Southwest Airlines deems two perspective passangers too fat to fly

Do you think the airline was justified to deny them board?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386301/Mother-daughter-told-theyre-fat-fly-Southwest-airlines-flight.html

The Daily Mail reports that two larger women,
Kenlie Tiggeman and her mother Joan Charpentier, were not permitted to
board their Southwest flight recently, despite Tiggeman losing more
than 100 pounds and no explicit reason for the decision.

"I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't
know, just that we were too heavy to fly. Too fat to fly," Miss
Tiggeman told WDSU News.

One of the Southwest employees
involved apologized for "the manner in which" he addressed the issue,
but they were not able to board their flight.

Southwest did, however, offer them vouchers and free credit, which Tiggeman used to
visit fitness guru Richard Simmons, who welcomed her with open arms.

This is a touchy subject & I have sympathy for both sides. But there are a couple of things that kinda stand out in this story for me. She said she's "definitely not too fat to fly", that she does it "all the time, domestically and internationally", then why did she even ask about weight restrictions? And she wasn't actually denied the opportunity to fly. They offered her a seat in a row with another overweight woman which she refused.

IF the employee had the conversation in front of everyone, that was inappropriate but doesn't mean she was discriminated against. It should have been dealt with more privately. The purchase of a second seat is just necessary for some people. I understand passengers not wanting someone basically in their lap for hours.

She wrote on her blog that she wanted to visit Richard Simmons' Beverly Hills weight loss studio & now he's asked he to work out with him. I hate being so cynical but I have to wonder if there were ulterior motives here. Is she trying to encourage the airlines to be more sensitive or trying to hit the start button on her 15 minutes?

"I asked him what the weight restrictions were and he said that he didn't
know"

...end of discussion.

I am guessing the rest of this story is that because of their size, they would have needed two seats, but two additional were not available.

RedBedroom wrote:I am guessing the rest of this story is that because of their size, they would have needed two seats, but two additional were not available.

An offer was made but refused.

The unidentified Southwest employee then told the ladies they could board the flight...if they sat with a third overweight woman in a row.


Tiggeman's mother told MSNBC: "Of course my daughter was okay with that. But I wasn't because the deal I made with Southwest when I left, I bought a ticket and it's open seating, and you can sit wherever you want."


http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/05/12/kenlie-tiggeman-too-fat-to-fly-on-southwest/

CeCe, thanks for adding that. Since they had an offered seat, I really don't understand why this is even news.