Southwest Airlines Receives Pushback For New Refund Policy Labeled As Anti-Plus Size

While the airline still permits plus-size passengers to apply for the refund, social media users worry the policy could be deemed discriminatory.

A new refund policy from Southwest Airlines is making it somewhat uncomfortable for plus-size customers to be reimbursed for extra space, USA Today reported.

The airline has updated its “customers of size” refund policy, introducing new conditions for eligible customers to receive refunds. Once encouraging such customers to purchase two seats when booking a ticket and then applying for a second fare refund, Southwest’s policy now says the flight must depart with at least one open seat, both seats should be purchased in the same fare class, such as Choice, Choice Preferred, Choice Extra, or Basic, and the refund request is required to be made within 90 days of your date of travel.

With the new policy going into effect Jan. 27 — the same day Southwest switches to an assigned seating preference — plus-size travelers feel the new policy is sneaky and eliminates the benefits the airline once had, adding complications.

“It seems like a sneaky add-on from a policy that had been around for 20+ years without much hitting the bottom line,” travel influencer and Chubby Diaries founder, Jeff Jenkins, said in a statement.

“I just hope that consumers are aware of this change, and I wonder if plus-size people will skip out on flying with them at all because of them not knowing if the flight is sold out or not. It’s just more anxiety to an already high anxiety experience.”

Some advocates are already banking on supporting a different airline, like Corinne Fay, a writer for a fashion newsletter called Big Undies. She says she only flew Southwest because of their plus-size friendly policy, but that is about to change. “I definitely felt like crying because it’ll make my life a lot harder,” Fay said, according to The Washington Post.

“We’re talking about the difference between spending $400 versus $800 or even more.”

Tigress Osborn, executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, believes the new policy will ultimately harm the airline, as customers can’t afford to risk their money in such a manner.

“They can’t afford to take that gamble,” Osborn said. “We are hearing from a lot of people about how this will literally mean they cannot travel by air anymore.”

While the change is profound for some, social media seemingly takes nothing seriously. As the announcement went viral, users began comparing it to a famous scene in Tyler Perry’s 2007 box office hit, Why Did I Get Married? where character Sheila, played by Jill Scott, was forced to drive to Colorado after being kicked off a flight due to her large stature. When the flight attendant said she had to purchase two seats, her husband, Mike, played by Richard T. Jones, laughed, saying, “I’ve been telling her big ass to lose weight for months now. Glad someone else said something.”

@naveljr108 The fact that the husand is letting her go😵‍💫 #whydidigetmarried #removedfromplane #badhusband #movieclips #moviescene #foryou #viral #fypシ #fyp ♬ original sound – Naveljr10

Other users took the time to express rounds of applause for the airline’s changes. “Good – I was on a flight & this woman was in my seat too, one thigh in her seat, the other thigh in mine! Literally, they had to move me and refund me,” a user on Instagram wrote.

Another user feels the policy is going to get discriminatory — and fast. “Southwest is gonna go bankrupt so quickly. First, they start making people pay for their bags, now this? And why are they suddenly saying plus size passengers have to purchase two seats as if the people who already know that they’re that large have to purchase two seats anyway?,” @theclosetratchet asked.

“Is plus size defined as anyone that they see is big, or is plus size defined as you can’t properly clasp your seatbelt? Because this could get discriminatory real fast…”

However, in a statement, Southwest said the policy is to simply guarantee travelers have the space they need as less than 0.25% of customers request extra seats. “To ensure space, we are communicating to customers who require an extra seat that they should purchase it at booking,” the company said in a statement.