American Airlines effectively taunted a passenger who complained about being wedged between two obese passengers in economy class. There’s so much going on here and many issues to discuss.
American Airlines Unbelievably Taunts Passenger Who Had The Audacity To Complain About Being Wedged Between Two Obese Passengers Who Encroached On Her Personal Space
Sydney Watson is an Australian-American conservative political commentator. While I had not heard of her before her encounter on American Airlines, she has over 300,000 followers on Twitter and an even more popular YouTube channel.
Watson boarded an American Airlines flight enroute to a speaking engagement. Whoever had booked her had failed to assign her a seat and so she wound up with a middle seat. A brother and sister, both morbidly obese according to Watson, boarded the flight and took the aisle and window seat in her row. She asked if one of them would like to exchange seats so the two could sit next to each other and both declined.
She began sharing about her drama on Twitter:
I am currently – literally – WEDGED between two OBESE people on my flight.
This is absolutely NOT acceptable or okay. If fat people want to be fat, fine. But it is something else entirely when I’m stuck between you, with your arm rolls on my body, for 3 hours. pic.twitter.com/9uIqcpJO8I
— Dr. Sydney Watson (@SydneyLWatson) October 10, 2022
She then asserted that if someone needs a seatbelt extender, they should be required to buy a second seat:
If you need a seat belt extender, you are TOO FAT TO BE ON A PLANE.
Buy two seats or don’t fly.
— Dr. Sydney Watson (@SydneyLWatson) October 10, 2022
Let’s stop for a moment. Whatever your view on the obesity epidemic in the USA, treating others with kindness and respect should be foundational. Fat people are people with feelings too and while many are simply undisciplined, I call a number of people friends who have struggled with their weight for years despite dieting and exercise. Sometimes, there is more going on than simply laziness and we would all be wise to keep that in mind.
The AA Twist
Now we get to the twist in our story. Watson complained to American Airlines on Twitter and AA responded…by taunting her.
Our passengers come in all different sizes and shapes. We’re sorry you were uncomfortable on your flight.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) October 11, 2022
Sure, I can see how “sorry” you are AA…
And of course, the irony is that while passengers may come in all shapes and sizes, economy class seats on American Airlines do not and they are all tight.
I think Watson’s reply is appropriate after American rudely dismissed her complaint:
.@AmericanAir I just experienced getting sweat on, touched without my consent, smacked in the face and subjected to hours of no personal space.
And your response is essentially “too bad”? Is that what I’m getting here?
— Dr. Sydney Watson (@SydneyLWatson) October 11, 2022
It’s one thing to be obese…it’s quite another when you (whether muscular or fat or with long hair or simply manspreading) spill over into the seat next to you. It is not okay. It is not okay that Watson could not put her tray table down. Nor is it okay that she was rubbed in the sweat of these rotund siblings.
You might be tempted to quip that she should have bought up to first class or at least extra-legroom economy class to escape these two. But that’s the wrong way to look at it. A person should be entitled to enjoy their seat without someone else, let alone two people, spilling into it.
The passengers of size should have been forced to purchase a third seat, full stop.
Dear American Airlines, Check Your Own POS Policy!
And you want to know something? That’s literally the policy on American Airlines!
Why did this flight’s crew or ticket-takers not enforce your own policy regarding large passengers? A customer should never be put in the position of having to complain about this. @AmericanAir should be proactive — certainly not dismissive as evidenced by your response. pic.twitter.com/qxczXeaTYY
— 🇺🇸 Kelley G 🇺🇸 (@ChooChooLife) October 11, 2022
For the slim minority of people for which this is a medical issue beyond their immediate control, health insurance should cover the cost of an extra seat. But for so many, it’s simply unfair that your poor lifestyle choices should so negatively impact the passengers around you on an airplane.
Dieting takes discipline. Exercise takes discipline. Amazingly, it works. Offended? Go bark up a tree. Why did so many Americans die with COVID-19? Because they were obese. We’ve gone from a nation that accepts people for who they are to a nation that celebrates obesity. What a flawed era of human history we find ourselves in. Please, do watch this:
And shake your head at this insanity:
.@LASchools shared this “Food Neutrality” video on @lausdHRDE Insta. They tell our kids that we’ve lied to them & no one food is better for them than another food (oppressive food hierarchy). @lausdHRDE is actively working to undermine parents & hurt kids. @LAUSDSup do u know? pic.twitter.com/eWVy0jyP9Y
— LA Parent Union ❄️😢 (@UTLAUncensored) September 12, 2022
American Airlines owes Watson a real apology and some compensation. It also should, with dignity and respect, ensure that passengers do not spill over into the personal space of their neighbors. After all, that is its written policy…
CONCLUSION
To me, the story is more AA’s response than the incident itself. Tolerance is a beautiful thing and a necessary foundation of the pluralistic society in which we now live. But praising obesity, in a sense, by offering a mocking response to a legitimate complaint demonstrates so well what is so wrong with society.
What are your thoughts on this particular incident on American Airlines and the general issue of how, in an increasingly obese nation, we deal with passengers who do not fit into their seats?
Good luck with this fat shaming bit, Matthew. Guessing it’ll really work out well for you.
Too bad you didn’t read it. Is that a disability too?
I can certainly read the room. Which I guess is your disability?
She had to sit next to fat people. Quelle horreur. She then posts some pretty offensive stuff about the situation and AA, rightly, says “deal with it, that’s how people are shaped now.” You decide she’s the one who deserves sympathy. If that view doesn’t indicate some sort of social disability, I don’t know what does.
Flame away. You’re totally off-base. Stop victim-shaming.
You think she’s the victim? That’s incredible.
I sat next to two bigguns on my last flight. Gave up an upgrade to get home earlier. Was I happy about it? Naw. But they had a good attitude about it so I reciprocated. It’s that simple.
You’re being so obnoxious & rude. You’re definitely ill informed on to why some people are obese. It’s hard to believe that you’re considered a professional commentator. Om certain that you can attempt to get your point across with out resulting to name calling when some one is in disagreement.
You’re way off on this one Matthew. It’s not a good look.
You’re really going to have to offer more than this. Please elaborate. In detail.
You’re going far out your way to defend a self-important prig who is busy taking pictures to establish her Karen bona fides. From what she’s showing she is utterly lacking in social graces and anything resembling empathy. The fact that you have lots of fat shaming stuff on the post shows where you stand on this. Between that and your defense of her, that is what I mean by not a good look. In the past you’ve generally saved your sympathy for people who deserved it rather than overly entitled whiny snowflakes.
I have a 1946 two seat Ercoupe. It has been said “you can fly an Wrciupe with anything you can stuff into the cabin” That may be true, but it’s illegal as it puts the gross weight above legal FAA regs if I let a 300 lb fat-ass on-board. So I discriminate with backing from the G men. LOL
Dan, you could’ve said it better. When you purchase a seat in economy there’s no such thing as sitting comfortably in the middle seat period whether your big obese or slender. And the author himself is I’ll informed a out why people become obese. Everyone isn’t afforded opportunities to ear healthy, for numerous social economic reasons, not to mention behavioral & mental health issues typically resulting from childhood trauma where people turn to food for emotional comfort. I believe AA handled it appropriately & some folks are accustomed to whining.
And some of us just like abundant calorie sources more than we like meeting an arbitrary size quota.
But we also have to pay for an extra seat if we can’t fit in ours.
That’s the deal: Don’t judge other people’s body choices, and don’t impose your body on other people.
how about you read their policy and seeing as she had real trauma and was raped she handled this amazingly well, if anything the airline is shaming a rape victim to be touched against her will and not enforcing their own written policy
Extra space during travel
If a customer needs extra space outside a single seat to travel safely, another seat is required. We encourage customers to address all seating needs when booking.
When you call to book, Reservations will make sure you get 2 adjacent seats at the same rate.
