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Um, I'd be livid. I don't care if the woman was flying standby, she paid for her seat. The teenager paid for one seat. Whoever purchased the ticket for the teenager should have purchased two seats if that's what it takes for her to fit onto a plane. I think the airlines really need to start cracking down on people fitting in the actual seats. If you can't fit, then you must purchase 2 seats or risk being kicked off the plane. It's really sad that a 14 year old is so large to need 2 seats.
We're all lucky that jet engines generate enough thrust that weight is not an issue, only space. On prop planes weight is a big factor and too many heavy passangers and the plane can't legally fly until they can do a weight and balance that gets under the max takeoff weight.
I think the fat teen should have had to pay for two seats or else take the next flight.
Jesus Christ, now we have 14 year olds that take up two plane seats? heck, I'm not a small person, but I can still fit into a single seat! feel bad for the lady (sucks being bumped off a flight you paid for), feel worse for the next generation of the human race
Did the teen pay for two seats? What would have happened if instead of the teen paying for two seats, it was two normal sized persons who paid for [those] two seats? Normal procedure may still have bumped the lady. If the teen paid for the two seats as the two hypothetical people could have then maybe bumping the lady was appropriate.
Nowhere in the article did it indicate that the teen paid for two seats. In fact, since the woman was able to board, I assume their computer showed that the number of seats available exceeded the number of paying customers.
Ok, I found this link. It appears that the 14 year old did not pay for an extra seat and they didn't want to embarrass her so they just removed the paying woman.
typically when I fly, it's to visit family, so I'm rarely in a huge rush. if I had been in this situation and the flight attendants had just asked for a volunteer to give up their seat, I personally would have. this likely wouldn't have been such a big deal if the flight attendant had asked for a volunteer to give up their seat. I understand not wanting to embarrass a 14yo, but now the fact that this is a major, international story seems more embarrassing to all involved.
I agree. I find it funny that they are willing to embarrass obese adult passengers, since I've heard announcements made in the past looking for volunteers. Why is it any different for a teenager? And it's not like she was flying as an unaccompanied minor...the age for that on SW is 5-11, so she's just like any other person on the plane. Basically, if a child aged 5-11 has someone on the flight with them that is 12 or older, they are not considered unaccompanied, since SW considers the 12 year old capable of flying alone. What's more disturbing, those aged 12-21 are eligible for the youth fare. So that means that she paid far less than any other passenger on board and got 2 seats out of that deal.
My Guess is the 14yo (Parents CC) was billed for the extra seat. SW charges the 'same' fare he paid for the 1st seat for the 2nd seat (even if they do it at the gate). The woman that was bumped was standby. Since he didn't book the 'extra' seat in advance the computer said there was 1 open seat. Thats why they let her on as standby. But she WAS Standby that mean book'ed people (and any extra seats they need come 1st). If she had book a seat inadvance they would have looked for a volunteer to get off to make a seat open. Or bumped (someone based on there bumping rules) off the plane.
SWA probably gave into the obese teen because of the huge flak they received when they booted fatty director Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame) this Feb, and he instantly tweeted his rants to the entire world. In his case it was a full flight and no extra stand-by seats were available so he had to take the next flight with an empty seat. I think SWA's official policy is to charge for the double seat, but given all the negative attention I'm not sure if they've enforced it since the Feb incident.
I agree. I find it funny that they are willing to embarrass obese adult passengers, since I've heard announcements made in the past looking for volunteers. Why is it any different for a teenager? And it's not like she was flying as an unaccompanied minor...the age for that on SW is 5-11, so she's just like any other person on the plane. Basically, if a child aged 5-11 has someone on the flight with them that is 12 or older, they are not considered unaccompanied, since SW considers the 12 year old capable of flying alone. What's more disturbing, those aged 12-21 are eligible for the youth fare. So that means that she paid far less than any other passenger on board and got 2 seats out of that deal.
The airline was just covering their butt here. If anything had happened to that 14 year old minor, you can bet they would have been sued, and lost. Simple business decision. It wasn't fair to the person that was bumped, but it was the right business decision. IMHO.
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