There has been some hubub this week over a certain film director getting kicked off a flight because his girth was deemed a security risk. I’m not going to take sides on that one, as pilot in command the ultimate word about whether something is dangerous to the flight or not rests in the hands of the captain, but that’s a whole other story.
Southwest Airlines has always been one of my favorite airlines, and this incident has done nothing to change that. As a person of girth, I can understand the director’s shock and dismay, but can he really say he was surprised?
Southwest isn’t the only airline that has a rule about passengers of girth, Air France’s guidelines on the same subject state that you must be able to fit into one seat and that seat measures:
40 to 45cm (16-17 inches) in Voyageur, Premium Voyageur* and Alizé cabins, corresponding to a maximum waist measurement of around 135cm (53 inches)
Perhaps Southwest and other airlines should follow Air France’s lead and just tell us how small we need to be to fit into one of their standard seats. I think that would save a lot of people a lot time and potential embarrassment, n’est pas?
I think a good slogan for gyms might be: “We make sure you fit in one seat”
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