A weight loss blogger from New York City and her mother received an apology and $200 vouchers from Southwest Airlines after being told they were “too big to fly,” but not before they were singled out and humiliated by an employee in the terminal.
Kenlie Tiggeman, a once 400-pound political strategist who has been blogging about her weight loss journey – she’s lost 120 pounds so far — wrote on her bog “All the Weigh” that she can sit in any seat on the plane with the armrests down and can use the seat tray table comfortably.
Still, Tiggeman explained on her bog the Southwest employee told her and her mother that they were too heavy to board the flight – even though it was a return trip and they had not been stopped and told their weight was at issue on the way there.
When Tiggeman asked the employee what the weight restrictions were, he could’t give a specific answer and merely explained she and her mother were “too big to fly without an additional ticket,” she wrote on her bog.
“I know that I have a lot of weight to lose but I am definitely not too fat to fly,” Tiggeman wrote. “I do it all the time, domestically and internationally, and I have never had anyone approach me and particularly in the way they did.”
Ultimately, Tiggeman and her mother were permitted to board the plane. Southwest workers offered them $200 credits each to use on a future flight and Cokes to quench their thirst.
Tiggeman told them to keep the soda.
“Look Southwest Airlines … I don’t drink sodas – diet or otherwise. And by the way, I’ve lost over 114 pounds, which helps me fit into your stupid airplane seats, so no thanks,” she wrote on her bog.
(Source: NBC New York)
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4 Responses
Shame on them or rather the employee for his bigotry. He should get a suspension for it. At the least it would give him time at home to think about the humiliation he caused another person and while he is home sweating out his own humiliation. Maybe he will lose a pound or two.
Airline seats are made for midgets. They are not comfortable for most people and there is no leg room either. B”H I am glad I am short so I have someplace to put my legs when I fly, but, seats should be wider and there should be more leg room. I know it all boils down to money. The more people that can be crammed into a plane, the more money the airline makes. I am glad they don’t yet weigh people before boarding like they do luggage.
I once saw flight attendants offer someone a seat belt extender, it was done quietly and politely and neither party seemed embarrassed.
It is shocking that this was done so publicly. At least Southwest tried to make up for their mistake.
There is a genuine problem here, folks. Airplane flight is expensive, and airlines, historically, are money-losing businesses. So they pack us in and get more revenue per flight than if they gave us wide, comfortable seats. And for those of us willing to pay for our comfort, airlines will gladly sell us a first-class seat, with more leg and hip room.
This article does not reveal how or why the airline employee determined that this particular passenger was “too big too fly,” or what he/she said that was inappropriate, but some of us are too big to fly, and we should realize that perhaps we need to pay for the extra space we take up, and the extra fuel the airline needs to get us airborne.