this weekend actor/director kevin smith's flight from oakland to burbank hit turbulence. while booked on a late flight, smith wanted to see if he could get on an earlier one as a stand-by. sure enough a seat opened and he boarded and sat in his newly assigned seat, buckled up (without an extender) and was ready for his flight when according to smith: "a southwest attendant named suzanne told me captain leysath deemed me a 'safety risk." he was then escorted off. when he got off the plane he got right on twitter. (http://twitter.com/thatkevinsmith)
southwest airlines was inundated with people commenting on the situation prompting southwest to responded with the following blog (http://www.blogsouthwest.com/not-so-silent-bob.html?q=blog/not-so-silent-bob) where they stated: "our pilots are responsible for the safety and comfort of all customers on the aircraft and therefore, made the determination that mr. smith needed more than one seat to complete his flight. our employees explained why the decision was made, accommodated mr. smith on a later flight, and issued him a $100 southwest travel voucher for his inconvenience." southwest policy requires passengers whose girth makes them unable to fit into a seat with the armrests down, or whose bodies spill over into adjacent seats, to buy a second ticket. (for the record, smith said both the arm rests went down and the women on either side of him had no problem with him spilling over. additionally he said that he sat in just one seat, with no personal or airline problems on the flight he eventually flew back on).
today, smith threw down a challenge to southwest: “you bring that same row of seats to the daily show, and i’ll sit in ‘em for all to see on tv.” he said if he doesn’t fit, he’ll donate $10,000 to charity, but if he is able to get into the seats, he wants southwest to at “least re-train your staff to be a lot more human & a lot less corporate when they pull a poor girl off the plane & shame her.” southwest has rejected the challenge saying: “we most likely will be declining that request...obviously, whether or not he can fit into the seats is a matter of interpretation.”
my point, and i do have one...is that this has become a pr nightmare for southwest. they clearly didn't handle a situation with a high profile/social media savvy return customer well, and whether they are right or wrong, they the ones in the "thick" of it now. what is your point?
I take about 100 flights per year so I am qualified to comment....I agree with the airline. It is not whether he can squeeze his ass into the seat. The issue is that his body will actually go beyond the arm rests and into the passengers sitting next to him. I do not need to FEEL the guy sitting next to me for 5 hours. Solution = 2 rows of extra wide seats that come at a premium.
ReplyDeleteI don’t fly that often but when I do I guarantee that if there is a fat person booked on the flight they will be sitting next to me. The last flight I was on I did 14 hours next to a 6’5” guy that had to weigh over 300lbs. Now he was not fat, just a big guy. Regardless, I did not appreciate this guy getting a piece of the seat I paid for! Worse was waking up with his sweaty arm on my lap. I totally agree with the airline on the passenger comfort point. The other side of the argument is safety. Now maybe Kevin Smith is not a huge fat man but huge fat people do fly. How are they supposed to fit out that tiny airplane emergency exit? Again I have to agree with decision to take him off the flight because I would probably be the guy stuck behind as the plane goes floating down the Hudson.
ReplyDeletedreamhome, while i like your idea of the extra wide seats, what would stop the average passenger from purchasing those seats? should it be like with handicapped seating? anyone can sit there until a heavy person needs them? and if so, does that mean that we would now be treating the heavier set passenger like a person with a handicap?
ReplyDeleteon a side note, let me throw out the following...taking the question of safety out, where should the "comfort" line be drawn for passengers? body odor? breast feeding? crying baby? the kicking of your seat by the kid (or i suppose a little person) behind you? i realize this isn't comparing apples to apples, but again, removing safety as an issue, what should be deemed as something that may affect a passengers comfort?
an update on the smith vs. swa situation, from kevin smith:
ReplyDeletehttp://silentbobspeaks.com/?p=393
i hate to sound cruel, but he should really loose weight. i'm sorry, but americans are just too fat and its not healthy. its not ok to be so large that you spill over into other people's seats - especially when that person is me!
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want the inconvenience of coach (be it sweaty folks, "individuals of size"), be more strategic in your flight/airline choices (if you can) and fly business class whenever possible. I'm not sure why Kevin is choosing to fly Southwest (which does not offer business class) unless Southwest was the only carrier with the most direct route. Still, with his means...
ReplyDeleteMany airlines, such as Airtran, make it very easy and affordable to get business class upgrades via participation in branded credit cards, day of travel upgrades, etc.
Regardless, given that Southwest only offers one class of seating, they better find a better way to handle the bad PR that continues to resurface about folks who need more room.
Ultimately, we get what we demand. Americans have learned to treat flying like a public transit commodity, demanding dirt cheap prices, and so get the inconvenience of getting packed in like cattle. It wasn't like this 40 years ago, for sure, when air travel was a luxury.
i agree with billy. i think it's more of an issue of comfort. but since most airlines can't say that without sounding like an ass, they say it's about safety. most discount airplanes flying today were made in late 70's and 80's and even then, the airlines would try to squeeze in as many seats as they can. Kevin Smith should 1. lose weight. If you normally have to buy two seats on an airplane, you're too damn big. or 2. buy first class ticket or take a private plane. You're a hollywood director, man. Why are you flying commercial economy?
ReplyDelete