If you didn’t book an extra seat in advance, ask an airport agent to find out if 2 adjacent seats are available.
You may be offered a seat in a higher class of service that may provide more space; in this case, you’ll be responsible for the fare difference.
If accommodations can’t be made on your original flight, you can buy seats on a different flight at the same price as your original seats.
anyone who disagrees ia a moron
Never mind the fact that she CHOSE to keep the seat, didn’t bring it to anyone’s attention on the flight itself but rather took to shaming these people on the internet, not even giving them the opportunity to defend themselves? Let alone asking them to switch seats for her own comfort rather than seeing if they would rather sit next to one another! The problem is that she literally chose to sit there and then fat shame people online. It’s not AA who owes the apology here.
American charges to change seats….
I was blanketed with sweaty stinking flesh and they wanted $40 dollars to change my seat…and the flight was full ..I HAD to get to NYC that night…
Exactly my thoughts. This was just a great moment for her to entertain her followers. This looks like a situation that could have been easily resolved. The siblings, I’m sure would have rathered sat together and switched seats.
She didn’t choose to sit there, the booking agent failed to get her a seat assignment and that was the only seat available. I’m all for understanding why certain people become morbidly obese, but this situation had nothing to do with that subject. No one deserves to be put in a situation where another person’s body is rubbing against them and sweating all over them. This is not fat shaming, it’s common sense. If you enjoy being placed in that situation, good for you, but I highly doubt that many would find it a pleasant flight. Should she have posted like she did? No, it was wrong to imply her situation was her seat mates fault, but American Airlines’ response was unprofessional and wrong. The siblings who couldn’t fit into their own seats needed to have two seats so they were comfortable and she should have been assigned a seat where no one was practically sitting on top of her.
neihter of the fat people chose to follow aa policy and sh e didn’t choose the seat s he had an obligation and this was the only flight to get her there she choose to do what was needed to get from a to b
AA flight attendeents should of forced them to buy the extra seat and kicked someone off probabbbly would of been her but fact is h ey didn’t follow their own policy Extra space during travel
If a customer needs extra space outside a single seat to travel safely, another seat is required. We encourage customers to address all seating needs when booking.
When you call to book, Reservations will make sure you get 2 adjacent seats at the same rate.
If you didn’t book an extra seat in advance, ask an airport agent to find out if 2 adjacent seats are available.
You may be offered a seat in a higher class of service that may provide more space; in this case, you’ll be responsible for the fare difference.
If accommodations can’t be made on your original flight, you can buy seats on a different flight at the same price as your original seats.
your a moron
Just because you buy the additional seat ticket, it doesn’t mean airlines won’t still put someone there without compensating you especially if they overbooked or have standby passengers. You can complain but in the end you still bought a seat that someone else sat in and also paid for.
It’s called corporate greed!!!!!!!
You used the word “fat,” dumb-ass. Go check your prick size on your own time.
Sorry princess, I didn’t know “fat” was a bad word.
Guys/Girls,
Let’s not through s..t on each other. AA should have a courtesy to leave the middle seat if they figured two large (sorry – obese) people are taking two seats by leaving middle seat. Those two siblings are smart to reserve/sit apart because they knew they need space. You can argue AA may not know their size, but still it’s their fault not to accommodate properly.
They always say their customers satisfaction is their priority. Where/when/how? You figure .
Well they should have know better but when you buy an economy ticket you know what your getting your self into if not she could came out of the aircraft and asked to be put on the next flight half of the time the airlines don’t know if the person is obese how ever we cannot tell te customers anything about their obesity because we don’t know if it is a disability that they have people need to educate them selfs because their is the Americans with disability act that clearly states that we cannot discriminate against a person with a disability so just think about how manny law suits they would get, as to the person in the middle sorry you had to go through that but it is life may e next time pay for a preferred seat and by the way we don’t know the size of the passengers before hand have some respect for those who need it
I think it’s hilarious! I mean, I totally get it; I’d be mad too. But you have to take things like that into account when sitting in economy class. Maybe if she made better life choices she could’ve afforded an upgrade.
I get it and you’re spot on…it’s NOT fat shaming- it’s consideration for your fellow passengers…rock on!
You know what’s a real disability? An author arguing with readers in the comments section like a snowflake. If you have to whine this hard to justify your work, you’re not very good at your job.
Or maybe I just greatly enjoy it…
Thanks for your click.
(Dan must be overweight AND OFFENDED.) No matter what MY size is, I should never have to sit/fly with such odors & discomfort of the next person’s weight. This is not some tiny crop-flyer plane… big money is spent to fly in these seats. Overweight, large ppl should be seated accordingly..not to disrupt EVERYONE ELSE’S FLIGHT
There is NO fat shaming here. This woman paid for space on the airline and the airline failed to deliver.
Corporate America’s relies on blind sheeple (like you) to swallow their conflated, snarky, transparent spin. Wake up!!
No one is trying to shame obese people. Blame clearly lies on corporate America and greedy airlines.
If you cannot see that, you probably voted for Biden and hate everyone who does not fall lock step in line.
Did I miss the fat shaming; did Matt edit the post? Because as it reads now I don’t see an issue, there is a AA policy that wasn’t applied – seems pretty clear-cut to me.
STOP LONG LEGS SHAMING! I have very long legs, and it is almost impossible for me to occupy a middle seat in the cattle car, I mean sardine can, I mean economy coach. I want some respect, long legs are beyond my control!! Of course, I am being sarcastic but I really do have long legs. When somebody reclines their seat, my knees get crunched. I don’t complain because they paid a lot of money to recline their seat. There are far more obese people than people like me with long legs. Either way, we have no right, let me repeat, no right to infringe on the comfort, convenience and space of other passengers. Fat shaming be damned, either buy an upgrade to a seat that fits you, or don’t fly!
If she had the opportunity beforehand to choose a non middle seat and didn’t then tough luck. Conservative commentators are not known for their compassion, so likely this is manufactured outrage with lots of exaggeration for the sake of money because nothing sells better to conservatives than “being wronged”.
I am no fan of AA but the way she tweeted invited that type of response. She should get nothing, it would only reward this behavior.
I think you’re probably right about there being some degree of faux outrage, yet this issue in general is a very serious one and the trend lines in the USA are not promising.
Isn’t whether the armrest as able to be lowered the deciding factor if the person is too large for one seat? I didn’t see anything that indicated this one way or the other
You must be obese. LOL
If 6’1″ 200lbs is obese then I guess so
I was on a plane with a very overweight person. She spilled over into my sit. I had to sit leaned against the window for 5 plus hours. I was extremely uncomfortable the entire time. Said nothing because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. After arriving home my back hurt my neck hurt and I was generally miserable. Realized I should have spoken up. My feelings and comfort should matter also. After all I paid as much for my seat as she did hers.
It’s a delicate situation, but indeed it isn’t fair that you squished like that.
I completely agree with you William. She wasn’t being proactive.
There are LOTS of times you can’t book before there’s only middle seat left – or you don’t want to pay for a seat assignment. A seat with armrests down on both sides is I used in your airfare and you should get it every time regardless of any other circumstances.
Why is that even relevant?
If she had booked another seat, then some other poor person would be stuck sitting in half a seat.
Basically the government should step in and allow passengers to decline a seat and be “denied boarding” if they can’t be seated without their space being infringed upon. The airlines should then be fined appropriately. This would be paid to the passenger denied boarding. This would effectively force airlines to apply a passenger of size policy.
Excellent idea
Every passenger has a size. You mean weight vs hight and girth? What would happen in an emergency stuck between these two?
Really? The Government? Is that everyone’s answer to everything these days? Should the Government tell me when and how to wipe my nose too? How about some personal responsibility by all 3 individuals and working things out like grown ups? Another poster used the word “sheeple” further up and after reading this I must say I have to agree. I just don’t understand why it is that so many people are always looking for someone else to solve their problems or tell them what to do … besides … in my experience the Government tends to mess things up waaaaay more than the private sector does and they take 3 times as long to do anything.
