Southwest Airlines Community

While I agree that obese people, who cannot contain themselves to one seat, should pay for another, it seems that Mr. Smith was not of this category. He was able to sit comfortably in his seat, buckle his belt, and lower his arm rests without issue. Ignoring the relevant facts, SWA decided to eject Mr. Smith. Since SWA has a catch-all clause that allows them to pick and choose when to administer their regulations, it would have been more prudent for SWA to prevent Mr. Smith from boarding that flight in the first place. Furthermore, they should have disclosed to Mr. Smith that he would need to purchase two seats for the Stand-by should he wish to change his flight times. That would have allowed Mr. Smith to make a better judgement and use of his time and money. I find it dubious that Mr. Smith was too fat to fly on this particular day. As you stated, he has flown with SWA many times and has "been known" to purchase two tickets. So, I wonder if Mr. Smith has always purchased two tickets and is this the first "single seat" incident? If not, then has Mr. Smith ever flown on SWA whilst paying for and riding in just one seat? If so, then why was he not ejected then - why now? Mr. Smith has always maintained a thick stature, so stating he was fit enough then would just be a lie. Generally, I do not disagree with your Customers of Size Policy. However, I disagree completely with the way you pick and choose how to enforce it. I disagree completely with the handling of this situation and the arrogance of your tone. Furthermore, I find it appalling that SWA stalked Mr. Smith's websites for bad reviews in order to thwart bad publicity. If Mr. Smith was a "regular Joe", then SWA wouldn't have called him at home or profusely apologized. SWA would have carried on like any other airline. They would have kept the money regardless of customer satisfaction, regardless of delivering the item as advertised, and regardless of quality of service. I have flown with you and will never do so again. This not because of Mr. Smith's incident, but his experience does reinforce my perspective. Rather, I will not fly with you because of your poor customer service and you inability to host direct , non-stop flights. Thank you, Teresa Comerford ... View more