Airlines Slammed on Large Passengers
Wed Jun 19, 8:11 PM ET

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines ( news - web sites) is under fire for its policy of charging overweight passengers for two tickets if they spill over into their neighbor's seat.

The airline says it is trying to provide a comfortable flight for travelers seated next to large passengers.

"We sell seats, and if you consume more than one seat, you have to buy more than one seat," said Beth Harbin, a Southwest spokeswoman.

Advocates for the obese are outraged.

"It's just discriminatory and it's mean-spirited," said Morgan Downey, executive director of the American Obesity Association. "This is singling out a group that's been very heavily stigmatized rather than making some accommodations in their cabins."

Downey, whose group has not received specific complaints about the airline's policy, says Southwest and other carriers should make wider seats because Americans are getting larger; the Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than one-fourth of Americans are obese.

Southwest, whose seats are 18 inches wide, does not weigh or measure passengers. Ticket agents can "make a judgment call" and ask an obese person whether he or she usually takes up more than one seat, Harbin said. If the answer is yes, the person is asked to buy two seats.

The second seat costs the same as the original fare, unless the passenger is a walkup customer paying the highest price. In that case, the second ticket is discounted, Harbin said. The passenger can get a refund later if the flight is not sold out, the airline spokeswoman said.

Southwest said there is nothing new in its handling of obese passengers. Harbin said the carrier has followed the same policy since 1980, although employees were reminded of the policy as the carrier began switching this week to a new automated boarding pass instead of its old, familiar plastic passes.

Several other carriers have similar policies, including Houston-based Continental and Fort Worth-based American, which requires purchase of a second seat for customers who "protrude extensively into an adjacent seat." Northwest Airlines ( news - web sites) allows the passenger to buy the second seat at the same price paid for the first seat rather than a more expensive last-minute rate.

"That's a compromise, and we're coming quite a ways with that. It's a very difficult issue," said Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch.

Delta does not require obese passengers to buy a second ticket and tries to handle complaints by moving passengers to empty seats or other flights, a spokeswoman said. United also does not require purchase of a second ticket, a spokesman said.

Southwest said its double-ticket policy on obese passengers was prompted by complaints from other travelers. Harbin, the airline spokeswoman, said nine out of 10 letters to customer service come from passengers who were crowded by large neighbors.

The airlines said they don't know how many times an obese passenger is required to buy two tickets, but they consider it rare.

Downey said his group was considering legal action or asking Congress to prohibit the two-ticket policy.


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