Folks aren’t feeling Southwest Airlines new policies, which have been rolling out since last spring. Now, Black women are raising alarms after they claim a new plus size seating policy is causing more harm than good.
Suggested Reading
We previously told you Southwest got rid of two staple policies in less than a year. First, the airline took away free checked bags then their open seating policy. The company recently enacted a rule demanding plus sized customers buy an extra seat in order to board. But while folks warned the policy was “fat-phobic,” nothing could’ve prepared Southwest for the loads of backlash they’d receive… especially from Black women.
Ruby Renee, who is a frequent Southwest flyer, explained to viewers on TikTok that she was already running late to catch her flight when she was stopped by a Southwest associate. “I put my bags up to be weighed, gave him my ID, and he said ‘Unfortunately, you will be required to purchase another seat.” Renee said she was aware that she is “larger,” but prior to this encounter, she’d never had an issue with seating.
“I can fit in the seat no problem. Like, I’ve flown Southwest. Y’all are my preferred flight company,” she told the worker, who said he understood but would still require her to buy another seat. Renee noted Southwest doesn’t have specific measurements or size restrictions listed in person.
“So, you’re just looking at me and telling me that I can’t fit in the seat? You’re not even gonna let me get in the seat first before you just assume I can’t fit in the seat,” she asked. In the end, Renee wasn’t allowed on the plane, and her only other options were to buy another seat for more than double the original price or reschedule her flight and still be forced to pay for another seat.
Her TikTok has since gone viral, amassing over 400,000 views. But while many users came to Renee’s defense, arguing that the Southwest policy discriminated against her, Renee unfortunately isn’t the only “curvy” Black woman who endured a similar confrontation.
“I, too, was a victim of Southwest,” Keirstyn Catron shared on TikTok. Two weeks before the plus size policy was even implemented, she was stopped while traveling from New York to Houston.
“They make an announcement saying that they’re trying to lessen the weight of the plane because it is a fully packed out plane,” she explained. But soon, Catron was approached by an employee who explicitly asked if she can fit in the seat. In response, the Black woman told her, “Yeah, of course I fit in the seat… No, I don’t need a seatbelt extender. The seatbelt itself goes on just fine.”
According to Catron, the Southwest employee ultimately denied her a chance to board “based on size.” The experience traumatized her. Catron even added that she’s turned down trips with friends citing the humiliating incident. “In the event that every other airline was closed forever, I’d still never fly with them again,” she said.
The plus size policy went into effect back in January. “Customers who encroach upon the neighboring seat(s) must purchase the number of seats needed,” the policy reads. “If you have not reserved adjacent seats before arriving to the airport and adjacent seats are not available, you’ll be rebooked on another flight with available seating.”
Folks like Carton and Renee argued the new rule leaves too much room for possible discrimination. “That is unsafe for—I’m going to say it—Black women specifically,” Renee pointed out. “We are naturally curvier. Look at our ancestors.”
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.