If things were sooooooo bad, she could of:
– bought an in-flight upgrade
– bought premium economy, business, or 1st class in the first place since she holds the title of DOCTOR in her Twitter name
– requested to be moved if room was available
– being a “DOCTOR” (see bullet point #2 above) , she could of engaged in a free theory session with the her new amigos and passed the time with two 15 minute breaks allowing all to stretch their legs
– stop whining like a “Karen”
Sorry, but you get what you pay for and Dr Sydney Watson failed to pay the “two dollar” penalty (North by Northwest) for an upgrade.
As the principle at my Christians Brothers high school would say, “Suck it up and quit your bitching!!”
Yes, it should be “principal”, mea culpa!!
Thinking about it, most would of missed the error anyway.
Also, “could have” instead of “could of.” You did that twice. CBHS has failed you 🙁
As I said… Suck it UP!!!!
The problem is that she didn’t “get what she paid for”. She paid for a full seat, no matter that it’s small to begin with, and received maybe 1/2 of that. it’s not her fault, it’s the airlines fault for allowing people to spill over into her seat. As someone who has been there and crushed by a person that needed two seats, it’s not good. I was fortunate to finally be allowed to move, but I couldn’t have flown like that. I paid for a full seat and got about 1/4 of it.
Everyone has the right to fly, but no one has the right to take up space they didn’t pay for when it infringes on your seat mate.
Stop “Karen” shaming!!!!!!!!
So, change your name…
Very similar issue happened on flight this week on Delta. Woman next to me was extremely large, was 50% into my seat and flight was full , so no other options. Was extremely uncomfortable flight (2 hours) flight and had back pain due to being crunched in.
I am not judging her that she chooses to be obese , but why should I and other passengers have to suffer as we paid the same fare , maybe more for our seat ? If you are that large that you cannot fit , you should be required to buy an additional seat
This is the bottom line and this is not fat-shaming. I feel your pain.
I don’t know what happens on AA, but there are times when obese people do buy that extra seat and then if the flight is full, the seat is taken back by the airlines. The airline doesn’t care about the comfort of passengers, especially in regular economy.
While AA’s response was tone-deaf, no one is celebrating obesity.
Ellis, I agree with you. Maybe these 2 passengers had that middle seat as their extra seat and that’s why they didn’t want to switch seats with the women. But it doesn’t seem others want to look at that possibility. There would really be no reason to tell this unkind woman their reason for not wanting to switch seats.
I can’t understand why this issue is going into a dieting issue. This is totally an AA issue. Just an FYI her, if you have never lived the life of someone you are speaking about and perhaps even judging, stop speaking. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. One may speak in general about obesity but if one doesn’t have statistics and scientific/medical knowledge, i.e., learned, studied knowledge one can cite, maybe one should think twice about what one writes. One should always be kind remembering we all have issues. This, of course, is just my opinion.
Just for those who might be assuming I’m obese, I am not. I just believe in looking at things from the other person’s point of view. I also believe in being kind to and speaking kindly of others. CeCe
NEWSFLASH! YOU DON’T HAVE TO!
Tell the flight attendant and they will move you or the other passenger. If there are no seats the other passenger has to get off the flight.
You’re a real ignorant MF!
Why should the other person be removed from the flight JUST BECAUSE YOU DONT LIKE YOU’RE SEAT ASSIGNMENT!
The brother & sister were in their seats before you, If you don’t like the arrangement then YOU GET OFF THE FLIGHT!
YOU’RE THE A$$HLE THAT IS COMPLAINING! YOU MOVE, YOU IGNORANT PIECE OF TRASH!
Obesity in the U.S. and other countries is more directly related to the institutionalized promotion of improper and harmful foods and advertising, than to any supposed lack of willpower or medical conditions in the overweight population. People consume processed foods that have been stripped of natural nutrition and fiber, and filled with salt, sugar, and trans fats.
In addition to that, government agencies that should have our best interests in mind, instead are influenced by the dairy, meat, corn, and processed foods producers to make harmful nutritional recommendations to the public.
Documentaries like Forks Over Knives, books like The China Study by nutritional scientist T. Colin Campbell, or studies conducted by Dr. Caldwell Essylsten, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Neil Barnard, and others, conclusively show that consuming meat, dairy, processed foods, and oils, is damaging to human health, while a whole-food plant-based diet can treat and reverse many serious diseases and enable rapid weight loss in the process.
I grew up eating meat and dairy, and have never been a radical vegan, nor was I severely overweight, but learning the above and changing my eating habits immediately led to health improvements and rapid slimming.
So don’t blame obese people for their condition. They (and everyone) have been given the wrong information all their (our) lives, all for the sake of commercial profit.
Just saying.
I’m with you until the last paragraph…with all this information readily available, people are already empowered to take corrective action, as you did. For the most part, they are not victims.
That said, meat and dairy are hardly new inventions. Doesn’t it seem more likely the problem is larger portion sizes and meals on-demand 24/7 made worse by the affordability and availability of fast-food in every U.S. city and town?
Larger portion sizes, nutritionally-deficient, and unhealthful fast food addictions are certainly contributors, and I already alluded to those being foisted on the public through advertising and lobbying by various industries, but research whole-plant-based nutrition and associated health studies for yourself. You’ll find that good health (and fat control) is directly proportional to how much your diet is based around plants and avoidance of animal products.
Again, I don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing for veganism – many vegans consume harmful foods like sugary sweets, white flour, fatty foods, etc., after all – but leaving political notions aside, a diet that consists of (at least) mostly plants has been shown consistently to be the most healthful way to live, and can help avoid or reverse obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, osteoporosis, and various cancers, while a diet heavy in animal products can worsen or even cause many of those conditions.
I’m not a nutritional scientist or a physican; I’m only stating what the published, peer-reviewed studies have shown. My personal experience is limited to my own fat reduction (33 lbs in 4 1/2 months), and erasing my hypertension after switching my diet. My exercise level was and is moderately active.
Again, congrats on your progress. It’s great that you took control and are regaining your body back. I absolutely agree that a herbivore diet can be very healthy and promote wellness.
But can really make such sweeping statements that it is the only way? I’m on a heavy keto diet right now (a lot of meat, though plenty of greens as well, but that’s about it). I’ve lost a fair amount of body fat this year. I was never obese, but this has helped to trim and tone my body fat to the 10-12% level in which muscles are more defined.
Many diets work in the short term, at least for fat loss, but are not necessarily sustainable or healthy in the long term. They can also actually be damaging to your health.
Yes, but plants taste like…..plants.
Yuk!!!!!
You don’t like salsa? Beans? Guacamole? Corn? Whole grain rice? Potatoes? Tomatoes? Mangoes? Lettuce? Cabbage? Bananas…?
NONE OF THAT mitigates THE FACT THAT THIS LADY PAID FOR A SEAT…AND HAD BLUBBER BLANKETED OVER HER..SWEATY STINKY BLUBBER…
SKIN CAN TRANSMIT DISGUSTING DANGEROUS DISEASE …STAPH IS VERY COMMON….
ONE SHOULD NOT HAVE BLUBBER LAID OVER YOU
AND
if the plane had an emergency she was trapped
P.S.
“That said, meat and dairy are hardly new inventions.”
No, they’re not new inventions, but the rise of food industry lobbying and influence on government nutrition programs, and a dramatic increase in meat and dairy consumption is relatively new, having started around mid-20th century…exactly the time our waistlines started expanding and severe disease started increasing in the U.S.
Meat and dairy are not new inventions, but government-subsidized meat and dairy production that artificially reduces their cost in comparison to other options is a new invention.
People would eat a lot less meat and dairy if it was priced by the free market.
I caught bird flu on filthy American Airlines flights in 2013….
This lady was RIGHT…..
