Kimmy Garris, who describes herself as a “fat solo traveler,” probably had no idea her 30-second TikTok video was going to make waves when she was recorded in September politely asking a Southwest Airlines gate agent if I could take advantage of it. the airline's “customer of size” policy.
His TikTok post went viral because of what happened next.
The gate agent hands Garris an extra boarding pass, she enters the plane, asks for a seat belt extender, takes a window seat, and places the extra boarding pass on the middle seat.
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Robin Abcarian
“If anyone tries to sit on it,” he wrote, “I let them know that I have two seats reserved. To be honest, they almost never approach me because no one wants to sit in the middle seat next to a fat person on a plane.”
You were expecting some kind of made-for-social-media plane crash, right? I think the video went viral because people were surprised and delighted that an airline can be so accommodating and empathetic.
“Southwest is the only airline that allows you a second seat at no additional cost even if the flight is FULLY booked,” wrote Garris, who was traveling from his home in Nashville to Los Angeles.
Garris has invoked the policy a dozen times, he noted, and “has never had a problem or been denied.”
Oddly enough, Southwest says its “customer size” policy has been in place for three decades. Large guests can purchase a second seat in advance and Southwest will refund the cost of the additional seat after the flight. No matter the demand for seats on that flight, the free extra seat is guaranteed. Or, if there's room on the flight, passengers can simply ask at the gate, as Garris did, for an extra seat. They also get pre-boarding privileges.
“The armrest,” says Southwest's official policy, “is the definitive measurement for a Customer's size. It serves as a boundary between the seats. If you can't lower both armrests and/or encroach on any part of the seat next to you, you need a second seat.”
I don't know what gods are smiling at Southwest, but Garris' TikTok post couldn't have come at a better time for the embattled Dallas-based airline.
This week, Southwest received the largest fine ever imposed on an airline by the Department of Transportation ($140 million) for its spectacular 2022 holiday operational crisis that caused the cancellation of nearly 17,000 flights and left more than 2 stranded. million passengers. (Garris told me he hadn't heard the news.)
Of course, not everyone is happy that Southwest is giving fat people an extra seat for free.
“I've gotten a lot of negative reactions,” Garris said. “People are upset because I am stealing a seat of a skinny person. It's a dead end: 'You're disgusting and I don't want to sit next to you, but you're stealing a seat.' “You can’t have it both ways.”
Traveling while fat can be a miserable experience.
“A few years ago I was in the coach in a middle seat. I felt very uncomfortable and the guy next to me was texting me about me: “I have this fat girl sitting next to me.” I was mortified,” said Katie Sturino, 43, a popular content creator and influencer who founded Megababe, a cosmetics company that sells products that help with thigh irritation, boob sweat and body odor.
Last week, Sturino, who describes herself as a “body acceptance advocate,” praised Southwest for its policy. “Bravo Southwest,” she said on Instagram. “It's a kind and generous policy.”
Over Zoom from New York, he told me: “I think it's recognizing a reality, which is that in the United States, most of our country is larger. There are some people whose bodies don't fit in an airplane seat at all. It's a move that prioritizes people over profits and one that's getting a lot of love for Southwest. “Other airlines should take note.”
Other airlines allow large passengers to purchase a second seat, but none offer to refund the cost later.
There is a lot we don't know about obesity, but one thing is for sure: it is certainly not a choice.
Recent scientific consensus says that obesity is a disease influenced by many factors. Regardless of the cause, a large percentage of Americans consider themselves obese. The Trust for America's Health, a nonpartisan public health policy and advocacy organization, estimates that nearly 42% of adults are obese and that nearly 20% of children ages 2 to 19 are obese. People of color experience the highest rates of obesity, “often due to structural barriers to healthy eating and a lack of opportunities and places to be physically active.”
Last spring, plus-size travel blogger and self-described “fat activist” Jae'lynn Chaney, who claims to be a size 6X, started a Change.org petition demanding that the Federal Aviation Administration require airlines to provide passengers with larger passengers as many free extra seats as possible as they need to fly comfortably.
“The industry needs to realize that the average woman is no longer wearing a size 14,” Chaney told BuzzFeed last year. “Now they are size 18 and up. However, as we grew older, things like airplane seats, clothes, and everything else became small or stayed exactly the same.”
The FAA does not mandate seat sizes and has instead focused on whether smaller seats impede evacuations in the event of an emergency. So far, there is no evidence that this is the case.
Garris, 31, who loves to travel, told me that when he was 20 he didn't fly because of his size. He “He thought: 'I'm too big, let me lose weight first, I'm not going to be in shape.' “I got tired of waiting and decided to travel and share my experiences.”
Now, said Garris, who recently started taking trapeze classes, “I'm finding joyful ways to live in the world.”
Just as all people deserve joy, everyone deserves to fly in comfort, whether they occupy one seat or two.
Or, hell, even three.
