It’s hard to imagine anything worse than flying Newark – Hong Kong on United in coach, traveling for more than an entire day on the airline, diverting and not getting where you’re going, and winding up back in Newark.
But every single day an inner battle boils in the skies, just below the service, threatening to bubble over. Coach passengers, packed in and sitting on slimline seats with less padding than passengers have been used to for years, facing the prospect of what the next several hours of their life will be like.
Tensions are running high, and people are thrown together from all walks of life. A side effect of traveling being more affordable than ever is that the skies are incredible small-d democratic, a true Mos Eisley spaceport melting pot. We all bring our own baggage and who knows how it’s going to come out?
A passenger videotaped a woman melting down after boarding her United flight. She said she had four hours ahead of her in a middle seat.
She declares “I can’t do this.” Later, “I can’t breathe I’m so squished.” It’s the United seats but she complains also about the size of the two passengers on either side of her. She says she’s small in comparison (she isn’t), “I eat salad.”
Her seatmate in the window though can’t take it and asks a flight attendant to find the ranting woman a new seat “because I will not be verbally abused…”
The flight attendant asks the woman in the middle to get out, stand in the back, and says they’ll find a new seat for her. This woman is leaving her seat but gets into a verbal altercation with the woman from the window seat, who we learn is a MileagePlus Platinum elite.
Look at those slimline seats. Four hours is a long time without padding in the seats. The last time I flew in those United seats – in November – I was on a three hour flight and at least was in an aisle seat. I could easily get up a few times, stand in the aisle, stretch my back.
I don’t want to sit in United slimline coach for four hours. I don’t want to sit in a United slimline coach middle seat for four hours. But know that regardless of where you’re sitting, whom you sit next to is a matter of chance and there’s not a lot you can do. She was lucky this flight wasn’t full. It’s really better to approach these things in a friendly manner, or risk getting kicked off the flight or even David Dao’d down the aisle.
Bizarrely things really broke down after the excellent and helpful United flight attendant had already intervened to help. What’s with people?
To make the story absolutely perfect, as the woman is headed towards the back she gets yelled at by Jonathan Fernandez of Love & Hip Hop
That has to be the ultimate indignity.
The biggins on both sides took both of her seat arms that is the problem with middjevsests with overlapping people on both sides of you!
“I eat salad” is already my favorite line of 2019…
I come here for thought leadership
She claims she’s offended because they’re so fat and she’s so thin. But we can clearly see that’s not the case. So I wonder what her real issue is with her row mates. Hmmmmm…..
@ Gary — I am so thankful that I rarely HAVE to travel. I wouldn’t even step foot into economy unless it was an emergency that required me travel or if they airline were to pay me to fly. I feel sorry for the masses, and I really do think airlines could (and will eventually) offer a better product for those willing to pay.
@ Jamie — The man on the aisle is huge. Hard to tell about the woman. Could be a racial issue, but not obvious.
oh no she didnt!
“I m a Platinum member!”
I get that she’s uncomfortable, WHO ISN’T IN COACH? Airlines are begging for people to get crazy as hell when you keep getting smaller and smaller seats, less ventilation and Americans as a nation are getting larger and larger! Statistics don’t lie! I get that she’s pissed off about being in the middle of two larger people as well but she’s not exactly tiny, shorter perhaps but not stick thin from the looks of things. You can’t really see the lady filming enough to determine her size at all. Its a cruel, sick joke by some a$$hole at the airlines with limited imagination who cannot figure out that the more pleasant you make the flying experience, the more LIKELY PEOPLE ARE TO FLY thus increasing revenue, not making folks dread the experience and deciding that it is too much of a problem to fly…for anything under 800-1000 miles I can barely get my husband to fly because he thinks it is so miserable, I’d imagine a lot of people feel that way these days. Drive to airport, pay to park, unload the luggage, security, possibly check bags, loading/unloading claim luggage and deal with sweaty, sickly, mean, nasty people and children screaming and then to be stuck in a seat that is too small for an average fat arse American and deal with often times authoritarian f/a’s when you ask for a glass of water because its 85 degrees of hot in the oven….yeah, driving is often much more preferable to flying and with crappy seats added in the mix unless its a LONG drive.
The lady shouldn’t have made rude comments about her seat mates but the filming one shouldn’t have called her a bitch either.
As far as the salad comment, I’m with Bill on that one…I keep thinking….pasta salad, chicken salad, taco salad, steak salad, salad bar…a Zaxby’s Chicken Ranch salad was recently cited for having something like 1200 or 1500 calories so salad doesn’t mean slim, lol…
Another reason I buy the middle seat when available! Who needs this crap .
umm, they were both spilling over into her seat. they should be required to buy two seats. she paid for a seat and the chubbies were both in her space. she could’ve handled it with more class but why should she have to suffer b/c they are overweight?
Wow people are crazy. I’m also surprised she wasn’t dragged off the plane. UA should not reward this behavior for the obvious reasons.
