Kevin Smith vs. Southwest Airlines

[mandizzle]

okay...I'll bite the bullet and see what everyone thinks of this topic because I didn't see this posted anywhere on here and everyone seems to have a different opinion.

What do you guys think of Director Kevin Smith getting kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight for his "size", him making a big to-do about it on Twitter, and the whole handling of the situation by both parties (Smith & Southwest PR)?

Here is the most decent article I could find spur of the moment on the subject:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/15/kevin.smith.southwest/?hpt=T2

 

[dukebound85]

its a fact that airplanes, especially the smaller ones, commonly run into weight issues

i have been asked to surrender my seat before and im only 180lbs

hes just a fat guy taking this too personal

 

[niuniu]

I usually find it easy to take sides, but when it's a celeb and an airport staff you have 2 of the worst personality types on the planet going head to head

Rule are rules, but really it's the descretion of employees that makes sure they're applied reasonably.

 

[rdowns]

I'm tired of hearing from this blowhard (Smith) on the subject.

 

[Abstract]

Like he was quoted as saying, he knows he's fat, but definitely not fat enough for the "rolls" to spill onto the armrests and over into neighbouring seats.

I can understand why it would be reasonable to charge a large passenger for two seats if he needs it, but Kevin Smith?

 

[ucfgrad93]

It does seem like Southwest went a little overboard on this.

 

[Compile 'em all]

The problem is not that they told him to leave but that fact that he was ALREADY on the plane, buckled up.

 

[mandizzle]

I'm tired of hearing from this blowhard (Smith) on the subject.

yeah, honestly, I was so tired of hearing about it that I took him off of my Twitter feed. not to mention the fact that a few weeks ago on my birthday, he was a tad bit rude to me via a Tweet reply he sent me when I asked him a Q (although I was having a bad day, so I might have construed it as rude).

listen, I think it's great that Smith is seemingly taking up a cause. and judging by the comments left on Southwest's blog on the situation (you can find it by typing in "southwest airlines not so silent bob" in a search engine), he's inspiring a boycott for people of either large size or supporters of those who are of large size who do not agree with this policy or how the actor, or others, have been treated in regards to it.

what bugs me about it is that Smith has known and abided by the policies of multiple ticket buying for COS' (customers-of-size) before and didn't say one word until HE was subject to public humiliation. also, he had reporters throwing themselves at him to share the story, in turn bringing a voice to his new cause, yet he says the only way he would further discuss it was on HIS blog/program, which brings further numbers and therefore revenue to his site.

 

[niuniu]

If he spent his time preaching healthy eating and exercise instead of this then that'd be a better cause. I'm not saying he didn't get unlucky and had to deal with a jobsworth cretin trying to find someone to dump on to feel an ounce of self-worth....

...but, he's going a poor route here. He should come out and say, whether they were right or wrong at the airline, I'm overweight not because of a medical condition, but because I have an unhealthy lifestyle and I left myself open to this sort of abuse, from a creep that hasn't achieved anything in his life compared to me.

That sort of humility wins people over and he can get a dig in at the airline staff at the same time.

 

[ntrigue]

The guy is a fatass. Maybe this will make him say no to food put in front of him for the first time in his life.

 

[Superdrive]

There is more to this story than both parties are willing to admit.

Southwest Airlines said that KS normally purchases two seats meaning he realizes that he is a Customer of size. When he elected to travel standby on an earlier flight, the Southwest Airlines personnel should have verified that there was a second seat available for him to use prior to boarding the aircraft.

All Customers on board the aircraft must pay for the seats that they occupy, therefore if KS or anyone encroaches upon the adjacent seat cushion, even with the seatbelt fastened and armrest down, they must purchase the second seat.

Southwest Airlines is generous in refunding the extra seat if the flight does not go out full. They are also looking out for the person that may have been squished next to that person who paid not to share their seat. I've seen this issue addressed a handful of times and frequent Southwest fliers know how good the Employees are in good and bad situations. Like most Customer Service situations, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. If KS onboard was anything like his tweets, he wasn't booted for being oversized, it was for being disruptive.

 

[RawBert]

He is a fat-a$$. But, he doesn't seem like he's too fat to fly. He doesn't look morbidly obese. Like this guy:

 

[mandizzle]

He is a fat-a$$. But, he doesn't seem like he's too fat to fly. He doesn't look morbidly obese. Like this guy:

oh my LOL I wouldn't wanna sit next to him.

 

[smiddlehurst]

There is more to this story than both parties are willing to admit.

Southwest Airlines said that KS normally purchases two seats meaning he realizes that he is a Customer of size. When he elected to travel standby on an earlier flight, the Southwest Airlines personnel should have verified that there was a second seat available for him to use prior to boarding the aircraft.

All Customers on board the aircraft must pay for the seats that they occupy, therefore if KS or anyone encroaches upon the adjacent seat cushion, even with the seatbelt fastened and armrest down, they must purchase the second seat.

Southwest Airlines is generous in refunding the extra seat if the flight does not go out full. They are also looking out for the person that may have been squished next to that person who paid not to share their seat. I've seen this issue addressed a handful of times and frequent Southwest fliers know how good the Employees are in good and bad situations. Like most Customer Service situations, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. If KS onboard was anything like his tweets, he wasn't booted for being oversized, it was for being disruptive.

Two things:

1) Southwest saying that is a massive breech of customer confidentiality as the ONLY way they could know is to pull his previous bookings and then make them public. That's an absolute disgrace and they should get a massive fine for that under the US equivalent of the Data Protection Act.

