A “plus-size” travel influencer says an airport worker in Seattle refused to push her in a wheelchair when she saw how large she was. Forced to walk up the jetbridge herself, she nearly fainted due to a lack of oxygen.
Plus-Size Passenger Saus Airport Worker Refuses To Help Her In Wheelchair, Forced Her To Walk, Leaving Her In Desperate Need Of Oxygen
I’ve written about 27-year-old Jaelynn Chaney before, a travel influencer on TikTok who went viral for suggesting smaller passengers should subsidize larger seats for passengers of size like her.
> Read More: Passenger Of Size Demands Larger Seats On Taxpayer’s Dime
In her latest post, she shares of an incident that took place at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) after her flight:
My ordeal at SeaTac Aiport will shock you. This experience I’m about to share with you is yet another example of why employee sensitivity training…is desperately needed.
I’m a plus-size wheelchair user and on a recent flight to the SeaTac airport, I requested wheelchair assistance, as I always do.
When it came time for me to deplane, I saw the employee who would be assisting me with my wheelchair waiting for me in the entry of the jet bridge. As l approached her and she realized she’d be assisting me and not one of the smaller passengers she started to walk away with the wheelchair while making comments about my size.
Even when I told her I really needed the chair and needed her to let me sit down in it she blatantly ignored me and kept walking. I was then forced to walk up one of the longest jet bridges I’ve encountered and she didn’t stop.
By the time she let me reach the wheelchair and sit down my lips were white, my oxygen levels had dropped, and I almost fainted. This was my first time flying without oxygen.
This woman first assumed I could walk and would rather me do that instead of her having to push someone my size up the fet bridge. All the other attendants wheeled their passengers up the jet bridge but my needs were disregarded.
This is discrimination. NoBODY should be treated this way.
@jaebaeofficial Wasn’t sure when I’d share this, but staying silent isn’t an option anymore. If you’ve faced something similar, you’re not alone. Discrimination is real, and I don’t want anyBODY else to ever experience something like this. I don’t plan on stopping the fight for change in the travel industry and beyond. EveryBODY deserves respect and dignity, regardless of size, ability, or any other factor. Let’s stand together to ensure equality for all. • • • #BodyEqualityInTravel #TravelForAll #AccessForAll #PlusSize #PlusSizeTravel #FlyingWhileFat #TravelingWhileFat #FlyingWhilePlusSize #PlusSizeTravelPetition
I don’t believe that we should coddle the overweight by offering them one or two extra free seats, as Southwest Airlines does, but that’s not all the point of this story. Here I am outraged, but outraged in defense of Chaney.
> Read More: On Empathy And Compassion, Concerning Passengers Of Size
First, it is shameful if this woman was abandoned by an airport worker because of her size. I realize it might be difficult to push someone so large in a wheelchair, but that does not mean she can just be left to fend for herself. Indeed, if I were her attorney, I’d be exploring litigation. Also, if she truly could not walk the jetbridge (and it appears she could not), she should have refused to move at all until a wheelchair was brought to her. I don’t blame her for that, but just because a specific airport worker acts like a jerk does not mean you have to walk if you cannot walk.
But more importantly, this is a woman whose presence on social media is geared toward “fat positivity” and embracing plus sizes. I hope that this incident will push her to more soberingly confront that she cannot travel without oxygen or walk more than few feet without stopping to catch her breath. This is no laughing matter and this is not scorn: her weight and lifestyle are crippling and for anyone who thinks that they can be proud of a body like that, just look at her panting for breath and requiring a portable oxygen tank when she travels.
CONCLUSION
Folks, it is unacceptable that an airport worker would determine that a woman did not need wheelchair assistance: that is simply wrong. But please wake up: Chaney is on a path toward very premature death and that is nothing to be proud of. I hope that the airport worker is held accountable. But I hope that Chaney uses this incident to even more aggressively transform her life in a positive way. Her current body, as we so clearly see in this story, is nothing to be celebrated. I wish her great success in changing her lifestyle.
image: jaebaeoffical / TikTok
Why is this woman even traveling if she’s so fat she can’t even walk up a jet bridge? If she can’t even do that you just know she could drop dead at anytime. I would never venture more than 500 feet from the nearest hospital if that were me (Although I would never destroy my body so in the first place).
Also, why should an airport employee be forced to push her massive bulk up the jet bridge like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill?
