Airline ejects director Kevin Smith for being 'too fat'

[Dave Noble]

Kevin Smith admits he is "way fat" but says that shouldn't stop him from flying.

The director and actor says a pilot ejected him from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, California, saying he didn't fit properly in a single seat.

Southwest airlines ejects director Kevin Smith for being 'too fat'

 

[JohnK]

Wow! A $100 voucher as compensation? The airline has just about admitted it has made a mistake and is trying to shut him up. I hope he takes them to the cleaners.

This policy has clearly gotten to the stage where it is a total joke. Start treating people like human beings....

 

[anat0l]

Wow! A $100 voucher as compensation? The airline has just about admitted it has made a mistake and is trying to shut him up. I hope he takes them to the cleaners.

This policy has clearly gotten to the stage where it is a total joke. Start treating people like human beings....

So if he can't fit in a seat and there are no more seats on the flight to arrange a double seat for him, what should the airline do?

There isn't an option in the booking process to specify that you are so fat that you might or will need two seats, so until such time (if there will be such a time) that airlines reconfigure seats so that they will accommodate a wider (no pun intended) range of people of various girths and spread, what are airlines supposed to do when a plane is full and you can't fit into a seat?

It's not a discrimination against fat people as much as it is a simple physics matter just like trying to squeeze a large peg into a hole which is too small.

I guess the other option would be to bump another passenger off the flight so he can have two seats to sit in.

The airline handled the matter pretty sloppily, but that was pretty much the only mistake they really made (unless they refused to rebook him on another flight at no cost).


EDIT: Seems like he could've actually fit in a seat with the arm rests down (albeit perhaps after breathing in first and with some 'spillage'). So Southwest are pretty dumb. :shock:

 

[chrisb]

As usual, I don't think this is an issue about the policy but it's implementation.

The airlines need to come up with a standard and enforce it uniformly BEFORE boarding and in a discrete way.

Having listened to Kevin's version his issue is not only with his own treatment but the treatment of another passenger on the flight he ended up taking who was hassled for no apparent reason. Also, he claims that he does fit in the seat, with the armrests down, and does not require a seatbelt extension so the ejection from the flight was not within their guidelines.

Looking at this another way, how about redesigning the seats so the armrests are slightly wider and have a barrier that extends higher between the passengers? Removing the overspill will help to better define the issue.

 

[samh004]

Unfortunately for SouthWest, in this case the guy could fit, and they kicked him off because they obviously didn’t think he could fit. I too hope he takes them to the cleaners.

 

[chrisb]

I too hope he takes them to the cleaners.

He doesn't strike me as the sort who will do that - but hopefully he makes enough noise that the industry notices.

He offered to meet up with SouthWest and a set of 3 standard seats on the Daily Show - With a $10k charity bet that he would fit and belt up.

 

[JohnK]

So if he can't fit in a seat and there are no more seats on the flight to arrange a double seat for him, what should the airline do?

Not make stupid mistakes! As your "EDIT" points out Kevin Smith claims he can fit into the seat with the armrests down and not require a seat belt extender.

The airline handled the matter pretty sloppily, but that was pretty much the only mistake they really made (unless they refused to rebook him on another flight at no cost).

EDIT: Seems like he could've actually fit in a seat with the arm rests down (albeit perhaps after breathing in first and with some 'spillage'). So Southwest are pretty dumb. :shock:

The airline made a huge mistake and happen to pick on the wrong person.

So I think my original statement stands.

And by the way I do agree with most people that if know you cannot fit into a single seat comfortably pay for 2 seats up front or risk it that the flight is not full and you may get away with it. If the flight is full then don't be disappointed if asked to disembark.

 

[anat0l]

Not make stupid mistakes! As your "EDIT" points out Kevin Smith claims he can fit into the seat with the armrests down and not require a seat belt extender.

There is no claim - he was already sat in the seat when he was approached. So the airline did make a stupid mistake sending him off.

I did however get this information after I posted..... In any case, I think we will continue to find that it is beyond any airline to not make stupid mistakes. Just pray that they will not make too many of them, at the most inconvenient times, and especially to someone who has fame and/or connections....

So I think my original statement stands.

And by the way I do agree with most people that if know you cannot fit into a single seat comfortably pay for 2 seats up front or risk it that the flight is not full and you may get away with it. If the flight is full then don't be disappointed if asked to disembark.

To some degree, although I did get what I wanted out of you, which is a concession that pax who cannot properly sit in one seat on an aircraft who do not purchase two seats in advance cannot expect that they will be able to fly on that flight.

I've seen many a big person who can fit in one seat so in as so far I have yet to witness a COS being ordered off in such fashion.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I can't understand why SW would make him disembark if he could fit in the one seat with both arm rests down, particularly seeing as though he didn't even need the extension seat belt!

Even if the flight was overweight then they should be taking off freight before pax but I suppose it depends what the particular airline's policy is. In any case issues like that should be sorted out not only prior to boarding commences but prior to checking in all the pax. To single him out like that is blatant discrimination.

There are many cases when extra seats (EXST) are booked eg when taking service dogs so the dog has more room to move, a musician taking their prized cello onboard, a pax on crutches who wanted the extra space and larger folks who need extra space for personal comfort. This must be booked thru res as no facility as yet to book online.

I think QF & DJ are pretty good trying to accommodate requests for a seat to be blocked off if there are seats available. I wouldn't fancy my chances if travelling on JQ or TT. If pax find themselves in a situation like this it would be a good idea to select flights at off-peak times for the best chance of getting a spare seat.

I remember ages ago helping a friend of my Mum's do a booking on Ansett for an extra seat as she'd just had a skin graft on her leg and could not bend it. The seat in front of pax was folded down to allow her to have her leg straight.

AN issued a ticket under the name "leg support" for an amount of a child fare (50% of full Y adult fare) which was the best one way fare you could purchase at the time - this was prior to 1989 (deregulation and end of the two airline agreement). The ticket was only to be utilised if the flight was full - it wasn't so the airfare was duly refunded.

Here's what US comedian Lavelle Crawford has to say about on the subject at airports (first 90 seconds of the clip):

YouTube - Lavelle Crawford - Being Fat

And another one about Southwest Airlines' policy (starts 1 minute into clip & runs for 4 mins):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N4dl1faW8U


Cheers Oz

 

[Justinf]

I read that the aircraft was not full and that accommodations could easily have been made for the passenger. If that's the case, then I don't blame him for being pissed off.