BUT I WOULD SAY BUY 3 SEATS….
If AA wants to support MORBID OBESITY..THEN GIVE MORBIDLY OBESE PASSENGERS THE WHOLE 3 SEAT ROW!
LET AA put their money where their mouth is.
It is not “SHAMING” to not want a strangers flesh draped over you..
MOREOVER…..IT IS DANGEROUS..
A morbidly obese passenger would impede evacuation of a plane in an emergency..
Plus WHO gave me bird flu on AA’s four filthy jets?
I ALMOST DIED!!!!!?!
8 MONTHS OF 104 fever….fluid on my lungs..2 years of debilitation…….
American Airlines was ALSO 4 hours late in New Orleans…wanted to charge me for changing seats from the obese man laying on me….
American Airlines is PATHETIC……………….
Oops… Misspelling: should be “Caldwell Esselstyn,” not “Caldwell Essylsten.”
Ugh! IAD -DFW , window seat, unoccupied middle. Until at last minute several AA executives file in a fill every last seat. My middle passenger was at least three hundred pounds. Apologizing she somehow wedged herself in the seat. The spillover was so bad I spent the entire flight angled toward the window (picture Garfield). I suppose I could have complained but offender was AA exec. And I had to be on that flight. Now back to Matt’s post. I didn’t find the women’s post offensive, nor AAs response. However Mr. Klint your take was highly offensive. And that last minute toss about obesity & covid was unnecessary. I had two best friends die from covid. Neither was overweight and both were healthy.
Here, maybe this will help:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html
-Having obesity increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19. People who are overweight may also be at increased risk.
-Having obesity may triple the risk of hospitalization due to a COVID-19 infection.
-Obesity is linked to impaired immune function.
-A study of COVID-19 cases suggests that risks of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death are higher with increasing BMI.
A few comments:
1. What does “conservative political commentator” have to do with this report? What was your intent in adding that descriptive phrase? Does this mean your readers or American Airlines should reactive differently than if she had just been a female passenger?
2. I read the entire story waiting to find the posting by AA in which it “taunted” the passenger. A taunt is a comment designed to anger or provoke someone. The only AA response reproduced in your story could be considered dismissive or snarky, it in no manner is taunting Ms. Watson.
3. I also don’t understand your use of the word “praise,” meaning expressing admiration. AA’s response certainly does not do that – it merely recognizes the current state of a substantial percentage of the American populace.
1. Because her ilk are prone to manufacture outrage, in my humble opinion.
2. You’re nitpicking over words – I view this clearly as a taunt, not just a dismissal. It’s a very reasonable interpretation, even if you personally disagree.
3. I didn’t use the word praise.
What about the folks who don’t have a Twitter following?
The squeaky wheel gets the oil and in this case the attention.
If a normal average Joe has to sit between the two obese folks, nobody would have said boo.
I have zero doubt it sucked for this woman, but she has an audience and clout most folks don’t have.
If I sat between two obese folks I highly doubt that you would write a blog post about it.
The real story is AA’s Social Media team didn’t bother to check who this woman was before responding.
I do disagree with you here. Had this happened to you, I would have written about it if you let me know — I think this is an important issue for discussion and a problem that is growing bigger in the USA.
Love the pun 😀
Is that some type of technicaity loophole since you used since you used the word “praising” instead?
Did you watch the video below the Maher one? On a very serious note, what are your thoughts on it? Fat shaming is one thing and should be condemned, but this POV does seem to encourage what is quite destructive.
Not what I was addeasing. You said you didn’t use the word “praise”. I pointed out you did, in a way, since you used the word “praising”.
Ok, fine. Now my question?
On number 3: “But praising obesity, in a sense, by offering a mocking response to a legitimate complaint demonstrates so well what is so wrong with society.” I think you did use the word praise. I only note this because the use of the word stuck out to me as well.
On number 1, I had the same take away as the original comment. The message from AA only seems taunting to me if you think the woman was justified in complaining and deserved to be groveled to because the tone of the message is barely even dismissive, more a statement of a fact of life. I could see them having the exact same response to a tall person complaining (rightly) about the lack of leg room causing them pain and inconvenience.
Full disclosure, I’m a bigger person, come from a family that’s all large. So I’d also like to say that, to me, complaining about how our size inconveniences you as some national crisis in the context of air travel, while someone from Australia is coming to the US to talk (I’m assuming) with all the environmental damage THAT decision does impacting the WHOLE world is, as Larry David would say, pretty, pretty pretty, pretty, pretty good.
I find overblown outrage on left commentators, also. Both sides of the aisle manufacture outrage.
Entirely agree although the policy screeenshot in that tweet is not from AA.
The AA site has a policy that’s sadly more ambiguous citing “if a customer needs extra space outside a single seat to travel safely” a 2nd seat is required. Nothing about needing an extender or 1 inch as the standard.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/special-assistance/special-assistance.jsp
The replies to the tweets are filled with obese folks who feel bad and say they avoid travel or buy the 2nd seat to avoid this kind of situation.
It’s a minority who are inconsiderate and it’s on the airline to have a more clear and enforced policy.
Reading some of these posts and responses was akin to a visit to the dentist. lol. How about the airlines increase their collective seat sizes????? They should consider the facts. Folks were generally smaller 50 years ago. Problem solved.
2 inch seat width increase would mean all flights are 50-70% more expensive. Not gonna work.
If you can’t afford to fly then don’t fly. FIFY.
Also, AA sold her a full seat for a set price. AA negligence meant she only got half her seat.
A refund is in order, not a snarky uncaring tweet response…..
Bad look for AA not following their own policies, but really it’s nothing new. And Matt stayed nothing but facts, sad some don’t agree with what they are, Facts.
Also from AA: “We offer a variety of seat sizes and styles, so our customers can select what works best for them,”
There is not an airline in the entire world that informs passengers what the BMI of the people sitting next to them is in advance so that the passenger can make an informed decision as to which seat to choose. Passengers often have no part at all in deciding which seat they will be in these days. It is not up to the people that fit into the seats to buy a bigger seat to avoid contact with other people. It’s the other way around.
What first caused me to try to get an upgrade to get out of economy was the behavior of other passengers, not the physical aspects of the economy seat. Belligerent drunks, no-recliners, odiferous people. But one was an obese person who had raised the armrest. I asked if they minded if I put it down while simultaneously forcing it down. They were not happy.
I know it can happen, but never had an unpleasant experience in F or business.
If Americans’s response was a taunt, what should they have said?
That it takes seriously that her personal space was intruded on both sides. Some compensation would have been appropriate. AA should have asked these sibling to purchase a third seat if they were indeed spilling over into the middle seat taking, as Watson has claimed, 3/4 of her space.
But she gets to claim both armrests for being the middle seat passenger, so we’re good there.
I have purchased that extra seat on 4 flights. Every single time, the flight attendants claim that seat for another passenger and my efforts were for naught. I’m not typically obese, heavier but boy not overflowing my area, however I had a cast w/sling that did infringe on the seating. Because of the discomfort and awkwardness in dealing with my cast, I purposefully bought that middle seat to accommodate my needs. Once again all for naught. What do you suggest we do when the airline doesn’t honor our purchase?
Demand a full refund plus compensation. I hate it when airlines play this game.
If the airline takes a seat you paid for, wouldn’t that be an IDB? And if not, an ADA violation?
I don’t see this as any different than any other oversell situation, and I wouldn’t give up my seat unless the IDB compensation was worthwhile and if the airline doesn’t like it they can solicit other volunteers.
https://youtu.be/Lj7CfsL_118
Here is her video posted to YouTube.
Everyone in this post and the commentariat is fat shaming, no one is saying that airplane economy seats are uncomfortably small even for the BMI 18 club. Airlines are looking for every way they can to make seats narrower and closer together.