Quick … sign her to a women’s basketball team .
I say this as a former fat person (although never near this size) and having lost 100 pounds – why should a worker put themselves at risk of an injury for your “disability”, which is completely self inflicted? Should she be left without accommodations? Nope. But should she expect the world to just bend over backwards to accommodate her? Also nope.
I think that’s a fair point. But if the worker felt s/he would be hurt, then get a colleague, right? Don’t leave the passegner to fend for herself.
Do we know for certain that the wheelchair attendant didn’t head up the ramp to call for a supervisor or another colleague who had the physical strength to push someone who weighs 3-4 fold what an average person weighs? This “influencer” routinely makes ridiculous, attention-grabbing sensationalized posts, so I have to question whether or not we’re getting the full story here.
And while I strongly advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and the differently-abled, this glutton is, quite frankly, not worthy of our sympathy. She is not disabled. She’s super morbidly obese. And unless she is flying to Houston for an appointment with Dr. Nowzardan for a sleeve gastrectomy or bypass, she has no business on a plane. Planes are simply not designed for people with a BMI in excess of 100.
This “influencer” routinely makes ridiculous, attention-grabbing sensationalized posts, so I have to question whether or not we’re getting the full story here.
This is a very important point. It gets her clicks and views on Tiktok.
This
So all people who are overweight are all self inflicted?? Statistically speaking anyone 25-50lbs is considered obese and anything over 50lbs is classified as being morbidly obese.
Have you seen what big corporations are doing with our food supply everything is NOT self-inflicted!
Do big corporations force people to eat? Sure the food is terrible and unhealthy and addictive. But at some point a person needs to open their eyes and take responsibility for their actions.
That’s incorrect. A 10kg excess on a tall person has far less impact than on a shorter one. Also, blaming ‘corporations’ for obesity is pathetic. We are all responsible for what we eat.
I agree TOTALLY…Why should any employee anywhere, be subjected yo injury by pushing someone in a wheelchair. Does the employee then get workers compote for back injury???
Another lost soul crying out for attention. Perhaps if she did that more often she wouldn’t be plus size.
she could use a bit more of walking instead of relying upon others to move that blimp she calls a body
she needs to lose 125 pounds over the next 2 months. If she were to follow the Dr Now diet, she could lose more than 200 pounds over that time period.
She is as tall as she is wide. Maybe next time try rolling like a ball.
If she really can’t breathe simply walking onto the plane I’m surprised the airline would risk carrying her as a pax. What would happen if there was a pressurization emergency and O2 levels suddenly dropped?
Such a good point. If she requires that level of care and attention, an airplane isn’t the place for her.
Wheelchair??? It is obvious that a Forklift would be needed…
Plus sized… why not call her what she is… fat!
We try to be polite.
Prospect workers are making near minimum wage and most cappers don’t tip them. The employee might have decided the job wasn’t worth it and quit on the spot. Who could blame them?
As for she was going to Seattle? Easy, it’s May and it’s the time of year the whales start showing up in Puget Sound.
I would feel more compassion if the article didn’t include the word “influencer”.
Stop calling her plus sized. She’s obese…very close to morbidly obese. If you can’t walk up a jet bridge because of your lifestyle choices, that’s on you. Stop normalizing fat people.
She is even beyond morbid obesity, which is defined by a BMI of 40-49.9. She likely passes super morbid obesity (BMI 50-59.9) and extreme super morbid obesity (BMI 60-64.9). She likely falls into “triple obesity,” which is a BMI over 65. For example, if she were 5’8″ and 450#, her BMI would be 68.4. At 5’10 and 500#, her BMI would be 71.7.
In the event of an emergency evacuation, she would be a huge liability probably causing a danger to life for the rest of the passengers and crew. I’m surprised the airline accepted her to fly. She appears to be a sensationalist using her obesity to embarrass others and I’m sure the airlines are now aware of her.
Yes. When seconds count, can you imagine having your family stuck behind some who is this large trying to exit the airplane. Can she even fit out an over-wing exit? Maybe Boeing and Air Bus should include 2 or 3 people of this size when they conduct their evacuation demonstrations.
