"Although I’m not here to debate the decision our Employees made..."
Why not? That's clearly the crux of the whole problem: poor judgment calls from multiple employees, who obviously need more training in both sensitivity and perception. Why not own up to a bad policy instead of repeatedly blaming the rule book?
"Southwest, like most carriers, has a policy to assist passengers who need two seats onboard an aircraft."
Fine. So why not enforce the policy for customers who actually NEED two seats, rather than customers who merely MIGHT need two seats? As Smith has repeatedly explained, his armrests could easily be lowered, and he could buckle his seat belt without an extender. Even the passengers on either side of him said they were not bothered by his size, according to Smith's account.
You stupidly claim that your goal was to get the plane off the ground and into the air as quickly as possible. Does it not take MORE time to force a passenger who is already seated and buckled, with his bag stowed, to get OFF the plane instead of simply taking off? To say nothing of the humiliation and embarrassment it clearly caused?
I am disappointed by Southwest's handling of this situation. The fact that Smith reported the problem happening again on his second flight to a female passenger just cements Southwest's reputation as the "We Hate Fatties" airline. Despite having flown Southwest dozens of times over the years without incident, they have lost my business forever.
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