"Silent Bob" versus Southwest Airlines (has NSFW language)

[IDrinkaRum]

Kevin Smith is booted from a Southewest Airlines flight because the pilot deemed him "too fat"

Mr. Smith had bought 2 seats to a later Southwest flight, but wanted to fly out earlier. Was put on standby, got a seat on an earlier flight, but there was only one seat left. Put carry-on in over head bin, sat in his seat (and was able to fit in the seat with armrests down), but pilot still booted him for being a "flight hazard".

Got on another Southwest flight with no problems. In one of his twitter accounts of the incident(s), he said he was sitting next to a fatter girl who was chastised for not buying an extra ticket to ensure she got enough room.

[Greenday]

Damnit, people keep beating me to the good stories!

I don't exactly see why he was kicked off. He fit into his seat fine. And looking at pictures of Kevin Smith, he is not huge. Not sure what the pilot was thinking.

[elsporko]

Maybe the plane was over the weight limit of what it could safely hold. Fat people need to understand that if they are going to be fat then they have to expect stuff like this to happen sometimes.

[Fryk]

Yeah, except for the fact that it totally wasn't. From what I can gather from digging around, weight wasn't even the full isue in his gettting bumped off. The pilot wanted to take off, and people were scrambling for seats. I think people kinda panicked a little and booted him off, which was really weird, because he fit in the seat, armrests completely down and seatbelt (with no extension that I could read about) was buckled. He fit. For some reason, he was the one they singled out and told he had to get off, which is even funnier because there was a woman on the flight who WAS too big to fit in the seat, the FA's chastised her for not purchasing a second one. But Smith was the one they booted off.

It all sounds like it was handled in a completel,y arbitrary manner, which is what I gather made Smith mad in the first place, and Southwest hiding behind the size ploicy that didn't really apply just made it worse.

[ladyneeva]

First off, Southwest's policy is that people who cannot lower both armrests should purchase two tickets. In the first place, he *had* purchased two tickets... he just switched flights. When he attempted to switch flights, which is something one can only do at the airport, the person at the ticket counter, the flight attendant at the entrance to the plane, or the flight attendant on the plane ALL saw him.

Not until he was already seated, WITH both armrests down, was he asked to leave. Even though other fat people on the same flight were not asked to.

Fat people need to understand that if they are going to be fat then they have to expect stuff like this to happen sometimes.

Thats a lovely sentiment. I wonder what other groups it could be applied to.

Homosexual people need to understand that if they are going to be homosexual then they have to expect stuff like (gay bashing) to happen sometimes.

Black people need to understand that if they are going to (drive nice cars) then they have to expect stuff like (getting pulled over and accused of stealing them) to happen sometimes.

Jewish people need to understand that if they are going to be Jewish then they have to expect stuff like (being subjected to antisemitic slurs) to happen sometimes.

[smileyeagle1021]

Maybe the plane was over the weight limit of what it could safely hold.

Commercial jets are not like elevators... you aren't going to run into a weight limit because of people. Modern jets have power to spare, so much so that passenger airlines sell cargo space for the holds... if anything is going to be taken off for weight it will be cargo, because cargo won't complain nearly as much about being moved to a later flight.

And considering the ratio of passenger weight to vehicle weight, saying that a passenger puts the plane over the weight limit is about as likely as a gallon of milk being what puts my car over the weight limit.

[IDrinkaRum]

Link from Customers Suck message board about this very thing

I do not think Kevin Smith is being an SC. Not at all.

He's had someone from the airline tell him he wasn't kicked off the flight because of his weight, but they refuse to do say so publicly.

As a fat person (I'm 5'3" and 282 pounds), I'll very very very seriously consider NOT flying on SWA because of this treatment.

The man could put both arm rests down. He could buckle his seatbelt without the help of a seat belt extender. Both of these things show that he was not too fat for the seat.

Who knows why he originally bought 2 seats for his original flight? Was it because he was fat or because he was sitting in one of the aisles that had only 2 seats and he didn't feel like someone sitting next to him?

All this could be avoided if airlines cared more about their customers as people and not as cattle thereby causing the seats to be smaller than the average bear so they can shove more people onto them for more money.

[ladyneeva]

I forget where I read it, but supposedly he bought two tickets because he wanted some privacy -- I would imagine that as someone famous, he would not want to deal with someone yammering his ear off the whole flight asking for autographs for their dog and the like.

