If your large don't fly SWA

Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

I watched this episode and I didn't see anything wrong with what SWA did. What they did was told a large person to buy another seat, they told her that if the flight was not full they would refund her second seat. She also at first wanted her money back and well, southwest did. But they credited her father's credit card, not give her back cash. I do not any stores giving actual money back, gift cards are now the thing (at least at target). But in the end she did fly and I totally agree with the airline. Hopefully soon, I will be flying Be 1900, and I can not see flying her and her "lunch buddies" around /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

Why does Southwest want to show the whole world that they have very unhappy customers and the employees can't do anything about it?
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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If an airline like SWA began letting "larger" folks squeeze into one seat to the chagrin of other paying passengers, they're going to lose far more business than if you require a few large people to pay for an extra seat.

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Who said anything about letting them inconvenience any other passengers? Or giving them another seat that SWA could have sold?

More than once I said "Stand by for an open seat or pay for a guaranteed seat". In this case standby would mean sitting at the gate until closing time when all the other priority standby's were processed and if there were 2 or more open seats side by side letting the large lady sit in them, if there were not, she’d have to wait for the next plane. How could SWA possibly loose money or inconvenience another customer?
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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American w/ Disabilities Act??? Give me a break! If that's the case, then according to recent studies and news reports, most of America is disabled.

Is she disabled because she needs two seats? NO. If she can walk to the airport, walk to her gate, walk onto a plane, all on her own she does not seem disabled. One is not disabled simply because they are large.

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Hey Trail lawyers have one millions on a lot less. If she has a doctor’s note stating she has a debilitating form of obesity or something like that....

On a serious note, I really thought there was some ADA regulation on “large seating” I know several local theatres installed large seats for “large people” but I can’t find it now….


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Why does Southwest want to show the whole world that they have very unhappy customers and the employees can't do anything about it?

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One of my original questions, that show paints them in a very bad light. Even if the don't deserve it.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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ADA violation

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American w/ Disabilities Act??? Give me a break! If that's the case, then according to recent studies and news reports, most of America is disabled.

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Don't think that SWA's execs didn't factor that in when coming up with this hair-brained but revenue-generating policy. I mean, if you can get away with charging someone twice the fare, why wouldn't you? They do it to business travelers all the time!

I don't subscribe to the notion that you're buying a certain amount of "space" on an aircraft, either; I believe passengers are contracting for carriage--that is, transport of a person--from Point A to Point B.

Make no mistake, this "fat policy" is just a way to gouge customers.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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Make no mistake, this "fat policy" is just a way to gouge customers

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I disagree 100%. The second ticket is refunded providing a second seat ends up being available all they are doing is insuring that other customers don’t have to share their space with the person next to them. To me that is about as generous as they can be without giving a seat away. This whole issue only matters if the flight is full and the large person is occupying a second seat that another paying customer could (and would) have sat in.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

On another Airline episode, a lady complained to Nicholas(I think) about a person taking up too much room and she got travel vouchers.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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I don't subscribe to the notion that you're buying a certain amount of "space" on an aircraft, either; I believe passengers are contracting for carriage--that is, transport of a person--from Point A to Point B.

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A large (hehe) difference between coach/business/first class is the amount of space one rents.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

Damn. I'm gone for a couple of hours and a two year old arguement erupts. Guess what? SWA is NOT the only airline with this policy. They just happen to be the only one that enforces it. Kudos to them for not holding back when the cameras were rolling. When SWA started enforcing this policy way back in 2002, there were TONS of threatened lawsuits, people saying they'll never fly the airline again, and screaming passengers. The official policy is if the armrests come down, then they only need to pay for one seat. If not, they need to purchase a second seat at a child fare. If the flight does not sell out, they will be refunded the second seat. It's not an ADA violation since the FAA regs overrule those.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

It's already uncomfortable enough to have to sit in one place for a couple of hours. Add a fat person next to you who is spilling over into your seat and you've just made the flight even more miserable. My cousin experienced this on a full flight this past winter. He has a pretty short temper and isn't afraid to say anything to anyone (read: he is rude.) I guess the oversized man next to him was invading my cousin's seat with his rolls and eventually he couldn't take it any more. He paged the FA and asked her if she could help the man squeeze himself into his own seat, of course there was nothing she could do and tried to calm him down. Long story short he ended up telling the poor guy that he was a "fat fck" and that he should have been loaded into the baggage compartment. Please know that I don't condone this and I think that my cousin is a real jackass....I can't imagine how that man felt after my cousin made such a scene about his weight. However, this does show exactly why airlines should and do have these policies. The same should go for sporting events and other such places where you pay for a seat...if you need two seats you should have to buy two.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

It sounds fair to pay for a second seat at a child fare.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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It sounds fair to pay for a second seat at a child fare.

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Agreed
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

ok, i know not everyone on here has a skinny butt, so lets be honest. A typical coach seat is around 17" wide. To put that in perspective, my keyboard is 18" wide. I can think of like 3 people off the top of my head who would probably fit comfortably into that small of a width. so with that, the rest of us spill over somewhat.

with that, i feel southwest's policy as outlined by Kellwolf is fair, however, making a scene about it in a public place is not (i realize the woman made the scene not southwest but i'm talking in general) I feel like if southwest can be discrete and polite and compassionate when dealing with this situation it would go a long way rather than being rude and obnoxious about it (again, didn't see the show, just commenting in general) but that goes without saying in all aspects of customer service.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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It sounds fair to pay for a second seat at a child fare

[/ QUOTE ] Maybe I just haven't travelled enough, but who gives a childs fare? I have had to pay the same price for my son's ticket as I paid for mine every time we have bought him a seat.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

Nice avatar Emily!!! (wipes drool off keyboard) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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Guess what? SWA is NOT the only airline with this policy. They just happen to be the only one that enforces it. Kudos to them for not holding back when the cameras were rolling.

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Amen to that!

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Long story short he ended up telling the poor guy that he was a "fat •" and that he should have been loaded into the baggage compartment....I can't imagine how that man felt after my cousin made such a scene about his weight....[this is] why airlines should and do have these policies. The same should go for sporting events and other such places where you pay for a seat...if you need two seats you should have to buy two.

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I have also been sat upon by an extremely overweight pax sitting in their seat plus half of mine. That is total BS. If I had actually paid for that seat I would have come unglued. This is why the policy is in place at SWA and other carriers. Fat people like this chick crying ADA are just looking for an excuse to get money and attention. Fatness is everyone elses problem- not theirs. (Along with every other issue in this country...) They are being discriminated against! Puh-lease. Like sitting on her ass and eating like a pig weren't her fault. A HS friend of mine was 275lbs and never flew because she knew she wouldn't fit or would have to buy two seats. How can this possibly come as a surprise to this woman???

As far as ticketing goes, if it were a full flight and she was told to buy the extra seat, they would bump and compensate another pax so she could purchase the seat.
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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I AM SMALL AND NO WAY WILL I FLY SWA

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Me thinks you read my last post wrong. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Try again...


Matthew
 
Re: If your large don\'t fly SWA

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Nothing personal but that is piss poor customer service, and exactly why all your planes would most likely be parked in the desert if you were running an airline. Again, if there are no customers, there are no planes, no pilots, not fo's, no fa's, no rampers, and no csa's.

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Southwest does this all the time. When someone complains too much, they say, you know what, go fly another airline. You aren't worth the money.

This is a smart policy if you ask me.

And I don't have a lot of sympathy for this woman. You take up two seats, then you pay for them. If you need two of a product, you need to pay for it, whether it's seats on an airplane, dishes at a restaurant, or rooms at a hotel.
 
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