Southwest orders heavy teen to buy extra ticket, apologizes

[The Straight Story]

Southwest orders heavy teen to buy extra ticket, apologizes


Eighteen-year-old twins Tim and Will White were so excited to take their first flight they got to Midway Airport hours ahead of takeoff on Thanksgiving Day.

But just a few minutes before boarding the plane to Minneapolis, Southwest Airlines told the beefy Tim White he was too big for just one seat and would have to buy another.

Tim White says he quickly called his aunt in St. Paul to get her credit card number for the second seat, but Southwest then told them it wouldn't sell a ticket over the phone because of the risk of fraud.

Even though the plane wasn't full, the gate agent refused to let Tim White sit next to an empty seat.

So the twins had to leave the airport and take an overnight bus to Minneapolis instead.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2943686,CST-NWS-southwest1204.article

[Missy Vixen]

1. Congratulations to Southwest Airlines

Any good PR they receive as a result of not charging for bags is erased every time they have another one of these incidents.

I have to go to a conference in NYC this July. I considered flying Southwest because I would like to fly into New York City, rather than taking the train from New Jersey. Somehow, I'm thinking there will be problems even with buying two seats, and I'm not interested.

[xfundy]

2. The fast—er, American "food" industry

... should set up a fund to help those who've bought their fat-and-sugar laden "foods" who find themselves in this situation.

(No insult intended to anyone. I used to be obese myself.)

[MurrayDelph]

3. I used to travel a lot for a job I had last century

it took only two flights for me to decide I didn't want to fly Southwest ever again.

Not because of the weight thing; they didn't have that particular scam at the time. It was their cattle-car mentality, combined with an experience that made me feel they were cutting corners on safety to make quicker turnarounds.