Regardless why he bought two tickets, the fact remains that he DID. So even if he was "too fat to fly" he had already bought the extra ticket anyway. And that is assuming that the flight WAS booked solid... I've seen a couple articles saying that the flight was fully booked, and a couple that said there were extra seats.

[elsporko]

Thats a lovely sentiment. I wonder what other groups it could be applied to.

Homosexual people need to understand that if they are going to be homosexual then they have to expect stuff like (gay bashing) to happen sometimes.

Black people need to understand that if they are going to (drive nice cars) then they have to expect stuff like (getting pulled over and accused of stealing them) to happen sometimes.

Jewish people need to understand that if they are going to be Jewish then they have to expect stuff like (being subjected to antisemitic slurs) to happen sometimes.

I've never seen somebody break something by sitting on it because they were gay, or fail to water ski because they were black. Weight is different. If you weigh 300 pounds then you are physically different then somebody who is healthy.

All this could be avoided if airlines cared more about their customers as people and not as cattle thereby causing the seats to be smaller than the average bear so they can shove more people onto them for more money.

My understanding is that airlines are barely making money as it is. I know when fuel prices go up they often don't make money. I imagine if they had to design the seats so that huge people could fit comfortably then they would all go out of business.

[pssorens]

SouthWest Airlines if I recall correctly has a habit of kicking people off flights for debatable reasons. Didn't they kick someone off a flight for being inappropriately dressed? IMHO, they thought it was some regular dude they could push around and they made a mistake.
[/URL]http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/20638479/[/URL]

[smileyeagle1021]

If you weigh 300 pounds then you are physically different then somebody who is healthy.

slight nitpick, but weight and health are not as directly related as most people think. Lifestyle and health is, and while yes, many things that cause one to be overweight also cause one to be unhealthy, it is not necessarily always one and the same. So saying fat or healthy is a false dichotomy because the two aren't opposites (weight is weight, health is health, and sometimes in the middle shall they meet).

SouthWest Airlines if I recall correctly has a habit of kicking people off flights for debatable reasons. Didn't they kick someone off a flight for being inappropriately dressed? IMHO, they thought it was some regular dude they could push around and they made a mistake.

They also, on their own show that they produced no less, kicked someone who was already boarded off the plane to make room for soldiers who had no reservations and had just walked up to the counter.
I'm all for supporting the troops, but kicking someone off the plane to coddle a soldier who was too stupid to book in advance is NOT supporting the troops... that is supporting an asshole.

[linguist]

I forget where I read it, but supposedly he bought two tickets because he wanted some privacy -- I would imagine that as someone famous, he would not want to deal with someone yammering his ear off the whole flight asking for autographs for their dog and the like.

actually, according to his twitter feed, he'd originally bought 3 tickets--2 for himself and one for his wife. this would essentially give them a whole row to themselves. his wife was unable to make the flight, leaving him with 2 seats. you're right about the privacy; he did it because, in his own words, he's "an antisocial bastard."

If you weigh 300 pounds then you are physically different then somebody who is healthy.

there's a difference between being heavy and being unhealthy. i've seen plenty of 300-pound people who are perfectly healthy. i just watched a bunch of them on the superbowl last week.

[elsporko]

Kevin Smith and football players are not the same. Football players are able to jog short distances without getting winded for one thing. Football players have also never made Jason Mewes put on his Jay wig and make out with them.

[Nyoibo]

Kevin Smith and football players are not the same. Football players are able to jog short distances without getting winded for one thing. Football players have also never made Jason Mewes put on his Jay wig and make out with them.

I'm about the same size as Kevin Smith, I can jog easily, hell last time I tried I could still run 100m in about 16 seconds, I'm strongre and have more endurance than several slim people I know, being overweight desn't mean being unfit, but yes, it is unhealthy.

As for football players, I dunno, they get up to some freaky shit.

[ladyneeva]

It's been said by like three people, but I'll repeat -- being fat and being unhealthy are NOT the same thing.

For that matter, one can have individuals who weigh the same amounts yet have VERY different physical capabilities. You can't just look at someone and say "ok that person is fat but it's ok because they play football on weekends", "that person is fat but it's ok because they have a medical condition", "that person is fat but it's not ok because they're just a disgusting glutton".

Regardless, that has absolutely nothing to do with flying on planes. He wasn't kicked off for being unhealthy because there is absolutely no indication that Kevin Smith specifically has any particular health issue that would cause a safety issue. He was kicked off for being fat, not for being unhealthy.