curbcrusher

The folks at MDW did not enforce the COS policy. That was a mistake.

toomanybooks

I finally watched the video.

I believe there is no way that guy could sit in a single WN seat without spilling over.

Even if he could somehow jam himself in and barely squeeze down the armrests, his elbows would have been jabbing the person(s) next to him the whole time clear across the country. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be alongside him for several hours. Take a look.

By the way, he lives about 5 miles from me.

nsx

If I recall correctly, Southwest has said that for every complaint from a Customer of Size who was asked to buy a second seat, Southwest has received 10 complaints from customers seated next to someone who should have been asked to buy a second seat. For some reason the latter cases rarely make the news.

glg

Too bad CBS2 doesn't have a comment functionality. I'd have commented that the guy is too big to sit in the seat.

OverThereTooMuch

Wirelessly posted (samsung blackjack 2: SAMSUNG-SGH-I617/UCHH2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.0)

rebelyell - that will NEVER happen.

Besides, there have been carry-on sizers at airports for many, many years. They obviously don't work. On every flight, there's at least one person that has a bag that is way too big. And in that case, there are clear, published dimensions.

Cordray2643

I have been reading this thread over the past couple of days and here are my thoughts...

Too many casual flyers take flying as a right and do not seem to understand that it is a business. We are not flying on a government airline, we are flying on a socially based business.

We need to all act like civilized people and realize that we need to be flexible to the needs of our fellow passengers.

I am a pretty big guy (6'3", 270 lbs) and I make it a point never to sit in a window seat (even though it makes it easier for me to sleep) because I know that the type of build that I am causes me to inadvertantly make the middle seat uncorfortable (my wife has told me this so many times in the past). I also try to sit in the exit row when possible for my own comfort.

Next time you fly, take a few moments every 15 minutes and ask yourself how the people around me feel. This would make our flying experiences so much enjoyable for ourselves and those around us!

Yes, while I talk a big game, I am the guy who gets frustrated all the time (my wife is embarrassed of me when we travel) for things like going in the expert lane when you are clearly not an expert, or when someone in front of me is waiting for someone to tell them to go to the next kiosk when checking in luggage even though there are 3 of them open.

I am working on that!

divemistressofthedark

Thanks, Cordray.

Absolutely my issue is people whose upper bodies shove me either into the airplane wall or out into the aisle. Usually these folks aren't "customers of size," they're athletically-built men, and I doubt it's ever occurred to any of them to buy an extra seat. One guy was kind enough to try to lean forward onto his seatback tray so as not to bend my neck in half, but I admit I've started making BIG SMILEY EYE CONTACT with smaller people and women coming down the aisle in the hopes of avoiding this problem. I also rarely sit in the exit row, even when it's available, since invariably the last customer aboard will take the exit middle seat - and he'll be huge, and I'll be squashed.

Worst case, while I was trying not to be smashed by the drink cart after Mr Middle Seat had me head and shoulders into the aisle, he fell asleep - with his arm in my lap. I had to physically pick it up and re-home it, repeatedly.

So I really appreciate people with Cordray's attitude.

And to whomever referred to "Southworst" - I'd give my eyeteeth to be flying WN tomorrow MSP-LHR, instead of the odious NW, which charges a fortune for change fees, bag check fees, etc. Hey, if you like being nickel-and-dimed to the point that the cost of your trip triples - be my guest.

Half the problem is reading 10 pages of tiny fine print on the legacies to avoid all the gotchas - unlike WN's clearly stated policies. Thanks, WN.

tjisnumbaone

Found the topic I wanted to comment on.

This guy needs to sue WN for discrimination. Originally it was models, but now it is overweight people. (That BMI comes out to be 47.4) I have no idea whether WN justs wants to be in the spotlight or they just wanna have the perfect flight. It needs to stop.

nsx

Did you miss the point that the guy wouldn't calm down? Does being overweight give you a license to misbehave if you believe that the airline provoked you?

I think it's common sense that people should comply with the flight attendants and ops agents, and debate the issue later in a complaint letter. Holding all passengers to that standard is not discrimination. Giving certain types of passengers license to disrupt flights would be discrimination against everyone else.

I don't believe that Southwest has lost any of the discrimination lawsuits brought by passengers, all of which appeared to me to be meretricious.

flatlined

Who would have thought that screaming and incivility wouldn't carry the day? Kudos to you, Southwest, for sticking to you guns.

tjisnumbaone

Well I would not be calm either if the airline is basically IDBing me for being overweight (although I'm about 100 lbs.). No, oberweight doesn't give you a right to misbehave.

Yes, I agree that they need to follow what crew members are saying. My point was that WN is IDBing all of these people for no reason. Looking back to what the OP said, the agent that questioned him was, IMO, rude and did not give the guy a chance. If he did on the MDW-LAS flight, he should on the LAS-MDW flight. WN is IDBing these people for no reason, just because they want to make their flight the best it can be. That apparently means loosing all of the good looking models and all overweight people.

Any word if this guy is has sued WN?

curbcrusher

Is there an open bar in the vicinity of this thread?

FCfree

If it is the case (and I don't know this, I wasn't there) that he flew outbound because the plane was not booked full, and he got an open middle, thus able to fit in the two seats, it might have been a good idea to give him a sheet a paper telling him about the COS policy. It is possible that he did not know the COS policy, and having gone out with SWA, he figured he should be able to get back home.

However, that does not justify him getting loud with the gate agents. At some point, he either has to calm down or not fly. Alternatively, if he can calm down, put him on the last flight of the day when there is extra space.

I agree with nsx above, that there are probably a lot of compliments about the COS policy that we never hear about.

How would an infrequent flier (if he really is one) know the COS policy? We know about it here on this board, but did he? In the video, I see him sitting in a white plastic lawn chair. How does that seat's width compare to an airplane seat?

Having not been there, I wonder when he started shouting?

Was he able to squeeze into a United seat? Although UA supposedly has the same width and pitch, they always seem more cramped to me. Or, did he fly in E+ or F?

nsx

If I recall correctly, Southwest receives about 10 times as many complaints from people who didn't get full use of the seat they paid for than from people who didn't get to use part of someone else's seat.

Yankeeflyer

He should sue only if he wants to lose. Discrimination per se is not illegal. Companies discriminate against people all of the time. Smokers for example. Keeping someone too big for a seat off the plane IS discrimination. But it's not illegal, it's just common sense.