“If you’re fat, you know the anxiety of flying and this alleviates it a lot,” Caroline, a travel influencer who said she is a size 20, told her nearly 200,000 followers in a video posted at the end of October.
“I had a very comfortable flight just feeling like I was allowed to take up the space I needed.”
Under the Texas-based airline’s policy, customers whose bodies “encroach” past the armrest are entitled to an extra seat at no additional cost.
It says that passengers “have the option of purchasing just one seat and then discussing your seating needs with the Customer Service Agent at the departure gate.
“If it’s determined that a second (or third) seat is needed you’ll be accommodated with a complimentary additional seat,” the policy states.
The flight team will then look at the seating arrangements — which are not predetermined on Southwest flights — and would potentially move other passengers around for the “unplanned accommodation.”
Southwest, though, suggests customers purchase the extra seats in advance and then contact the airline “for a refund of the cost of additional seating after travel.
“Customers who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat(s) may proactively purchase the needed number of seats prior to travel to ensure the additional seat(s) is available,” the policy says.
“The purchase of additional seats serves as a notification of a special seating need and allows us to adequately plan for the number of occupied seats on board. It also helps us ensure we can accommodate all customers on the flight for which they purchased a ticket and avoid asking customers to relinquish their seats for unplanned accommodation.
“Most importantly, it ensures that all our customers on board have access to safe and comfortable seating,” it continues.
“You may contact us for a refund of the cost of additional seating after travel.”
Self-described “fat solo traveler” Kimmy showed her followers how to use the program in a video that went viral in October.
She simply went up to the airline booth and said, “Hello, I’m hoping to use your customer of size policy today.”
“Southwest is the only airline that allows you a second seat at no extra cost even if the flight is fully booked,” she captioned the video.
“I’ve done this a dozen times, and never had an issue or been denied,” she said, adding that under the policy she is allowed to “preboard” ahead of other passengers.
“Enter the aircraft, get your seatbelt extender, and grab your seat!”
“I place the ticket in the seat next to me,” she continued. “If anyone tries to sit in it, I kindly let them know I have two seats booked.
“To be honest, I almost never get approached because no one wants to sit in the middle seat next to a fat person on a plane.”
Kimmy concluded by saying she “applauds” the airline for making air travel “more comfortable and accessible for all people, including fat and disabled people.”
Plus-sized travel expert Jae’lynn Chaney — who once demanded the Federal Aviation Administration better accommodate larger passengers — also said it was an important move to include people in the “super fat” category.
“Super fat is how we identify,” she told Fox Business, explaining: “There’s a spectrum of fatness. And as a ‘super fat’ individual you start needing different accommodations.
“I just feel really happy that there was something like this for people,” Chaney added. “I hope to see more airlines implement ‘customer-of-size’ policies.
“The Southwest customer size policy helps many travelers offset the disproportionate costs that we incur because of needing extra room,” she said.
“And so, it’s not just about physical accessibility. It’s also about financial accessibility.”
But at least one person has voiced their opposition to the policy, sharing that she, her teenage daughter, and her friend were kicked off of a flight in June.
The mother said in her own TikTok video that she and the two teens were on their way home from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and had a layover in Baltimore, Maryland, before they could return home to Denver, Colorado.
But during their layover, Southwest Airlines officials informed her that the flight was “overbooked” and they could not board the plane — despite spending $620.72 on tickets.
“Please help me understand why do I have to spend the night without any accommodations in Baltimore because an oversized person didn’t purchase a second ticket,” the exasperated mother said, claiming all of her and the teenagers’ luggage was sent to their final destination in Denver.
Southwest’s policy offers those who purchase an additional ticket a refund, or passengers could get a complimentary ticket at the gate. AP
By Melissa Koenig
