MSNBC: Petite woman bumped from plane for hefty passenger

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/384141...y-todaytravel/

Petite woman bumped from plane for hefty passenger

5-foot-4 woman lost her seat so that late-arriving passenger could have two

by Michael Inbar
TODAYshow.com contributor
updated 7/26/2010 12:50:49 PM ET

It’s irritating enough to get bumped from a flight. If you are already
seated on that flight, having to walk off the plane adds a little
indignity.

But to be told to leave a plane because a too-large passenger needs two
seats? It turned into a seeing-red, head-scratching moment for one frequent
flyer.

A female sales rep (who requested anonymity in interviews) revealed her
strange tale to the Sacramento Bee, relating how she was asked to vacate
her seat aboard a Southwest Airlines flight shortly before the plane was
set to leave Las Vegas for Sacramento last week.

The woman, a petite 5-foot-4, 110 pounds, said she was flying standby when
agents sold her the last seat available on the plane. She had already
stowed her bags and was settling into her seat when an attendant told her
she had to leave immediately.

When she was told her seat was needed because a late-arriving passenger’s
girth was too wide for just one, she had some questions.

“It didn’t seem right that I should leave to accommodate someone who had
only paid for one seat,” the woman told the Sacramento Bee. But she was
even more upset because, she said, airline staff acted rudely and
inconsiderately when she asked for a further explanation.

Southwest regrets how the situation was handled, according to airline
spokeswoman Marilee McInnis. “We know that this was awkward and we should
have handled it better,” she told the Sacramento Bee.

While saying the airline plans to apologize to the bumped passenger,
McInnis said Southwest staff may have acted more swiftly than usual in
booting her because the overweight passenger in question was only 14 and
they were trying to spare the teen embarrassment.

Southwest Airlines has been kicking up controversy about weighty issues
lately — earlier this year, renowned “Clerks" director/actor Kevin Smith
was bumped from a Southwest flight because he was too big to fit into one
seat.