Overweight man barred from flight, misses uncle’s funeral

by Sean McLachlan on

Okamoni Fa flies a lot, and says that despite weighing 400 pounds he’s never had to buy a second seat like some overweight passengers.

Until, that is, he really needed to get somewhere fast.

The San Jose man bought a last-minute ticket from Southwest Airlines to attend his uncle’s funeral, but when he arrived at the ticket counter the agent looked at him and told him he needed to buy a second seat. The problem was, the flight was fully booked, and apparently there were no alternative flights. That left Mr. Fa stranded and he missed the funeral.

There’s been a lot of debate about the policy of charging overweight passengers for a second seat. Southwest says that if a passenger can’t put down the armrests without encroaching on their neighbors’ space then they need to buy another seat. If the flight isn’t oversold, Southwest says they refund the extra charge.

In this case, Southwest has said they will refund Mr. Fa for the one seat he did buy, but wasn’t allowed to use.

That’s cold comfort for him. He wasn’t able to join his family in their time of mourning and must now be wondering what the ticket agent will say the next time he tries to board a plane.
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Southwest apologies to deplaned mom

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Pamela Root, who was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight Friday, will receive another chance to fly on the airline. She and her son were removed from a San Jose-bound plane when her two-year-old son wouldn’t stop screaming “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!”

In addition to an apology, the airline gave her a refund and a travel voucher for $300. Root had hoped to be compensated for the portable crib and diapers she said she had to buy, but alas, that wasn’t in the cards.

I have to admit, this seems like a tough call. While it’s never easy to boot a paying passenger, you need to balance that against the eardrums of everyone else who shelled out for a ticket. Of course, a bit of compassion for kids (who don’t know any better) is necessary, but that’s little consolation to everyone else.

It looks to me like Southwest made the right call in both parts of this. It removed what was obviously a problem for the other passengers, and it more than compensated Root for the trouble. Southwest is out a few extra bucks for the decision, but that seems to be a small price to pay for the goodwill it earned with the remaining fliers. And, it swiftly apologized and compensated the mom.

Mom and kid booted from plane, demand apology and compensation

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s easy for passengers to grow annoyed with kids on planes. There’s nothing worse than hearing a scream and knowing you’re about to be part of a captive audience for several hours. Yet, flight crews usually show a lot more tolerance. Hey, they’re on the plane to earn a paycheck. Every job has trials to be endured. Pamela Root’s son, however, was too much for them.

Kid and mom were kicked from the Southwest flight from Amarillo, Texas to San Jose, California, because the former was screaming, “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!” Root believes the kid would have piped down once the wheels were up, but the plane’s staffers didn’t want to roll the dice. Root and child were escorted off the plane.

Of course, the 38-year-old stay-at-home mom has her list of demands. In addition to an apology, she’s looking for compensation for a portable crib and diapers that she needed to buy for the unplanned extra night away from home. I’m curious as to why. She’d need the diapers anyway: the kids bowels, I suspect, work just as well in Amarillo as they did in San Jose — no more, no less. And, where did the kid sleep the nights before she bought the portable crib? Were they unable to stay where they had been for the trip? Did she not feel like it?

Hmmmmm …

As to the apology, I’m sure she apologized repeatedly and profusely to the flight crew and other passengers, right?

If anyone was on the flight and can shed some light, please leave a comment, thanks!

Ten of the sexiest commercials in airline history

by Scott Carmichael on

Last year, we compiled a list of vintage airline commercials, and since the Internet is full of some of the greatest commercials commissioned by airlines, we picked “sexiest airline commercials” as the topic of this top ten lineup.

The list has some vintage clips (Southwest Airlines hotpants) and some pretty recent stuff. So, sit back and enjoy these ten sexiest airline commercials.

Virgin Atlantic 25th anniversary video


This commercial is brilliant – it takes all the best (and the worst) of 1984 to celebrate 25 years of Virgin Atlantic

Air New Zealand “Nothing To Hide”

Bodypainted cabin crew members, and a cameo appearance by the CEO of the airline.

Southwest Airlines

Remember before Southwest Airlines? We didn’t have hostesses in hotpants. And now we still don’t, but at least they don’t charge for checking a bag. Though if I’m honest, I’d probably prefer the hotpants.

Airport metal detector prank

Alright, so it isn’t for an airline, and it isn’t even for a product remotely related to flying, but it has long been one of the most popular commercials involving an airport.

Silverjet

Seriously? Using a lesbian mile high romp to advertise your airline? Sadly, the airline only lasted two years before they realized that their all business class service couldn’t survive in the new economy.

Fake airline, funny commercial

This commercial for “Lynx Airlines” was made in 2008.Obviously it isn’t for a real airline, but it does mimic the services Ryanair said they’d offer in Business Class should they ever start flying transatlantic.

National Airlines “Go Go vacations”

They really don’t make them like this any more – because if they did, someone would probably sue.

If you wanted to sleep with him, you would have married him

Not every sexy airline commercial involves a stewardess in hotpants.

“I just love a man in a JetBlue uniform”

These girls love pilots – but only JetBlue pilots. Talk about being picky.

Nothing says awkward like exposing yourself to your inlaws.

(Warning, may not be suitable for work). This is one of those commercials that was clearly devised before the ad agency had a taker, because nothing in the clip is even remotely aviation related. That doesn’t prevent it from being hilarious.

If you liked the videos, you might be interested in …

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Southwest Airlines passenger too big to fly? You be the judge!

by Scott Carmichael on

Southwest Airlines is once again in the news for its claimed mistreatment of a passenger of size.

Trampus Adams and his wife were flying from Las Vegas back home to Portland when an airline staff member requested that his wife get off the plane to purchase a second ticket. The staff member had made the decision that she was unable to safely fit in one seat.

The humiliation drove her to tears and she began hyperventilating. In fact, the course of events were so stressful, that she ended up in hospital the next day.

To be perfectly honest, I’m having a hard time picking any side here – Mrs. Adams is 5-foot-8 and weighs 350 pounds, so there is no denying that she is a “passenger of size”. In a photo taken by her husband, he’s trying to show that his wife had no problem fitting in one seat, and that the demand for purchasing a second seat was wrong.

From the perspective of the airline, a judgment call was made, and assuming the staff didn’t select her just to annoy her, the have every right to pick safety and comfort of their fellow passengers over politeness.

I do think the airline was wrong to have her get off the flight to pay for the second seat – these issues should be resolved before passengers board, to prevent the kind of embarrassing situation Mrs. Adams had to endure. In addition to this, she had been allowed to fly to Las Vegas without any incident, so it is obvious that Southwest Airlines was not applying the rules consistently.

So – dear readers – what do you think? Was Southwest Airlines correct to demand that she pay for a second seat, or did they insult her? To clarify – Mr. Adams is not asking for money, he just wants an apology from the airline.

(Article and photo from KOIN Local 6)

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