“Also, if she truly could not walk the jetbridge (and it appears she could not)…”
But, apparently, she CAN and DID walk up the jet bridge. She just wants someone to be her personal servant and do the hard work for her, so she won’t get short of breath. Because she’s entitled to inflict her personal challenges on everyone else. She wants free seats, instead of paying for the space she actually occupies. She wants a free chair-pushing assistant, instead of hiring an assistant to travel with her (which she seems to clearly need). Much more satisfying to play the victim on TikTok than to accept responsibility for your own problems.
She’s disabled, and by treating her like this the airline sets itself up for big trouble.
There are state and federal laws, and also she can sue the airlines.
Right or wrong, this is the correct analysis.
The employee is also in trouble if they did something they couldn’t or shouldn’t have done by themselves, such as pushing a heavyweight by themselves and perhaps hurting their back and being put on disability leave (government Laws in California anyway, protect the employee too). He should have called for help and 2 people can push her.
While she is certainly entitled to “reasonable accommodations” under the law if she is in fact disabled, nothing in state or federal law would require someone to put themselves in mortal danger to “accommodate” this two-legged sea cow.
She’s not disabled. They only thing disabled on her is the voice that tells her to stop eating. You don’t get this huge because id genetics. Stop normalizing this…it’s unhealthy
The airport worker has a right not to be injured. There are size and height restrictions at theme parks for rides. There should be size restrictions for commercial aviation. It is a matter of safety. I myself am fat. I’m working on it but I don’t pretend it’s not disgusting and unhealthy. If you are fat, you are fat. No sugar coating it. There is a difference between being fat, 50-79 pounds overweight, and being morbidly obese.
We are always held back by this nonsense.
I don’t know what it’s like in the USA, but, in Europe, individual bags may not weigh more than 32kg to avoid injury to baggage handlers.
She needs to lose weight and take personal responsibility for her health.
Just “How Much” special attention should an airport or airline provide? …
I don’t understand why she would be on the jet bridge. Shouldn’t she be unloaded by the cargo handlers?
God forbid everyone had to exit the plane in a emergency, if she fell down have the plane would be endanger
So what do we do? Fat people can’t go on roller coasters and airplanes?
He makes a very good point. You wrote the other day about how seconds can determine life or death on an emergency evacuation. remember you criticizing people for leaving the plane with their carry on. Now, imagine a fire on board and people need to rush to the emergency exit to save their lives. Suddenly this “fitted” influencer is blocking the aisle because she cannot move fast enough and nobody can pass her. Imagine you behind her, fire taking over the plane and she cannot move. Scary, right?
Not really. It’s not safe for other people & it’s not safe for the morbidly obese.
There are height & weight limits on rides for a reason.
I’m not a huge safety advocate, but it’s fun to use the generally “woke” safety excuse to inject some common sense into the conversation.
Flights always mention importance of safety. If that’s really the case then they need to widen the aisles so plus sized passengers like her can safely exit the plane alongside others in an emergency.
Amusement parks normally operate on that system. Some attractions will have a demo seat at the start of the queue if there’s any concerns about sizing. As far as I know, if you don’t fit in the seat and the restraint system can’t engage, you can’t ride.
Greyhound
Why should anyone be responsible for her bad decisions. You choose to be fat that is your choice. There are so many choices out there to help you to lose weight. Do not cost the rest of America to pay for your bad decisions. Your fat because you choice. I do not force food into your mouth. It is your decision. I use to be overweight but I changed that.
No offense, but she should buy 2 to 3 seat, discounted of course. She’s inconveniencing other passengers who are just struggling with these uncomfortable tiny seats for a little personal space. She knows her condition. She’s aware of her disability, problem. Others should not suffer. If she cannot fly safely, in 2-3 seats, a row, she shouldn’t travel. And with the health conditions, she should travel with a personal nurse.
Under every COS policy, she likely does have to purchase an extra seat if there are no open seats.
Who did the videoing of her? Why didn’t they help push her?
Why not use a battery operated trike or 4 wheel mobility device that would be checked and brought up to the jetbridge and available for her to “motor” herself away up the bridge and down the concourse?
It would need a V-8 engine.
There is a fine line on what we should and shouldn’t do as an employee. Maybe the employee had a bad back in which case should have called on another employee who would be willing to do the job.
It is true that OBESITY is a disability in which case, should have been noted when ordering wheelchair service.