United should have just made her deplane. Accommodating her was ridiculous.
Who is Jonathan Fernandez and what is Love & Hip Hop?
Guess it doesn’t matter who yells at you if you have no clue who or what they are.
@Bill, my favorite line was “I will not be verbally abused by this bitch.” by the same window passenger who also said “This bitch can kiss my fat ass.” Who’s abusing who?
She should have kept her mouth shut and sucked it up. Probably bought a basic economy ticket. You paid for the cheap ticket, you deal with the consequences of not being able to assign a seat and most likely getting stuck in a middle seat. I’ve sat in the middle seat in between larger passengers and it’s not that awful. Shut up, deal with it, and then file a complaint with the airline and ask for some sort of compensation (90% I’ve gotten a travel voucher or complimentary miles).
Unless you have GS status you probably sat in an E- middle seat for 5 hours. Maybe you missed a connection and absolutely have to catch this flight. Or your original flight got cancelled. Or you were on standby and got the last seat. Yes, it’s a b- but life is full of choices. Take the middle seat or take the next flight. But don’t whine after you get on the plane. Because things could be a lot worse, like getting stuck on that flight that diverted.
I think maybe she was trying (unsuccessfully) to quote The Sopranos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6zOzTi5Qu4 (nsfw – profanity)
What’s the purpose of spreading drama ? Send mega deals instead
It does appear the two passenger on either side should be considered a passenger of size. I would have gone the way of asking the flight attendant in front of everyone, “what is United’s policy on passenger of size and fitting into one seat without encroaching in others?” 🙂
“I eat salad”
Plenty of it too.
Was that Economy Plus ? Saw blue placard on seatback – not a UA flyer – so is that for Eco Plus ? Plus wouldn’t a Platinum Flyer likely be in Eco Plus ? If so , hope they put her in E- .
This is what white privilege is. White people
I believe I took my last flight in August. It was Spirit Airlines. The flight there was no problem but all jets are not equal. The return flight was entirely different. I have a neuromuscular disorder and after being sandwiched for an hour and a half I told my wife I couldn’t do it. My muscles were cramping and arms and legs falling asleep. Fortunately, Spirit moved me thank God, but I doubt I’ll ever chance that again First class isn’t in the budget. I needed a wheelchair out. Spirit helped.
I digress. I find these seats very comfortable.
Shame on you Gary (she may not be thin but from the video her shoulders and arms don’t appear to impinge on either seat mate as theirs do on her) and all the other blaming the woman!!! Maybe she isn’t slim, BUT her shoulder width is NOT anywhere near the two beside her and therefor NOT intruding into their space. I don’t care how big someone’s stomach is if it stays in front of them in their seat – but you can’t do much when both seats adjacent have wide shoulders and arms that squish you!
as a plat exec years ago I was in an exit row next to a passenger whose shoulders gave me 1/2 my seat room on a 6 hour trans-com! I was unhappy and spoke to the FA b/c I had to curve my spine to even sit -sadly the flight was full and there was nothing they could do (I wasn’t mad at the seatmate – he couldn’t control the size of his shoulder width. The fa took pity on me and did the best they could (gave me cookies from first), but the real problem is the airlines making seats that normal people can’t sit in comfortably and allowing people of size to board and make others have less than their allotted seat size.
Now I would have deboarded as my body will no longer allow me to sit in such a contorted position for hours without severe consequences!
Sure the “I eat salad” comment was unnecessary – but who knows what happened before (note the seat mate asked for her to be reseated due to “abuse” but who knows).
You can hear the woman say, “I flew with miles, I don’t have my choice.” Sounds like she was on an award ticket.
Easter egg – where?
Let’s just address the elephant in the room.
She just didn’t want to sit between two black people. I guarantee you if they were white, then there would be no issue here.
United 737s have padding. its the A319s that are the real nightmare
“…an inner battle boils in the skies, just below the service…” Nice Freudian slip.
All the drama aside, it’s clear to me she’s uncomfortable seating besides 2 black people. Calling them fat is a way to throw discrimination without being lynched. That’s why the guy tells her in a sarcastic manner: make America great again.
And we call ourselves homo sapiens, hah.
i asked to be reseated when i was in window seat with an enormous woman next to me who never should have been allowed to sit without extra seat.
i found a middle seat somehow in the back.
i got $250 from the airline as well for my inconvenience
The guy to her right is huge and from the glimpse of the person to her left they look big as well. She does not look particularly large to me. The airlines should be required to provide a minimum of 18 inches of width (yes, in some cases seats will have to be removed and fares might go up a bit) and to design their seats so that it is more difficult to “spillover” onto one’s neighbor. As for the racial angle, I think she would be just as upset if she were between two huge white people.
With that said, I almost always pay whatever it takes to get an aisle or window seat.
She was rude in the way she complained, but the truth is she WAS squished between two huge people who had her pinned to her seat. I don’t believe she was being racist, she would have been just as upset between two huge white people.
