(NewsNation) — A policy implemented by Southwest Airlines to accommodate plus-size passengers has gone viral and split opinions.
Southwest’s website says customers “who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat(s)” can book more seats next to them before traveling and get a refund for the cost of the extra seats.
While some travelers have applauded the airline and are pushing for more companies to follow suit, others aren’t on board with the policy.
Tigress Osborn is a self-described fat activist and serves as the executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Osborn thinks anyone needing accommodations on flights should receive them.
“Everybody who needs extra space should have a way to be accommodated on an airline,” Osborn said Tuesday on “Dan Abrams Live.” “This policy is about people who need extra space width wise.”
John Ziegler is a conservative commentator and podcast host. He thinks there’s opportunity “for confusion, for fraud, for a slippery slope argument” when it comes to the policy.
“We are enabling a situation now where people are unhealthy and are actually getting benefits from that and forcing other people to pay for the price of that seat, which has to come from somewhere,” Ziegler said. “This isn’t good for anybody. It’s enabling really bad behavior and it’s a definite slippery slope that has no end. Where does this end?”
Osborn argued that motivation by the way of shaming does not lead to weight loss and that people of a larger size should not be denied the opportunity to travel.
“Travel is a thing that we need. It’s for fun, of course, but it’s also for business, it’s for family emergencies. People are flying for all kinds of reasons. This is a kind of accommodation we need for a plane. We’re asking for it and using it and encouraging each other to use it,” Osborn said.
Ziegler fired back that nobody is preventing obese people from flying and said his main issue with the policy is the free extra seat involved.
“The key part of this entire equation is you’re getting that for free. And the other people on the plane are indirectly paying for that both monetarily and in other ways,” Ziegler said. “That’s just not right. It’s not fair. It’s creating a very bad precedent that has no end.”
A number of videos showing travelers successfully requesting a second seat for free at the departure gate have gone viral on TikTok. Osborn believes the policy, which has been in place for at least three decades, is receiving new attention because people are being more vocal about their needs.
“I think fat people, we are being increasingly, I will use the word audacious, right. In places where we used to sit back and be quiet, we are asking for the things that we need to be able to participate in our communities and in the world,” Osborn said.
In the weeks ahead, the policy will likely be put to an extreme test. AAA predicts air travel between Christmas and New Year’s will be the busiest in U.S. history, with 7.5 million people expected to fly.
NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.