I agree, the wheelchair attendant should not have abandoned her and not helped; however from her video walking down an airplane aisle (quite far down) she appears very nimble; so, after sitting/resting on a flight she just arrive on; it appears she really may have been able to walk from the airplane door to the exit of the jetbridge.
She’s a fat pig and I have no sympathy for her. Her whole gig is give me more- rather than think how can I be healthy and live a more productive lifestyle- much less care for others.
In short she’s disgusting and doesn’t deserve one IOTA’s worth of sympathy.
I’ve known a number of overweight people who deserved care and love and who worked hard to better themselves.
She isn’t one of them. She gives them a bad name that isn’t deserved.
I sympathize with this woman and her weight problem. I am certain she does not want to be this big and require assistance. However, the employee was likely a small person who is not a weight lifter and cannot be expected to push a few hundred pounds up a jetway. That is simply unrealistic. I have pushed wheel chairs with people in them on a flat surface and it takes strength and energy, especially on a carpet surface. If I would have been assigned to push her up a jetway on a carpet surface, I too would have walked away. I am not shaming the overweight woman as I am an overweight man myself (just not this big). She is being unreasonable.
She needs Ozempic.
It’s possible the airport worker’s thought process was not so much “I’m not going to do this out of discrimination for fat people” so much as “This looks like a workers comp disaster waiting to happen for me”. It is entirely possible that two staff members were needed. It is also entirely possible that the airport worker’s boss didn’t plan appropriately or hoped that the worker would just give in without demanding their right to a safe work environment with appropriate safety equipment. I agree with you that the passenger should have waited for an appropriate escort.
Simply a cow.
I can just imagine some 120 lb minimum wage airport worker waiting on the jet bridge when that walking blood clot steps out expecting to be wheeled out of there and saying, “I don’t get paid enough for this” before taking off.
I will bet she doesn’t run short of oxygen when she’s eating.
Is flying a right or a privilege? Airlines have already determined some behaviors are unacceptable and the passengers can not be allowed to fly. Perhaps it is time to also set physical parameters as well. If an individual cannot be accommodated in a seat or be boarded safely, without risk to others, then they should not be on the flight. For some this may sound harsh but there are limits to how much can be done.
The airport worker wasn’t willing to risk injury pushing that beached whale up the jet bridge. I would have done the same thing – Airport is in a box here – are they going to risk the OSHA investigations and fines or the ADA investigations and fines?
On another note – of you can’t walk 100 feet without oxygen, you might want to rethink your necessity to travel, or you know, stop eating. Am I Fatphobic? No, you misunderstand the meaning of the word. No one is afraid of these people, you can simply get away from them (by their own admission) by simply walking a few feet in the opposite direction.
Matthew, your take is ridiculous. This young woman can obviously walk herself just fine (for now). It also fails to consider the impact on the airport employee. Until there is a way for these workers to be notified AHEAD of time the weight of the passenger asking for wheelchair assistance, I think it should be up to an individual employee. They could be seriously injured by pushing such a heavy weight up the sky bridge THEMSELVES. If a Flight Attendant isn’t “supposed to lift passengers carry-ons” up into the overhead bin, or at least at their own discretion due to possible injury. Then why can’t the wheelchair workers decide what they can and can’t do??? If such a morbidly obese person is flying, then THEY need to let the next gate know that a person over the “standard” weight (say 300 lbs or less) of a person will be arriving. It may take 2 employees or a special wheelchair. Period. Your sacrificing the health and wellbeing of the airport employee for a passenger who frankly fid this to themselves (and chose not to travel with her oxygen which she normally bri gs with her due to her being so out of shape and unhealthy I might add). Ridiculous and shameful on your part Matthew!!!
I actually agree with you…
but that’s not what accommodation/disability law requires.
I was looking at this from a liability perspective and how this obese person now has legal grounds to sue.
If the airline or airport is going to discriminate based on weight, then it should say so in advance.
And if it does, and these people construe their slothful laziness as a disability because in rare cases it is, then airlines and airports get sued.
The world is as we find it, not as we want it to be or as it should…
Would it be easier if Jaelynn Chaney just simply roll herself (same ways Panda and bears roll around) to her seat? If panda, bears can roll themselves she sure can do the same. Jaelynn Chaney is a lazy fat psycho b*tch.
The only thing that was “shocked” that day at seatac were the 3 orders of large fries that she was hammering through her food hole.
Rightfully so… this woman gets no sympathy in the comments section.