Let’s be honest here, the guy on the aisle and the woman on the window were no skinny catwalk models. The regressive left would immediately call me racist for saying that.
Maybe the woman gets claustrophobic. Maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe she is a racist. Let’s not simplify this into what many will claim is an example of “what’s wrong with America”. This is one woman among hundreds of thousands who took a flight that day.
She’s not being a racist, she’s being an asshole. Yeah, she eats salad. By the looks of her a cheese salad with loads of ranch. Don’t want a middle seat. Pay for the upgrade.
Fly Southwest. They give “passengers of size” an aisle/window and an empty middle for no extra charge. Sit in the row with one of them and you have a ton of room.
I used to fly ORD-LEX, well over 300 miles. Not now. Hop in vehicle and drive.
She could have discreetly asked an FA if she could be moved. I am sure the FA’s would have noticed the situation if both of the other passengers were encroaching on her space. To talk about it openly on the phone and with others was humiliating to the two other passengers – fat shaming them. I am a skinny person, and I would never dream of saying the things she said. She asked for trouble when she sat there mouthing.
She states she is using miles to fly. I don’t fly on United but can you not pay extra to pick a better seat?
@Angela – based on the video, there is a sticker on the front of her seat that indicates that she is in economy plus
Right or wrong, she didn’t have to be a classless cunt about it – she could have discreetly asked to be moved to another seat instead of loudly complaining. No class whatsoever.
On a recent JetBlue flight, I had purchased an Even More Space seat (as I always do) and was seated on the aisle. The man next to me, in the middle seat, was enormous. He did NOT fit in his seat. His thighs spread way over into the seats next to him and his chest and arms pressed up against me, forcing me to have to lean into the aisle. He was so big he couldn’t lower his tray table. Both the window-seat passenger and I were incredibly uncomfortable. But it was a full flight and only 4 hours, so I sucked it up. If I HAD complained, I would have done it quietly. No need to embarrass the guy, who was clearly mortified at being so huge.
I have empathy for obese people, as I know they don’t necessarily choose to be that size, but if a person cannot fit in ONE seat (without spilling over), they should be expected to buy two.
Middle seat gets both armrests (unwritten rule)
I couldn’t see the person in the window seat, but the aisle PAX appears morbidly obese and WAS spilling into her “space”. That would annoy the hell out of me since space is so precious & small in coach. But probably best to address this with the GA or FA.
@Penny: “” Its a cruel, sick joke by some a$$hole at the airlines with limited imagination who cannot figure out that the more pleasant you make the flying experience, the more LIKELY PEOPLE ARE TO FLY ”
Actually, that’s totally wrong. It’s the lower you make the fare that induces them to fly. The woman in this video is a case in point. First class fares are close to an all time low in real terms, but this woman did not buy one. She bought the cheapest fare and got exactly what she paid for. She has nothing to complain about.
All of you complainers are sentenced to sit next to the Eva Air fat guy in his diaper and will be required to assist him to/ in the bathroom.
This woman should buy a first class seat next time as she’s obviously so sensitive. She should have been asked to deplane.
I see no problem in the window seat passenger asking for this to be written up. United needs to track bad actors like the middle seat passenger and if they cause multiple problems onboard then they should be banned.
Seat hogs are not limited to bigger folks. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had an elbow in my side for hours from someone as thin as a rail—their elbow well over the armrest in to my seat.
@Tom and others. I find it incredible how many “passengers?” on this thread are willing to let a POS (persons of size to be Propaganda Compliant) have as much seat space as they want yet are quick to judge a passenger for expecting the space that they paid for. I guess you are ok with say for example Starbucks giving them a Super Grande latte for the same price that you just paid for a small one, merely because they have more body mass. It’s not unreasonable to expect, and in some cases demand, that you get what you pay for. And that is one of the many reasons of what’s wrong with airlines these days … people settle for inferior service rather than vote with their feet … just to acquire a free trip in Hell.
On the one hand, it’s horrible to be that squished. On the other hand, you ask for it by buying the cheapest seat. Amazes me what people will do to save $20 on airfare, which they’ll spend on one glass of wine at dinner that night. If people would stop buying these horrible seats, the seats would go away.
There is a big disconnect when people are larger than ever and seats are smaller than ever.
No one would complain about being seated next to a person due to their race, religion or gender. That is completely unacceptable. Somehow it is ok to complain and insult people because of their size. How can that not be described as bias and weight shaming? Shame on this bigot.
@Anita: “No one would complain about being seated next to a person due to their race, religion or gender. That is completely unacceptable. Somehow it is ok to complain and insult people because of their size”
Because they did not choose that. Whereas fat people are just self-indulgent slobs who should stop eating (as everyone else has already done). They should stop invading other people’s seat space or buy 2(+) tickets.
@Sexy_kitten7 and @ss – while this article didn’t mention it, I read another article about this incident on Inc. and it does note: “In fact, she was ultimately removed from the plane. United says she was clearly disruptive and was re-accommodated on a flight the next morning.”