2) Kevin Smith says that when he does buy two seats its more for the comfort factor of having extra space around him, not because he NEEDS two seats. Again the simple fact is he was in his seat, with the armrests down and the normal seatbelt fastened, so he passes the airline test.

I'm astonished at the amount of genuinely mean and nasty responses KS is getting for this. It's clear that it's the airline that's screwed up here, on multiple levels and in some very nasty ways, yet some people seem to see this as an opportunity to go after someone that they personally don't like. Really sad to see that rational thought seems to be a rare commodity these days.

 

[Gregg2]

Like this guy:

(in the photo) Notice the empty seat behind him... I heard his story. They rearranged passengers so he got two seats. I didn't catch whether that airline's policy is to have such passengers purchase two tickets.

I agree with the post above that the airline personnel should have verified that there were two seats available (adjacent or not) to switch a passenger who had purchased two seats. So he was buckled in, big deal. He had purchased two seats, and shouldn't have expected to be able to take a single seat on another flight. He's making too big of a fuss over it, even if the airline did goof once, or even twice.

This will become more and more of a problem for people, large and small as obesity becomes the norm. Some not-overweight passenger will be sandwiched in between two overweight passengers, or two overweight passengers will be side by side, and the flight will not be pleasant.

Bigger seats? That's called first class. Maybe the airlines will have to increase the ratio of 1st class to coach seats.

 

[MattSepeta]

ugh

He bought two seats for a later flight. He wanted to board an earlier flight, stand-by.

both parties screwed this up.

1. Southwest should not have let him board the early flight, due to the person of mass guidelines.
2. Kevin smith should have waited around for the next flight, maybe ate a few burritos or something.

The fact that he is trying to martyr himself is insane. There is no cause. This guy is a buffoon.

Clerks was NOT that funny.... vulgar + crass + loud ≠ funny.

 

[Rt&Dzine]

yeah, honestly, I was so tired of hearing about it that I took him off of my Twitter feed. not to mention the fact that a few weeks ago on my birthday, he was a tad bit rude to me via a Tweet reply he sent me when I asked him a Q (although I was having a bad day, so I might have construed it as rude).

I'd bet on rude. Many years ago I saw him being a total jerk to a nice, innocent girl.

 

[ucfgrad93]

COS' (customers-of-size)

he is a Customer of size.

Good grief, why can't we just call him fat or obese? If that is too insensitive, perhaps we should say that they are weight challenged.

 

[rdowns]

Good grief, why can't we just call him fat or obese? If that is too insensitive, perhaps we should say that they are weight challenged.

Ah, the PC police.

 

[pooky]

This is a very weighty issue. I think we all need to look a-round and try to address the scale of the larger problem...

 

[Gregg2]

Good grief, why can't we just call him fat or obese? If that is too insensitive, perhaps we should say that they are weight challenged.

He calls himself fat, according to NBC talking heads.

 

[whooleytoo]

I'd have a bit more sympathy for him - given I'm sick of how airlines pack people in, in spaces that are far too small.

I'm not a particularly tall guy (5'11 maybe), but was on a charter flight previously with Thomas Cook airlines where there wasn't enough space to put my legs forward. The only way I could sit flat on my seat was if I wedged my legs to either side of the seat in front, and even then my knees were jammed up against it. I ended up with back pains all that weekend.

Airlines have to take into some kind of consideration the actual size of human beings today, not some idealized average.

 

[tbobmccoy]

Despite the fact that Kevin Smith calls himself fat, there's no reason to be calling him a "fatass" (or any other derogatory term for fat people, with or without expletives) . You don't call someone with mental retardation a "***** retard", so why would you call someone that's fat a "fatass"? It's not even an issue of PC; it's simple respect- period. Why do people act like the internet gives them a license to say whatever they want and be as rude as they want?

I completely agree that KS has blown this out of proportion, but so did Southwest. They kicked him off, after all, and he did pass their seatbelt + armrest test. I don't see what the big deal is with Southwest's policies; they fired a flight attendant back a while ago for wearing too revealing of clothes... pretty stupid PR move on their part then, and this is yet a more stupid PR move.

 

[iOrlando]

its a fact that airplanes, especially the smaller ones, commonly run into weight issues

i have been asked to surrender my seat before and im only 180lbs

hes just a fat guy taking this too personal

I highly doubt you were asked to surrender your seat due to your weight unless you are referring to being on a model airplane or a plane made out of Styrofoam or something similar.

concerning silent bob...

it is reported that silent bob bought 2 seats on the way up due to this exact issue.

and reading in between silent bob's tweets, he didnt so much complain about the policy but was upset about being told he had to leave AFTER he got all situated and ready to go.

this is the problem with southwest policies (as was pictured on that A&E show a few years ago). It is extremely hard to police these policies so that they are followed to a T every day at every airport by every employee.

Southwest should have said something to him at the gate before even going towards the airplane.

if you are over weight...you can fly southwest one day and not be told anything while another day you will be detained at the gate and that kind of situation frustrates people.

 

[mandizzle]

Good grief, why can't we just call him fat or obese? If that is too insensitive, perhaps we should say that they are weight challenged.

I don't doubt the guy is heavy. I'm just using Southwest Airline's business terminology in this case. not being overtly PC or super sensitive obviously if I openly admit I wish he'd just shut it LOL