I’m what is called a “small fat” in the lingo and haven’t flown less than premium economy in a decade, but you know, I’m lucky enough to choose when and why I fly. Some people can’t. Some people can’t buy an extra seat. I’m not here to judge for that and I don’t think any of us are.
What i can tell you that even being in the larger end of straight sizes (US 16) I do much better in a 18 or 19 inch wide seat versus a 17 inch. And there’s a lot of people in my size range who are gonna spill over in a 17 inch seat who probably fit just fine in 19-20. Another option for people who are bigger in economy is to get a window or for the gate agent to give them a window. I asked for a window once in my student days and explained to the gate agent that if I was in the middle everyone was gonna have a bad time, but in a window seat I can lean into the window and actually not use the middle armrest or spill into it.
Talking about the American obesity epidemic is fine, like whatever dude, but the reality is airline seat sizes are shrinking and don’t model the population and thus the market. I’m a big fan of this blog and read it daily but this post has left a bad taste in my mouth because there are so many other options here that don’t involve blaming people for being fat, like airlines not retrofitting planes to be 9 across in economy when they were originally intended for 7, or gate agents shuffling people the exact same way they do when families want to fly together. Of course the whole row is gonna have a bad time if someone is 300 pounds in the middle, and I think this woman’s flight would have been better had she been in the aisle.
Like I said, I pay fly premium economy and business because I know what flying economy is like; no one is stopping thin people from making the same cost value assessment. The rare times I’ve flown economy i didn’t expect much.
Are they? The fuselage width on the 737 is exactly the same as the 707, which was in service since the 1960’s flying routes over 10 hours. The seats on both the 707 from the 1960s and the 737 from 2022 are the same 3×3 configuration. While the pitch may have decreased, the width of seats on narrowbody planes has been remarkably consistent over the past 60 years.
There’s many other aircraft types other than a 737. And many large aircraft that used to have 4 seats in the middle section, now have 5.
“No one is stopping thin people from making the same cost value assessment.”
Here is my cost assessment: I fit into economy seats and should I choose to fly economy I expect to be the ONLY person occupying that seat. I’ll pay for better seats when I so choose not because someone wants to use a certain percentage of my seat.
Size US 16 is “small fat?”
Are you on drugs?
It is not fat shaming to say that, no matter what the seat sizes are, the passenger sitting next to me should not take over my seat – and I shouldn’t have to have their body on top of mine.
If a passenger is too big to fit in his own space, he should buy an extra seat or fly premium. Or he should stop flying, and maybe the decline in revenue will eventually lead to a change in airline economy seat size. But under no circumstance should his size become another passenger’s problem.
That’s not discrimination, it is fairness: we each get the seat we paid for, no more and no less.
the issue isn’t obesity. the issue is – how much of MY seat are YOU intitled to? i am tall with very long legs. should i be able to spread and put MY knees in front of YOUR seat?
it sucks the way airlines have visited this problem on passengers
Congrats on the $#!T tons of clicks, Matthew 😀
That’s what the travel blogging world is these days. It’s the Jerry Springer race to the top (or is it the bottom?). To be competitive in this space it seems this is required.
I used to be annoyed by it but I’ve come to accept the new normal.
As a former fatty who Keto’d my way to normal weight range, I’m with you when you’re right. Brave stance though as this type of blog brings out the irrational comments of the morally indignant who prefer to twist words to meet their agenda.
Her first action should have been to complain to the flight attendant or the agents. Airlines have specially trained employees who should be called in to deal with this sort of issue once it is brought to the staff’s attention during boarding. Complaining to Twitter is just silly.
OBESITY IS A DISEASE and I would try to stay away from people like that just to avoid any other problems. But in an airplane cabin that’s almost impossible and I’m sorry for the person who has to put up with that. No further comment.
You are aware it can’t be transmittee, right?
WHAT!!??
Face reality – fat people should be made to sit in a seat sizer before boarding. If they don’t fit, they should be made to purchase another seat that they can spill over into.
Or ride a Mexican bus, with chickens, pigs, cows and all.
Absolutely! We check bag size, why not people! Fully agree with you. Plus the ticket price should be based on your weight. Why should I have to subsidise fuel burn for people who weight double/triple what I do?
If you look at the picture, she is sharing the exact same “neutral zone” space as the other two passengers. Nobody own that space. Her body-shaming, and your support for her, is unacceptable. Do you actually support the idea that people who need seatbelt extender should not be flying? Where do you draw the line? What about annoying kids who put their feet in the seat? Crying babies? Travel bloggers who take pictures?
*IF* she’s telling the truth, and woth her other exaggerations she very well not be, the armrests wouldn’t go down and she or the other passengers should have been reseated.
Just because your a very large person & someone complained does not equate to fat shaming. The middle person deserves to fly comfortably. Why does she have to suffer because your to big for your seat. The better question is why wasn’t the policy enforced? Moreover, a valid complaint isn’t fat shaming.
She doesn’t have to suffer. She just had to ask the FA to be reseated. And if she asked and AA didn’t accommodate her in the moment she could have asked for other customer service covery and if she still wasn’t satisfied she could have tweeted that AA forced her to sit with other people encroaching on her seat space. Running to the internet to attack the other passengers is just seeking attention and validation from other bigots.
I used to weigh almost 500 pounds. I flew a lot. I bought 2 seats for my flights as I thought it was not right to take up another persons space. I think this is the issue here – who is supposed to be polite? The one taking up more than their space or the one who is expected to put up with their disrespect of the alloted space?
I’d like to think we can all be polite. One day I am being pinned to the window (with apologies) maybe another time I also could owe apologies. We try to just do our best to from point A to point B. Right?
An excellent case study in everyone being wrong.
Aisle and Window passengers being wrong for not buying the middle seat AND then not volunteering to move (or take the next flight if full) when the middle seat gamble didn’t pay off.
Middle passenger for turning her own ignorance of airline policy (could have just asked for reseting) into faux-harm body-shaming clickbait.
AA for lowering themselves to the middle passenger’s level by glossing over their failure to honor their own policies by instead (subtly) calling out the assanine perspective of the middle passenger (not the job of corporate accounts.)
Mr. Klint for jumping on the body-shaming bandwagon when simply sharing the rights passengers have in situations like this would have been more than sufficient.
A 4way exercise in what not to do.
The 5th way: a clueless bystander defending porkers who should be ashamed.
Very, very ashamed!
Actually, the person who should be ashamed (very, very ashamed!) is your mother, Jorge! Did she not teach you manners or did you just not take to the lessons? Having an opinion on this is fine. Calling people names shows everyone who you really are… and it’s not pretty.
Obviously saying everyone was wrong isn’t defending anyone, but that’s also probably a level of reading comprehension above the ability of someone who would call anyone else a porker.
The seats on a 737 and A321s are basically a standard size across fleets. She would’ve had the same problem no matter what airline she flew. Get real, this isn’t AA’s problem.
She shouldn’t have this problem on any airline, because passengers who can’t sit with the arm rests down should be reseated or, if no seat is available, put on the next flight.
Sorry gang but Ms Sid is telling an untruth and we all have fallen into the click bait trap. It is against the law for the flight to take off with arm rests not down. Yet Ms Sid claims they were up due to a lack of room. The airline and the entire crew would be facing serious repercussions if that were true….it is not Ms Sid is lying. The pics are indeed of overweight people but there is zero evidence that they were infringing on Ms Sids space to the extent claimed. That said AA’s response was appalling (not the first time for Aa and will not be the last). The AA twitter team actually can be helpful if you pose problem and solution to them, but they are generally clueless at responding to “i am unhappy and its your fault”
Matt you got played here IMHO. Note I am NO fan of AA and their lack of customer service
Ok now i watched her you tube about this and it is clear she is not telling the truth. If you can make it through the Ms Sid self pity party she does have pictures of her situation. She “cant” put her tray table down she says while showing the tray table indeed down. She is being wedged by the “hips” of her seat mates she says, but the picture actually shows spare space. Ms Sid has a set of issues which the incident surfaced: she demands clear unintruded upon personal space, she believes she is continuously exposed to the sweat of others, and yes she is an fatphobe. She even admits to tweeting about the issue so as to keep her audience engaged. Yup click bait.Again AA did not respond as well as it could have but we all are being played here. Ms Sid should fly a different airline from now on I suspect AA would be most grateful to be relieved of her future rantings.
