AirTran Adopts Policy to Charge 'Customers of Size' for 2 Seats
Flying AirTran next year? You better start shedding pounds now. AirTran passengers packing extra luggage in their derrières will soon start paying double for their flights. As Southwest integrates AirTran, the budget airline will adopt Southwest's large passengers policy on March 1, 2012.
The new policy, which Southwest has been practicing for about 30 years, will require "customers of size," as Southwest so tactfully dubs its overweight clientele, to purchase a second seat when flying coach. "Customers of size," according to Southwest, via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are those "who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat[s]. ...The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats." Any coach passenger who, "in the carrier's sole discretion, encroaches on an adjacent seat and/or is unable to sit in a single seat with the armrest lowered" will be told they must pay for an additional seat, states AirTran's contract of carriage, reports myFOXla.
Spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) Peggy Howell says that passengers often become "embarrassed and humiliated" when asked to purchase a second seat at the airport. "I’m sorry to hear that they’re now going to be passing on their bad policy to another airline," Howell said. "We are paying customers."
Southwest says its policy affects "far less" than than one-half of 1% of its customers. The FAQs section of Southwest's website notes that the airline "became more vigilant regarding the additional purchase when we began seeing an increase in the number of valid complaints from passengers who traveled without full access to their seat because a large customer infringed upon the adjacent seating space."
Howell noted that there are no clearly defined parameters for enforcing the policy, adding that the airlines "leave it up to the judgment of their staff" to identify blubber butts.
Those of you with broad shoulders need not fret. Southwest's policy states that having a broad upper body may not require the purchase of a second seat. "The upper body can be adjusted, but the portion of the body in the actual seating and armrest area doesn't have this flexibility."
