This video is all over Facebook and Twitter this morning, please take the time to watch:
This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard of Southwest Airlines blatantly discriminating against fat people. Remember director Kevin Smith’s run in with them back in February last year?
Nor are Southwest Airlines the only ones who behave this way towards fat customers… but they are without a doubt the most horrific an the airline I see repeatedly offending the most.
There are a few things I would like you to do:
- Pop on over to AthiaC’s YouTube and leave her a message of support.
- Share her video or this post.
- Do not fly Southwest Airlines. At least until they change their policies and RADICALLY change the way they treat fat customers.
- Urge everyone you know to boycott Southwest Airlines.
- Contact Southwest Airlines and tell them that this behaviour and their policies are not acceptable.
- Speak up as AthiaC has done any time a company treats you poorly because of your size.
We have to fight back against this shit.
Fat Heffalump 
good lord, that is positively awful. but thank you for sharing her amazing response! I haven’t flown southwest in a couple years, since more of their fat-hating and fat-shaming stories started breaking out…and this only solidifies my resolve to make sure i never fly them.
Either it’s about safety or it’s not. Them allowing her to fly without a second seat indicates it’s not about safety.
I’m at the point of never wanting to fly at all (I have serious problems with the TSA policies) but I had been thinking Southwest was a decent airline option. I’m adding Southwest to the list of airlines I will not fly if I have any option at all.
This girl is very articulate. I am going to write to her and tell her she should write her story up and send it to media outlets. This is absolutely outrageous.
I left a supportive comment on AthlaC’s video page. I also submitted a complaint to Southwest referencing this incident along with other size discrimination the airline has been involved in. I told them I will be boycotting the airline. I also noted that I will be passing this information along to all my friends and family and will encourage them to boycott Southwest as well.
I only wish I could write to the malicious airplane passengers who saw fit to abuse this woman.
Thank you for the signal boost on this. I’m enraged right now. The way she was treated and shamed by Southwest, and the way she was treated and shamed by the other PASSENGERS, like she wasn’t even a *person*…that encapsulates what fat hatred and fat discrimination is perfectly, in one horrible incident.
A weight-loss blogger named Kenlie at “All the Weigh” also had a similarly distressing experience with the same airline a few months ago. This is just horrible.
I will walk across the country before I will ever fly Southwest.
Thank you all for giving signal boosts to AthiaC’s story. Hopefully with our collective voices on this topic, Southwest Airlines will start to realise that they can’t get away with this kind of fat discrimination.
I am going to have to fly to Los Angeles, CA (from Florida) and back sometime in February so that my son can audition at a Colburn Inst. of Music. I am SO DREADING it. I have flown fat many times, but have not been asked to purchase two seats, nor have I been abused by other passengers, but I am scared to death that it will happen. I get sick to my stomach every time I have to fly, but there is no way I can drive that far. I would need to take 2 weeks off from work to accomplish that. I will make sure NOT to fly Southwest. Thanks for posting this. I too plan on sending them a little note. What happened with AthiaC is absolutely uncalled for. Shame on those other passengers for joining in to harrass her. Wish I had been there!
I just want to note, entirely anecdotally, for those who are really fearing flying, that I’m a size 30 and flew with Delta twice last week – both times I was given a seatbelt extender when asked (they were very polite) and never felt shamed by airline staff for my size.
I can’t say it’s true for every airline but Delta, American, and Alaska have all done well by me in the last couple of years when I’ve flown with them. I intentionally do not fly SouthWorst. I’ve also heard very good things about JetBlue.
I don’t want to minimize the awfulness of this video (I wanted to cry on her behalf!) – I just wanted to offer my anecdata for those in comments who’ve mentioned being afraid of flying, to give my perspective of airlines that may be doing it better. Sometimes, at least.
Just to share with you all, when I was in the US I flew Frontier most of my domestic trips, and they were fantastic. I travelled with a very large friend who has mobility issues, and they treated both of us with respect and dignity. My friend’s husband called ahead and organised a wheelchair for her, and they took us on the little buggy thing (me included, as I was with her, even though I’m able bodied) and made sure we were comfortable on the plane. She needed a seatbelt extender and they had one waiting for her in her seat when we arrived, and discreetly asked if I needed one (I didn’t) and were pleasant at all legs of the journey.
Needless to say, that’s why I flew with them again and again throughout my time there.
i just sent a complaint e-mail, but was wondering if anyone has received a response to theirs yet? of if athia received the apology she deserved? any follow up for this story?
I haven’t heard any follow up at all and I’ve been keeping an eye out for it. I emailed SouthWest as well but have heard nothing back.