It’s certainly an interesting discussion.
You’re demanding free extra seat??? You’re so funny like the airline owes you a favor. Lose weight girl…
With your size you need to buy a business class or first class seat. Think how uncomfortable the person seating next to you will feel..
There’s no way some poor female wheelchair pusher could have gotten her up the jetway. I doubt the attendant would have been injured because I don’t think she could even have moved the chair. I’ve tried to push normal weight people up the jetway and often can’t do it. I would recommend a motorized cart or two strong men to do the pushing or a weekly injection of Zepbound.
She made it to the jet way she said she couldn’t make it to.
Maybe with a little more exertion and a little less whining you would be able to help yourself and not whimper for others to take up your slack.
Well, are you feeling good tonight after your show with Bill Maher??? In America: About 74 percent of adults in the U.S. are overweight, according to the CDC. That includes nearly 43 percent who are considered obese.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › rese…
News: About 74 percent of adults in the U.S…. (The Washington Post) – NCBI
I watched your show everyday here in Pensacola! I love, appreciate, respect your humor, and the show gets my best laughs on politics, popular unrealistic stories, your jokes, your basic points of views with you and your guests! But, tonight I’m appalled, disappointed, disgusted, and your distasteful, gross, ugly, repulsive attitude towards overweight, curvy, and obese people!! You and your staff truly were within a problem of today ( overweight people), but not up with how society is treating people with weight problems! Trying to help people to cope with their weight issues and accept how they feel, look…. And maintain any medical conditions that may cause weight gain, has just been destroyed in your 15 minute segment!
Why! You really don’t accept this problem! You can’t look at obese people! You don’t have any idea of what these people actually go through! The woman you used as the backdrop of your segment may have gotten out of breath due to walking sideways down the aisle! Carrying extra pounds is exhausting and gives you hot flashes, takes your breath away with sweat underneath your eyes, chin, on your forehead, and behind your ears! You may think that person was using the wheel chair person as a slave, but you aren’t sure she might have extreme pain from osteoarthritis! That type of medical condition keeps you from getting around planes, walking down the street, walks in parks, getting your mail, putting your clothes on, climbing or descending stairs, and doing basic physical activities.
I looked at the woman on the plane! She was dressed very nice, obviously needed to fly, and I’m sure she felt very embarrassed by the flight attendant’s attitude! Not knowing what airport, I was wondering why they didn’t support her! Even Walmart has mobility with motors! I would think in our modern world each airport would have a mobile device that helps individuals navigate with a flight attendant, helping them both!
Yes, she’s suing whom ever, but out of feeling embarrassed, unable to help herself, and frustrated, she needs to sue… maybe to help all of us view her perception is the main factor behind her abilities to live a normal life as best she can!
Thats my perception…. When you invite her on your show I’ll sit down and watch once again!
Have successfully great week!
While this take may be simplistic, I see it as an issue similar to people traveling with carry-on luggage they can’t lift themselves. I’m not helping you put it in the overhead because god forbid I accidentally drop it and hurt myself or others. Or damage the luggage and then be a target of the owner’s retaliation. Or the FA, who’s not obligated to help in any way, hurt themselves or others.
An obese person cannot evacuate a plane in a timely manner. An obese person sitting in an aisle or middle seat blocks another passenger in an event of an emergency. An obese passenger is a danger to themselves AND other people.
Listen, you can be obese. For most of them, it’s a lifestyle choice. (You can save the pontification about how food nowadays is terrible, addictive, etc. I’m aware of it. But that doesn’t make you 200+ pounds overweight, just one or two standard deviations unhealthy.) But. your right to live an unhealthy lifestyle ends when it puts me literally in harm’s way.
Exactly! If this woman can’t walk more than a few feet, where is her personal chair??? I believe she used this situation to create a video to go viral to promote her agenda. Obviously she had a companion who video taped the entire situation. Video clearly showed her walking without stopping to end of jetway. If she was out of o2 she would have stopped along the way for rest, ect. And when she got in terminal was it her expectation the person would push her all around the terminal? And once outside of terminal, what about all the walking. If she truly needed not wanted assistance then she should have her own equipment (chair) This situation actually makes me mad as I am a wheelchair user and you bring what you need when you travel if you have a disability. Wheelchair users have enough trials with travel without someone creating a situation to increase their viewership…