It is NOT illegally to take off with armrests up…..lolololol
I worked for BRANIFF, National , AND PAN AM…
LOLOLOL….
NEVER HELD A FLIGHT FOR AN ARMREST UP..LOLOLOLOL…
Good laugh
Even the obese siblings refused to sit next to each other. Funny.
I once suffered in a transatlantic cattle class middle seat between husband on the aisle and wife on the window seats. I offered to let them sit together and they refused. The entire flight they chatted with each other and passed food and belongings to each other across my lap. It was a horrible experience.
As a leisure flyer, I don’t have a solution. Corporate flyers often are stuck where the corporate travel office beancounters put them.
Why should they have to move? They picked their seats. She didn’t. If she’s traveling for a speaking engagement and they booked it she should have stipulated “no middle seats”… but an uneventful flight wouldn’t have gotten any clicks.
Um some employees don’t have the clout to get corporate travel office beancounters to give them preferred aircraft seats.
Also, I have flown in five continents; majority of Americans are superfat and think that they are normal. In the rest of the world only one or two non-American passengers on any given aircraft are superfat.
What I think is funny is that most blog vlog airline reviewers wax on and on about their own gluttonous consumption of copious amounts of alcoholic beverages, meals, and snacks onboard and in lounges. Finally, a blog about superfat people invading personal space.
I had the same experience. I think it’s inconsiderate for them . Especially if you’re expecting the middle seat person to accommodate a couple. My son & I both like aside seats. We sit across from each other. I think a lot of people are hung up on the size issue and not focusing on the real issues. If you plan to travel together, don’t inconvenience other people.
Wow. Lot’s of porkers and their defenders wrote in today. Very intertaining!
How did they manage to stop eating long enough so they could write in?
Asking for a friend…..
I stopped eating long enough to see that they call you George, George. In case you you forgot it the first time. They just kept calling you George George until you remembered it. See being rude, and saying whatever I want, isn’t nice. Maybe you should eat more. So you can keep your ignorant mouth shut more often! NAMASTE
And a lot of rude individuals responded…
BTW: “entertaining.”
The rudeness that poor woman suffered is horrendous –
I have been on a bus and suffered the exact same thing, it’s horrible. There are more obese people now than ever before, one of them knocked into me at the food store this morning and sent me flying, good thing I caught myself, so rude. Had a kid with her too, the kid was almost as big as her, poor thing.
American Airlines needs a rude awakening!!
The passenger stuck in the middle has a very valid complaint. AA has specific guidance on this situation and it involves a call being made to the special assist desk that deals with situations like this-the CRO. The oversized pair should have been required to buy an extra seat on the flight, if there were no seats available, they purchase the extra seats on flights that do have availability. No dbc. The woman in the middle is not in the wrong here. A CSM should have been summoned and a call made to the CRO. This woman deserves a refund on her ticket from American. Not a smart ass woke reply. Had I been the CSM, it would not have gone down this way.
There are weight and height minimums and maximums on rides. It should be the same for planes. No passenger should have his or her space encroached on. American Airlines failed to protect their passenger. Sydney Watson is one of the most reasoned and respected freedom supporters in America.
Nearly every conservative and Christian would be happy to have our own airlines but it’s the liberal globalists who prevent that freedom. Nearly every normal sized person would choose to have an airline for normal sized people.
This is just one of the many reasons I choose not to fly. I haven’t been on a plane in 10 years. It just plain sucks all the way around. I don’t agree with this woman making a public federal case out if it, but I do agree, that airlines don’t care, even though it’s ultimately on them, to provide reasonable transportation for the public. Having fat rolls touch you constantly from both sides no less, is not reasonable, and I’d argue, it’s unhygienic. I’ve been short my whole life. I remember not being able to get on a roller coaster when I was a kid, because I wasn’t tall enough. That was the rule. Why is it so hard for the airlines to do the same with fat people? Insist they buy an adjacent seat. Require it. While I don’t care for this woman’s approach in handling it, because she didn’t handle anything, I do agree she was short-changed in her purchase of her seat.
I was flying on a plane just a few days ago and was seated next to a very slim young man with pretty bad body odor; on another flight the person across the aisle smelled horribly of cigarette smoke. Once I sat next to a man who sat with his legs fully apart and took up most of my legroom. Should I get a refund for these? I’ve flown pretty considerably over the years and the seats and legroom have gotten smaller over the years. Crowding is not fully on the traveler… overall, it’s the problem of the airline.
I would say she wasn’t fatshaming, except for the name-calling and pictures. That was tacky behavior and uncalled for… and constituted fat-shaming.
Certainly the name-calling weakened her argument.
100% with you on this one Matt. I have sympathy for obese people. Some of my favorite people on the planet struggle with it. However it doesn’t change 2 basic facts…
1. She paid for the seat and is entitled to 100% of what she paid for. Every inch inside the arm rests is hers. If someone encroaches her space they are in the wrong. Regardless of circumstance.
2. Obesity is not healthy. The cost to our healthcare system is higher than any other disease. And when you consider the measures we needed to take during Covid to protect the obese the cost to society is nearly immeasurable.
We are not doing people any favors by pretending obesity is healthy. And nobody truly believes it anyway. So maybe we are overdue to have a conversation as a society about how to address it.
Why is everyone freaking out!!!
The good doctor got what she wanted…she got her 15 minutes of fame…
Yet, this blog string has lasted all day and into the evening.
Chill everyone…….
Matthew – you are spot on.
If somebody’s too fat to fit in a seat and they are going to intrude into the seat space that I purchased, they need to buy two. Anybody that says otherwise is clearly delusional…..or fat.
Yes the airline seat sizes are ridiculous, but it is what it is.
But they still weigh our luggage. Go figure.
Because they can charge you for having a big bag but can’t charge you for your own personal size.
Grateful article. If you want to be fat, fine, your personal choice. If you spill over from your seat – not OK.
Anyone ever seen wall-E ? Yup, that’s where we are heading. My brother is obese and loves in Europe, he LOVES America and especially Florida because there are so many fat people
people just like him. Great place, isn’t it? Next on the list of acceptable things are alcoholism, gambling and snorting Crack. All great stuff and if everyone around you would do it, so would you. So you seex the reason why people in Europe are slim is due to peer pressure. That’s a good thing. Accepting obesity and saying “it okay honey, it’s not your fault. here, have another bag of chips” is not.
And what’s definitely not acceptable is spilling onto my seat.
Matthew wrote:
“it’s simply unfair that your poor lifestyle choices should so negatively impact the passengers around you on an airplane.
Dieting takes discipline. Exercise takes discipline. Amazingly, it works. Offended? Go bark up a tree. Why did so many Americans die with COVID-19? Because they were obese. We’ve gone from a nation that accepts people for who they are to a nation that celebrates obesity. What a flawed era of human history we find ourselves in. Please, do watch this:”
Matthew is fat shaming. Bill Maher is something of a putz too.
I have no problem w/an airline following its own policy and another passenger should not spill into your seat or “space” but what a poor way of communicating that simple point. Shameful.
Airlines should flat out say all modern passenger economy seats are narrow. If you encroach on another passengers shoulders, or armrest, you will need to buy a second seat. To prevent embarrassment, denied boarding, or offloading if a flight is full, purchase a second seat.
No fat shaming here (like Matthew I respect many friends of larger stature). Some of my larger friends make excuses not to fly at all and miss out on career improving work functions etc.
but just LOOK at the difference in say Japan/China vs US. Japan and China Disney properties have zero motorized carts for the obese. Because they don’t need them. Their citizens either have better self control or better genes.
