Flying Fat

The New York Times published an article in their business travel section this week describing the experiences of a woman who is suing Southwest Airlines for race, gender and size discrimination:

Ms. Thompson, who is 5-feet-8-inches and weighs about 280 pounds, was asked to purchase the seat next to her. When she refused to do that - after all, she reasoned, the seat belt buckled just fine and the arm-rest slid down without a problem - she was asked to get off the flight.

"It was the most humiliating thing," said Ms. Thompson, who is 47 and is suing the airline for discrimination based on weight, race and gender. "I fly twice a week and often on Southwest, and I've never had a problem before. But this day some manager was out to get me."


NOTE: you have to register with NYT in order to see the full article. If you don't want to do that, drop us an e-mail and I will send you a copy of the article.

Big Fat Blog is having a discussion about the article, which is not wholly satisfying, but is a step in the right direction.

We talk about airline travel this month at The Ample Traveler©'s regular column, Accommodations.

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