Flying the Friendly Skies

This week, film director Kevin Smith was asked to de-plane a Southwest flight due to his size. The cabin crew made a determinaton that he needed two seats and since there were no side-by-side empty seats available he had no choice but to get off.

The policy of forcing larger people to purchase two seats due to their size is not a new one. Southwest has incorporated a "customer of size policy" for 25 years under the guise that it is a safety issue despite the fact that most airlines will give you a seat belt extender if you ask for one.

As someone who flies in the US roughly 46 weeks a year I can tell you that I barely fit in coach seating and I'm of average height and build. Airplane cabins appear to be getting smaller and smaller.

Now, some airlines are placing boxes under seats for wi-fi, safety equipment, and power recepticles. Along with increasing fees for checking luggage, this has caused a baggage nightmare on most flights. Even if you are the first person on the plane you only have a 50-50 chance of being able to fit your carry-on under the seat in front of you. If you are one of the last people to board then you face that dilemma combined with the lack of overhead space leaving you no choice but to check your carry-on luggage which may contain fragile items.

This of course always leads to a confrontation with the obnoxious, overzealous baggage-bin clod. You know, that guy who gets on late and thinks he's the alpha-traveler. He's gonna open the bin over his row, remove your bag and put his briefcase and blazer in then, take your bag and move it two rows down and cram it into an already-full bin. I loathe that guy. I wait until after we take off and I unpack his bin under the pretense that I was looking for my stuff and then I realize its not in there anymore. Oops. I'll just fold your blazer into an origami swan and jam it in-between this Samsonite and the bulkhead...

Ok, I don't really do that.  If his luggage comes open when he removes it from the bin, that wasn't me either.  ;-)