Southwest Airlines Has Huge … I Mean Big Fat Social Media Problem [Video]

Southwest Airlines Has Huge …I Mean Big Fat Social Media Problem [Video]

If there ever was a guide on how social media can bite a company in the rear end, this may indeed be it. Athia Choudhury, 21, a senior at the University of Central Florida was told that she was too fat to fly. She was then made to buy a second seat, which they then took from her and gave to someone else.

Ummm…Hey Southwest, bad PR move. Seriously, you are making people who you deem too big to buy a second seat? Hey, glad I know that. As I’m not the most svelte of guys, I’m glad I didn’t find out about this policy in this manner. You would’ve had to drag me off the plane and believe me, it wouldn’t have been pretty.

But you did worse to Ms. Choudhury. Now you have an absolute PR nightmare on your hands.

“It was the most humiliating experience I’ve ever had in my adult life,” Choudhury said. “Everyone, every single person on that plane, was looking at me. Some people were shaking their heads, other people were sneering; some people were chuckling.”

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I searched the Twitter page of Southwest Airlines ( @SouthwestAir )and no mention of anything having to do with this. Nada, zilch, zippo. Whoever they have managing their social media campaign needs to be fired. That would also go for their PR agency of record. They let this fester for over two months and now the media is all over it.

Now it seems, one of their subsidiaries, AirTran is implementing the same “No Fatties” Policy.

Southwest Airlines’ long-standing “customer-of-size policy” is one of the things that Orlando-based AirTran Airways will inherit from its new parent company. The airline, acquired in May by Southwest, will adopt the policy for plus-sized travelers early next year.

Southwest spokeswoman Katie McDonald confirmed last week that AirTran was in the process of aligning certain policies — including the specific rules for customers who cannot fit between the armrests of their seats — with those of Southwest.

“AirTran already had a similar policy in place; however, it was handled at the gate and was not in writing. This policy is now written into AirTran’s Contract of Carriage,” McDonald said.

Though the policy is far from unique in the airline industry, Southwest’s enforcement of the rules has made the airline a lightning rod for criticism.

Last year, film director Kevin Smith made headlines when he posted on the social-media site Twitter about being ejected from a Southwest flight because of his size. The airline later said it had apologized to Smith and given him a $100 voucher.

Did you know that there was a organization for the rights of “plus size” people? Yep, NAAFA, which is the slimmed down moniker for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Well it seems that these guys are calling for a boycott of the airline.

“The only reports that we get are about Southwest,” said Peggy Howell, public-relations director for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, which has encouraged its members not to fly the airline.

It’s amazing to me that a company would execute a multi-million dollar ad campaign to tell us all that bags fly free and at the same time have such an egregious policy towards people in place.

Bad form southwest…bad form. Something tells me you guys are going to pay because of this. Actually even more because one can only wonder how much it’s cost you already.

Southwest defends oversized flyer policy “The only reports that we get are about Southwest,” said Peggy Howell, public-relations director for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. The airline has received some unwelcome publicity. Director Kevin Smith complained publicly last …

UCF Student Slams Southwest for Using ‘Fat-Hating’ to Hike Profits A UCF student is using YouTube to slam Southwest Airlines for causing her to suffer “the most humiliating experience” she’s ever had in her adult life. Athia Choudhury says her miserable experience was spawned after Southwest targeted her for her large …

UCF student challenges Southwest’s ‘customer-of-size’ policy “The only reports that we get are about Southwest,” said Peggy Howell, public-relations director for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, which has encouraged its members not to fly the airline. Southwest also drew attention recently for …