An obese person rarely buys a tiny car. They seek out restaurant without restrictive armrests on the seats. They can be very comfortable flying only on airlines with business class seats.
Unfortunately those who are too large to meet the airline requirements are in denial. They know they need two seats and don’t care. That is shameful! That said, if I were her, I would have asked for a resolution then and there or gotten off the plane. No touching!
It’s not denial, it’s price sensitivity. Many people choosing between double airfare cost and touching another person for a couple hours will pay themselves that 2nd airfare to be uncomfortable a bit.
Just like fat people have a medical reason to be fat, perhaps she has a medical reason to not want to be touched.
She has a legal right not to be touched.
Morbidly OBESE people NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY TRY TO BE CLEAN..tend to have dermal yeast infections and high staph levels…
NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO TOUCH THAT…
BUT she has the right to not have fat up against her PERIOD..
Sydney should have gone to the flight attendants to see if there was another seat available. I’m sure she did that because I have been a fan of hers for over a year. Sitting with no wiggle room between two people that are larger than the assigned seat space for hours is torture. It is not fat shaming, it’s airline shaming that makes its customers fend for themselves. Airlines purposely measure the smallest possible amount of space. Those two family members didn’t want to be squeezed in either. That’s what the unfortunate middle seat if for.
“Does this dress make me look tall ” said no wife ever….
A few months ago I flew on a 12+ hour flight (UA, TLV- EWR). I had the window seat in coach, the middle seat was occupied by a teenaged girl, and a very overweight individual sat down in the aisle seat, and proceeded to pick up the arm rest. The girl looked at me hopelessly, but when I whispered into her ear ” do you want me to call a flight attendant” , she answered back “not worth hurting someone else’s feelings “. I was blown away (and sorry my own son is too young to marry her). I thought the flight purser should have picked up on that, and tried to find another empty seat, although, according to the seat map, there weren’t any.
I do think that in flights over a certain time/ distance, there should be extra attention paid to this issue by either the gate agents or cabin crew.
First read I must say I was a bit pissed hearing obese or fat . I am tiny girl 105 at one time I hit 250 . During my pregnancy damn I worked my ass off. I also had a mother who had gastric bypass. .Now with that I hate the fact of being closed in on subway bus train even waiting in a office no one usually sits in the seats available for simple Fact they can’t fit. I have 3 generation of chefs I also know I would love to eat gluten it brings me to tears but just like me I choose to do the healthy thing f no I don’t like it all the time but damn. Truth Hurts no one can handle it today not politically correct. Bull Shazam when are people going to live live the truth not in fear fear to deal with a child because they didn’t get a trophy the truth is life is what it is success and failure drive passion or depression. No one wants to be their Authentic self .If you don’t agree I do not care because today I love me I have great appreciation for the world. Society has become the passive predictable almost robotic world Speak up be you no hesitation or doubt self love comes from within. Loyalty to oneself!
As is in the wrong they did not give her her rights . They answered her with a total fear based answer afraid of a boycott and having a bunch of picketers outside all their airlines cuz America is obese it says it in the medical journals it’s on the news everyday there’s a McDonald’s every mile if not more a Burger King always a line through the drive-thru People love the unkept weight .
For any other reason skinny and fit people aren’t liked either but that is the abnormal.
If you don’t like what I said blame it on ADHD lol
Sounds like the doctor had a terrible experience….yet thankfully she was not surrounded by a “thirsty seat mate with a hollow leg” on each side…..
The increasing weight of passengers, in general, is becoming a safety of flight issue. There was another news story of a chartered flight with a football team where the team was loaded wrong and the 737 fell back on its tail at the gate. Needles to say, the football team didn’t fly that day.
Link: https://airinsight.com/the-pending-new-faa-weight-balance-rules/
I would have complained prior to take off not wait until after the fact. Now if nothing would be done then continue to climb that corporate complaint ladder. No I would Not sit there smelling that persons arms that close much less them rubbing on me, or as she puts it sandwich no personal space.
One side I’ve dealt with not both, heck no!
Complain away girl! Good luck!
Some people really must not have read this entire article. Specifically those of you saying she should have switched seats and letthe two passengers sit together. SHE DID ASK!! THEY REFUSED.
The airlines have worked on shrinking seats as passengers have gotten larger. Of course there is a disagreement between airlines profits and passenger comforts. Rude flight attendants on USA airlines, shocking and something new (not). I don’t know where the American Airlines supposed policy came from but I looked up their policy on their website and it talked about safety.
Quote: “Extra space during travel
If a customer needs extra space outside a single seat to travel safely, another seat is required. We encourage customers to address all seating needs when booking.
When you call to book, Reservations will make sure you get 2 adjacent seats at the same rate.
If you didn’t book an extra seat in advance, ask an airport agent to find out if 2 adjacent seats are available.
You may be offered a seat in a higher class of service that may provide more space; in this case, you’ll be responsible for the fare difference.
If accommodations can’t be made on your original flight, you can buy seats on a different flight at the same price as your original seats.”
I’ve booked an extra seat before. The airline will charge you for it but can take it back and essentially say screw you (supposedly they just refund the purchase price so they make extra money while screwing you on an overbooked airplane). Booking was easy on JetBlue but a nightmare on Singapore Airlines. When you sit, you have to maintain your seat and extra seat. I wish the airlines sold wider seats and narrower seats. 15% more for a 2 inch wider seat, 15% less for a 2 inch narrower seat all in a group of three seats. It would soon become obvious what the flying public wants after voting with their money. An interesting thing on AirAsia flights, I was able to get three seats to myself and extra knee room by paying extra for exit row seats. It was great. AirAsia charges more for premium seats but not excessively. Most passengers opted for the cheapest seats and were crowded together. Some tried to self upgrade but the flight attendants made them return to their original seats.
I am not a skinny woman, I’m a size 20 which is considered to be obese, I’ll own that. And, I am someone who watches what I eat and does exercise as well, aside from my weight I am very healthy. Having said that, I do my absolute best not to encroach on someone else’s seat when flying, I don’t like it when someone does it to me…so I do my best not to do it to anyone else. Now, I do fit into American Airlines seats without spilling over, I CAN manage not to touch the person next to me, and no…I do not require a seat belt extender. BUT…that’s a huge but, and no it’s not my butt…American Airlines has made their seats smaller, they have even added a row of seats in economy which cramps people even further together, it is truly a safety issue that they will one day regret (I also happen to work in aerospace and my husband works for American, he can confirm they have added seats.) Unfortunately, this means people have even less space than we used to. I am 5’7″ and in a regular economy seat…I’m very cramped with leg room. My husband is 6’2″ and has to have an aisle seat (we always try to get an exit row or right behind first class if we aren’t flying standby.)
Bottom line is this in my view, if airlines are going to cram us in like sardines then it is that much more important to enforce their own policies. If you cannot fit in your seat without encroaching on someone else, then yes…you must be required to purchase an extra seat if you wish to fly. Or even talk to the counter prior to your flight to see if you can be seated in a row where there is an extra empty seat (flight attendants will help when they can.)
As for the whole seatbelt extender thing. That doesn’t always work, have you ever noticed that not all seatbelts are the same in any given row? Some are much longer than others. Yes, they are supposed to all be the same, but they just aren’t, so you can’t go by that.
I don’t blame the woman for being upset and the reason those two other passengers didn’t switch seats is this….they too didn’t want to have someone else spilling over on to them; instead they made her endure them doing it to her…that’s not right either.
How about this unpopular notion in today’s modern day ultra sophisticated society…”Love your neighbor (or fellow passenger) as yourself”?…wasn’t the original complaint from a “conservative” after all? Lol….
Sometimes, true love is tough. Loving does not always equal affirmation.
