Southwest Airlines has issued an apology for kicking director Kevin Smith off a flight over the weekend because he was ‘too fat’ to fly. After being booted from the flight, Kevin Smith lashed out at the airline via his Twitter feed.
Director Kevin Smith was asked to exit a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, CA because he was too large to fit in one seat according to the company’s “customer of size policy”. On his Twitter feed, Smith said he “passed the stinkin’ arm-rest-test… I fit in that seat… I’m way fat, but I’m not there just yet.”
In a statement titled ‘Not So Silent Bob’, Southwest Airlines apologized for Smith’s experience on the flight, but stood by their ‘too fat to fly’ policy.
“First and foremost, to Mr. Smith; we would like to echo our Tweets and again offer our heartfelt apologies to you.  We are sincerely sorry for your travel experience on Southwest Airlines… If a Customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a Customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement.”
Smith responded by insisting he was able to lower both arm-rests and fit just fine in his seat. He challenged the airline to bring a row of seats to him for a public fit test.
“If I don’t fit, I’ll donate $10k (£6,380) to charity of your choice,” Smith said. “But when I do (& buckle the belt as well) 1) You admit you lied. 2) Change your policy, or at least re-train your staff to be a lot more human & a lot less corporate.”
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That would have to be an incredibly embarrassing and awkward situation to be in, but considering Smith bought two tickets for his original flight plan says to me that he was not only aware of their policy but that he agreed to it by making the two-seat purchase.
If he refused the first time because he claimed he could fit and then got kicked off the second flight even though he still claimed he could fit then I’d say he’s got a solid argument. But agreeing to it once and then stamping his feet in round two makes him look capricious and attention-grabby.