BACK FROM VEGAS-YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS!-LONG
All,
I apologize for the length of this upfront. I know this is LONG but needs to be shared..
My DH and I went to VEGAS for our 19th wedding anniversary on Wednesday and flew DELTA AIRLINES...which we always fly- Guess I am anal, but the "Delta gets you there" slogan always comes into play...
My DH Craig is 6'7- 400lbs and built like a linebacker- and of course, I am a BBW... We have always sat in the exit row for the additional leg room for Craig. Now we are folks who travel.We have been to Sweden, Germany, Mexico, and within the US- so its not like we are Novices...
As always, we got exit row seats 19E & F. We boarded in with Zone 1/First class which made us first on the plane. The lady collecting the boarding pass told us we would not be able to sit in those seats that there would be a problem...but lets us on the plane.
As we are sitting down getting comfy, and asking for seat belt extenders, this woman came from out in th boarding area to tell us loud as you please... :"YOU ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS"...she finds a stewardess and tells her, "THEY ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS!" The stewardess is like what? and she says again..."THEY ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS!"
Meanwhile, the plane is filling up with passengers who are hearing this. the lady says loud as you please.."BIG PEOPLE REQUIRING SEAT BELT EXTENDERS CAN NOT SIT IN EXIT ROWS"...
I will not get into the mundane detail ya'll..but apparently in March 2004, the FAA changed rulings for exit rows, including the fact that folks requiring extenders could not sit there as it is a HAZARD to safety in case of an emergency.
(Is that some Discriminatory BS or what?)
Now, I am not going to argue with the FAA- However, before they could pull out a rule book, in which this old lady made sure they did, they had us surrounded by two flight attendants, that captain of the DAMN plane, and an attendant supervisor- who treated us like we were hijackers...
To top it off, the overbooked the flight by 20 people. There were NO OPEN SEATS except for First class. My husband was like, you are inconveniecing me, and so move us to first class, and they refused. As a matter of fact,they were not polite- they continued to tell us how "BIG WE WERE".
When I politely told them that they were discriminating against us- the supervisor started Yelling saing they were not, we were wrong, and even told us that if we did not like the rule we could get off the plane. I KID YOU NOT...
The Captain leaves and comes back with another attendant, with a total of 6 people captain included standing around us in the front of the plane talking to us as though we were criminals.
After 20 mins, we were moved from seats 19 E & F to row 40....as we were moved to the new seats we got dirty looks and snide comments from other passengers..which was even more humiliating.
also due to the delay we took off late.
I was SEETHING
, and I asked for names of all parties. We were in air 2 hours when I had to ask AGAIN for all names. I was then addressed by the last attendant who came to the situation to learn she was the head attendant. She also happened to be African American...
She apologized profusely, and she said she was appalled with what happened....She said she had several relatives that were plus sized, and all she could think of is what if this had happened to one of them. she also shared with me that the Captain went to get her and told her to "HANDLE" us because we were "BLACK"...
She was so , that she was going to file a complaint. I also have the name and number of a witness who was sitting next to us when this whole confrontation took place. He was so appalled he said he would help us in any way.
I don't know ya'll. I was so appalled that I almost cried. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EMBARESSED IN MY LIFE.
When I called Delta Customer Service the next day- they could care less about the way we were treated as customers. They just kept quoting the FAA policy. My husband told them he could give a flying Flip about the FAA policy- What about the customer service or lack there of?
I have names of directors, and the president of Delta...But Craig (my DH) says I needed to share this with the OH boards and let them know about this form of discrimination....
Other than that, VEGAS is fun to visit, and the rest of the trip was fine...
Sorry this is so long....
Denise
My DH and I went to VEGAS for our 19th wedding anniversary on Wednesday and flew DELTA AIRLINES...which we always fly- Guess I am anal, but the "Delta gets you there" slogan always comes into play...
My DH Craig is 6'7- 400lbs and built like a linebacker- and of course, I am a BBW... We have always sat in the exit row for the additional leg room for Craig. Now we are folks who travel.We have been to Sweden, Germany, Mexico, and within the US- so its not like we are Novices...
As always, we got exit row seats 19E & F. We boarded in with Zone 1/First class which made us first on the plane. The lady collecting the boarding pass told us we would not be able to sit in those seats that there would be a problem...but lets us on the plane.
As we are sitting down getting comfy, and asking for seat belt extenders, this woman came from out in th boarding area to tell us loud as you please... :"YOU ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS"...she finds a stewardess and tells her, "THEY ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS!" The stewardess is like what? and she says again..."THEY ARE TOO BIG AND CAN NOT SIT IN THESE SEATS!"
