02-16-2010
12:03 PM
1 Love
I still don't understand how Kevin Smith had been able to repeatedly reserve the adjacent seat for his own use prior to this episode. My understanding is that the only people allowed that privilege are "Customers of Size" (who only have to pay for the extra seat if the plane is completely sold out).
My impression is that Mr. Smith was abusing this customer friendly policy by saying that he needed the extra seat due to his size (when he clearly now appears to have had a change of heart). When his deception became inconvenient (he wanted to make a last minute change to fly on a fully booked flight with only one seat available) he decided that he was no longer a "Customer of Size." If I were a Southwest employee trying to get a flight out on time, I would be understandably confused.
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02-15-2010
06:11 PM
The way I see it, this guy has been flying all over the place on Southwest, taking advantage of the "Customer of Size" policy to purchase two seats together to give himself extra room (regular passengers are not normally afforded this opportunity).
Then, when he gets into a situation wherein he suddenly decides he wants to change flights and there is only one seat left, he suddenly does a flip flop and says "hey, I'm not a big person after all!"
So, the real question is: when was he lying:
1) During all the previous flights when he was using the customer of size policy to purchase the adjacent seat; or
2) During his last flight, when he flip flops--- then goes all nuclear on Southwest when they get caught off balance by his flip flop (and evidently instantaneous shrinkage into a much smaller form).
Southwest has a sensible policy which fairly balances the needs of all passengers. If anything they've been to polite in enduring this guy's abuse and attempt to use this issue as a way to increase his popularity.
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Obviously, safety is very important... but the more a read the details on this incident, it sounds like a hyper-technical rules violation rather than anything which compromised safety.
The fact that Rep. Oberstar is so out front and center on this thing, leading the charge against Southwest, made the cynic in me suspect that something more was afoot. As a result, I pulled a list of Rep. Oberstar's largest financial backers. Guess what: Northwest Airlines and American Airlines rank as some of his biggest financial contributors, whereas Southwest is nowhere to be seen.
I certainly hope that the FAA isn't becoming politicized.
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