Based on her experience, I foresee the good doctor ⚕️ buying first class or economy plus in the future.
Once someone’s body is pressing against another person against their will, that’s assault. AA failed to protect this woman from physical assault.
America is majority obese – like it is majority white…. So, deal with it, you hatemonger! Here’s a better idea for all the weight supremacists vomiting neon bile: Instead of blowing alot of hot, putrid air judging and hating fat folks for being fat, you skinny bigots – including the entitled Karen cynically exploiting this situation to blow off hateful steam! – should direct your hateful outrage at the airlines for cramming their planes with all those those truly despicable “slim line” seats and not at fat folks who pay the same money and suffer the same discomfort “put upon” skinny passengers do!!! smdh
If seats were designed for the fat monsters, the planes could only host half the seats. So ticket costs would be way higher and the normale people would’ve to pay for the obesity of others.
What they are doing already in the health system.
Matt is right,it’s not OK,frankly to be in that position would be torture.I always go for an aisle seat,and if flying economy,gladly pay for it.Dont know why society decided it’s ok to be so unhealthy.The number of one time perfect physique celebs gone obese(Marlon Brando,Val Kilmer,Jack Nicholson,,Richard Dean Anderson,Geena Davis,Candace Bergen,etc)only validates unhealthy image.
I had a similar experience. I was sandwiched between 2 obese females who were life partners and wanted to converse through the flight by talking over me. They refused to switch seats with me and I understand that it wasn’t to their advantage to switch. I dealt with it by pushing the armrests down so that there was some space to call my own. At least that way all 3 of us could be uncomfortable and cramped instead of just me. I dealt with the chatter overhead by reading a book and listening to music. Multiple times I made the lady on the aisle get up and let me out to stretch my legs and use the restroom. I warned them I would have to use the restroom a lot so I didn’t feel bad about making her get up, even if I had to wake her. I could have dealt with it better if they had at least been personable to me but they were very much in their own world with each other and i got the consideration of a fly as I sat between them. I’m looking forward to the day when we pay for tickets by our weight. Or when we all have to stand in the scales, just like the luggage.
Who, what, where, why, REALLY???.. I have been skinny, obese, and skinny again. It is so horrifically uncomfortable being fat, it’s hard to move bend, climb stairs, etc etc etc. I have flown hundreds of times and been so infuriated I want to scream. It is a shame the seats are so small, it is a shame there is a weight limit for an enormous metal bird to leave the ground, and it is a shame that now post COVID it’s ok to touch and sweat on others again. I see this situation as being body shaming to the passenger that takes care of herself and lives a healthy lifestyle and just does not want to be touched. Uhmm when did that become a bad thing? Being fat is depressing, unhealthy, and is a national problem. It was rude of the passengers to make a small stranger sit between them, knowing how airline seats are restricting.
This is a no win situation. For every person that is appalled about the Fat Shaming, there are most likely an equal amount of folks offended with the seat encroachment aspect. I think what we have here are 3 self absorbed, entitled people not caring to examine how their actions impact others, nor considering any type of shared public space etiquette.
As far as AAs response, it seemed right in line with the way most business/corporations are handling all the wokeness in our society today. Had they responded empathetically to Dr. Sydney, or had they attempted to enforce the policy requiring an additional seat purchase, the woke mob would be coming for AA with pitchforks and any smart, honest person will concede that point. To be honest other than being way to woke for my comfort level I didn’t find the response from AA to be taunting or inappropriate. While I think the crew could have attempted to reseat the person squished in the middle if at all possible, I also think that it’s on all of us to understand when we are out in public and using transportation most companies are fairly powerless to improve their patrons attitude or consideration of others. It’s easy to blame AA but they had the least ability to rectify the situation.
My bottom line is this situation highlights issues that plague and permeate our society and rather than focusing on the more important issues of personal responsibility and consideration of others, instead people want to bash the business that has little control over how people are conducting themselves these days. At the rate that flight crews are being attacked by crazy passengers, I am not so sure it’s appropriate to have expected assistance in reseating unless it could have been done in a quiet discreet way. I also think that since the customer reached out so publicly AA had to sanitize their response for the masses where as had she reached out more privately she may have received a more personal response and possibly even some compensation. Business have to be so conscious of lawsuits and where they may give offense and double and triple checking the neutrality of any public response I wonder how much it ties their hands in certain aspects?
seat belt extender – buy two seats….good reason not to oversell a plane and leave some empty seats. not full optimal load factors.
had similar problems with obese on 2 easyjet flights of late….might be my last time flying easyjet, though I like their baggage policies.
Wow. And the siblings even knew that they are too fat to sit next to each other and they needed a normal person next to them – so they declined to sit next to each other. They intentionally accepted the inconvenience of someone else due to their obesity.
From my point of view she wasn’t rude and her tone was totally appropriate to the situation she was facing.
Speaking in general, fat shaming should be the norme in society. Fat people should definitely feel bad about their body. Its unhealthy and disgusting (smell, sweat, space and optics). Fat people are an imposition to other people.
>95% of them are responsible for their situation and could do something about it.
Look at the numbers of obese people 100 years ago, its obviously just about food and exercise.
So yes, they are lazy and have no discipline.
I’m very disappointed in you Matt. You clearly did not research obesity, and yes, you are fat-shaming, and you are show-casing your white privilege and economic station. Obesity is complex and the majority is not just because it’s eating. If you did any modicum of research, obesity involves biological, economic, environmental, societal, genetics, prenatal and early life influences. You are white and economicially advantaged, so you don’t know this. Black, Native Americans (continental and Alaskan and Hawaiian), PI, and Hispanic (re: non-white like you) have significant prevalence of obesity – you are none of those and do not understand the factors. Income under $75k have significant prevalence of obesity. You used CDC for Covid, but you deliberately made a choice not to look further into obesity from CDC or other healthcare websites. Again, yes, you are fat-shaming, and you also may be racist with your diatribe against obese people without having one iota of knowledge of the factors of the two obese people sitting next to a economically privileged white person.
I have been a regular reader, but no more. I know, come back with your snarky comment about “good riddance” or whatever else you write or think. Be proud of your white privilege.
You’re deeply mistaken, Sammy. But thanks for taking the time to write. No snark.
Obesity is – in an overwhelming amount of cases – not complex. It’s just about eating too much and not enough exercising.
It’s not about being privileged. I was living out of 600 EUR per month for years (in Germany), which was way below the poverty limit, and guess what: I was able to eat something else than McDonalds or potato chips! Incredible, I know. But it’s possible to just not each garbage.
You don’t have to make a matter of race out of it. That’s disgusting. Black or native Americans have the same level of intelligence as white Americans and they are also able to make smart decisions on their own. They are able to learn about sugar and fat and can decide to eat less shit. If they don’t, they are responsible and to blame for their obesity.
So please stop spreading racist nonsense.
It’s as bad as the person sitting next to you falling asleep and their body starting to invade your space!
The flight attendants should have been more receptive to her situation. Not much could have been done if it was a full flight other than asking the obese pair to sit together.
I was recently sat next to an extremely over weight man on a flight. He was so big his “roll ” which was equivalent to the average size male arm was literally in my lap. This was extremely unfair to me. Tbh this has nothing to do with be fat phobic or anything else. This has to do with what’s fair and violating my rights. In my mind I paid for a seat which starts at one half an armrest and goes to the half way point on the other armrest. I bought and paid for that lil bit of already uncomfortable personal space and I don’t need or want anyone in it. That means fat, skinny, white, black, male, female. Nobody should be in the lil bit of space I have. If u can’t fit in a seat, thats not my problem and I shouldn’t be punished or be uncomfortable for it. U need to take measures to make sure u are not in someone’s else bought and paid for personal space. Either loose weight, buy 2 tickets or 1st class seats or find another means of transportation. But riding in my lap should not be an option.
Make the gate narrower so the fats can’t get through.