit next to him too But I wouldn't pay extra.

But that's just me. I'd rather be on a plane full of overweight nice people than on a plane with one screaming toddler.