17.2"

Yet another negative PR snafu for Southwest Airlines this week when they allowed a standby passenger to purchase a ticket on a Sacramento to Las Vegas flight, only to make her de-plane as soon as she was settled.

Why did they revoke her spot? Because a late arriving passenger, who'd booked a ticket in advance, required two seats, due to his/her size.

Now, I am glad that Southwest made the late arriving passenger take two seats. Nothing gets me more fired up than when I am stuck next to someone who can't put the armrest down and/or is impeding on my precious 17.2". If you need more space, you better hand me some dinero, because I paid for every bit of that seat!

However, (the article does not state this so I'm not sure) I hope they made the late arriving passenger (who, by the way, is 14) pay for that second seat. Because if they made the standby passenger vacate the seat, and then didn't charge the larger passenger for the second seat, that makes me angry. You don't get to have double the space for half the price just because you're big! If you take up that room, you better pay for it.

Also, if the passenger is late and everyone on the plane is already seated, I think it's ridiculous to a) delay the plane, therefore inconveniencing all of the passengers and possibly passengers scheduled on the next flight on that plane and b) embarrass not only the standby passenger but the teen who has to come onto the plane when everyone clearly realizes he/she is not only taking the seat he/she paid for, but forced off another passenger.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic or overly simplifying or being insensitive, but I truly can't believe that a problem with a relatively simple fix (obesity) is becoming such a pervasive part of our country. When are people going to admit that the size of the airline seats or how the airline "handled" the issue aren't the problem?