A petite woman says Southwest Airlines removed her from a full flight to make room for an overweight teenager, The Sacramento Bee reports.
The newspaper says the incident involving the 5-foot-4, 110-pound woman “happened last week on an early-evening Southwest flight from Las Vegas to Sacramento.”
The Bee reports that the woman paid to upgrade to Southwest’s full fare so that she could fly standby on the flight. The newspaper adds she was given the “last available seat, got on board, stowed her bags and sat down – only to be told she would have to deplane immediately.”
That, of course, was so the airline could accommodate the heavy passenger that needed two seats.
Then, the booted woman — the Bee writes “she has asked to remain anonymous for fear some may regard her as insensitive” — claims she was berated by Southwest workers when she questioned their decision.
Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis acknowledged to the Bee the airline could have managed the incident more carefully. “We know this was awkward and we should have handled it better,” she tells the paper.
Still, Southwest spokesman Paul Flannigan tells The 33 News of Dallas/Fort Worth that extenuating circumstances that made the situation difficult.
“The passenger in question was a minor who was traveling alone,” Flannigan tells the station. “Normally if the passenger were an adult, she would be required to purchase an extra ticket, but we did not want to leave the 14-year-old stranded.”
McInnis adds to the Bee that the airline’s staff also may have been reluctant to put the teenage girl into a possibly embarrassing situation.
Southwest put the thinner woman on a later flight. Company officials say the airline will apologize to the woman and offer her credit toward a future flight.
