We thought this issue was taken care of the last time a Las Vegas Southwest employee randomly stopped someone from flying without checking to see if they could actually sit in a seat with the arms down (per Southwest’s policy), but apparently not. Now a Chicagoland man says he was stopped from boarding a return flight home to Chicago because he was too big (6’2″ 350lbs), but he airline wouldn’t allow him to prove that he could fit in the seat.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

[The customer] says what’s most bothersome to him is that Southwest never tested whether he could actually fit in a seat with the arms down.

“That is absolutely my problem. They didn’t test me in any way,” he said.

This is, of course, the second time that we’ve heard of this happening to a Southwest customer at the Vegas airport. Reader Chip, a frequent flier with Southwest who was suddenly too fat to fly, received an apology. In that apology, Southwest cautiously admitted that Chip should have been allowed to demonstrate that he could fit in the seat before being denied boarding.

From Chip’s apology:

However, once your situation escalated to a Supervisor and you explained again that you’ve traveled many, many times without being approached, our Employees should have reevaluated the situation.

I assure you that the appropriate Leaders have been made aware of your concerns. Although we will be unable to share any specifics with you, we are confident our Leaders will address the situation appropriately.

Southwest said the Chicago flyer was ultimately denied boarding because he was angry about being denied boarding and that other passengers were uncomfortable flying with him.

They also said that allowing him to fly from Chicago to Las Vegas in the first place was “a mistake.” Surely Southwest can find a more consistent and less newsworthy way to enforce this policy?

Man Says Airline Grounded Him For His Girth [CBS2] (Thanks, Andrew!)
(Photo:Bob Reck)

PREVIOUSLY: Southwest Apologizes To The Frequent Flyer Who Was Suddenly Too Big To Fly

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