Meanwhile, the plane is filling up with passengers who are hearing this. the lady says loud as you please.."BIG PEOPLE REQUIRING SEAT BELT EXTENDERS CAN NOT SIT IN EXIT ROWS"...
I will not get into the mundane detail ya'll..but apparently in March 2004, the FAA changed rulings for exit rows, including the fact that folks requiring extenders could not sit there as it is a HAZARD to safety in case of an emergency.
(Is that some Discriminatory BS or what?)
Now, I am not going to argue with the FAA- However, before they could pull out a rule book, in which this old lady made sure they did, they had us surrounded by two flight attendants, that captain of the DAMN plane, and an attendant supervisor- who treated us like we were hijackers...
To top it off, the overbooked the flight by 20 people. There were NO OPEN SEATS except for First class. My husband was like, you are inconveniecing me, and so move us to first class, and they refused. As a matter of fact,they were not polite- they continued to tell us how "BIG WE WERE".
When I politely told them that they were discriminating against us- the supervisor started Yelling saing they were not, we were wrong, and even told us that if we did not like the rule we could get off the plane. I KID YOU NOT...
The Captain leaves and comes back with another attendant, with a total of 6 people captain included standing around us in the front of the plane talking to us as though we were criminals.
After 20 mins, we were moved from seats 19 E & F to row 40....as we were moved to the new seats we got dirty looks and snide comments from other passengers..which was even more humiliating.
also due to the delay we took off late.
I was SEETHING, and I asked for names of all parties. We were in air 2 hours when I had to ask AGAIN for all names. I was then addressed by the last attendant who came to the situation to learn she was the head attendant. She also happened to be African American...
She apologized profusely, and she said she was appalled with what happened....She said she had several relatives that were plus sized, and all she could think of is what if this had happened to one of them. she also shared with me that the Captain went to get her and told her to "HANDLE" us because we were "BLACK"...
She was so , that she was going to file a complaint. I also have the name and number of a witness who was sitting next to us when this whole confrontation took place. He was so appalled he said he would help us in any way.
I don't know ya'll. I was so appalled that I almost cried. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EMBARESSED IN MY LIFE.
When I called Delta Customer Service the next day- they could care less about the way we were treated as customers. They just kept quoting the FAA policy. My husband told them he could give a flying Flip about the FAA policy- What about the customer service or lack there of?
I have names of directors, and the president of Delta...But Craig (my DH) says I needed to share this with the OH boards and let them know about this form of discrimination....
Other than that, VEGAS is fun to visit, and the rest of the trip was fine...
Sorry this is so long....
Denise Denise
I am so sorry to hear you had to go thru something like that. I cannot imagine how I would have felt if it had of been me. That was totally uncalled for and downright ignorant. I don't really know what to say but I hope you push the issue and something gets done about the way you and your husband were treated. I am also glad delta airlines employees did not ruin your stay in Vegas.
Spice
ARGH!! Denise!! I am angry just reading your post!!!
I had the same thing happen to me when my best friend and I were flying back from Arizona last year, on Southwest Air. Southwest is first come, first serve seating...so we took the emergency exit for the very reason you mentioned...extra room, etc.
I asked for the extender and she told us if I had to have it, we would not be able to sit there...I looked around and there was not 2 seats together anywhere...and I am terrified of flying anyway....so buddy, you better believe I squished myself into that seat belt!!!
I think it is HORRIFIC that they pulled out the race issue. I am so sorry you were treated so horribly... I will keep that in mind next time I fly!!
-Tami
Georgia Girl
on 8/7/04 2:30 pm
on 8/7/04 2:30 pm
Denise,
I am a wife of an airline employee (its not Delta!) and I stand behind you 100% no matter what. I would be just as angry as you and would not tolerate that behavior from anybody. Pursue....Pursue....Pursue.
I again appologize for your embarrassment and humiliation.
I too, will remember this before I fly. Although, I have to say I have never flown before but, can surely tell you when I do it WILL NOT be Delta or Jet Blue.
Try to have a good evening,
Crece
girl sorry you and your DH went through this but why not call in the news people to see if you can get some kind of justice (sp) maybe worth a try to give them a call I would 
you never know I would think this will get there eyes open for the kind of people they employ now days if nothing else........take care
you never know I would think this will get there eyes open for the kind of people they employ now days if nothing else........take care 
Denise~
I'm so sorry you and your husband went through that. How sad that in this day and time we have to put up with crap like that.
Dont give up the fight. Get the word out to everyone who will listen about how Delta treated you. Go to the top, go to the media just dont give up.
Best of luck to you.
Sidney
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