NAAFA Tells Southwest: Keep the Skies Fat-Friendly and Accessible!
Photo Credit: Gary Lopater on Unsplash
[Image description: A photo of a Southwest airplane soaring in a lightly cloudy sky.]
By Tigress Osborn, NAAFA’s Executive Director
When I wrote in last month’s newsletter about traveling fat and disabled, I had no idea that a new hurdle was potentially on the horizon for fat and disabled travelers. Shortly after that publication, Southwest Airlines announced a major change: assigned seating begins in 2025. There have been whispers for some time that Southwest would eventually get rid of open seating, and those whispers terrified many fat flyers because we know they could put Southwest’s Customer of Size policy at risk. When Southwest announced this change, we immediately began to hear from concerned NAAFAns. We worked fast to launch a campaign to get Southwest to take these concerns seriously.
But we quickly began to see that, even on the fat-friendliest places on the internet, many people are not taking into account just how much the effectiveness of Customer of Size procedures at Southwest rely on open seating. Southwest has said huge numbers of passengers and potential passengers prefer assigned seats; among them are lots of people who don’t rely on Customer of Size, including some smaller plus-size people who’ve never needed a Customer of Size seat. So we are on a mission not just to help Southwest understand what’s at stake here, but also to help those within our own community understand the importance of advocating on this issue. We’ve put together a FAQ outline questions we’ve seen so far. You can find that here.
At NAAFA, we prioritize buying plane tickets on Southwest any time a member of our team needs to travel by air. We are often purchasing for a Customer of Size who need two seats, but also because even when we are paying fares for smaller fat people who only need one seat, we have an organizational commitment to spending with companies that support fat community.
When we have to make arrangements with other airlines, that process is always more complicated and time-consuming than it is at Southwest. I can book a Southwest flight, including a Customer of Size seat, in less than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I’ve spent anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours (!!!) trying to arrange accommodations on international flights. Domestic airlines are only marginally better. In contrast, there are simple instructions for booking a Customer of Size seat online, and Southwest’s customer service agents are more often well-versed in helping with second seats when purchasing by phone or when making day-of arrangements. It’s not always perfect (believe me, I’ve got stories!), but it is always better than their competitors.
Southwest is also different from their competitors because open seating means passengers are more able to choose seats near the front of the plane regardless of when the ticket is purchased, removing barriers related to having to navigate the entire aircraft. This is especially important for supersize flyers and passengers with some types of disabilities.
With Southwest changing from its unique seating model to doing things how everyone else does, it’s clear that other unique features are vulnerable to change. Proposed aircraft changes are also likely to impact larger bodied and disabled passengers. As Southwest looks to make more money, their free baggage policy could be at risk, which can impact fat people who can’t always stuff our larger clothing in carry-on size luggage.
Even if the Customer of Size policy stays the same in word, it cannot be the same in practice, so we need Southwest to work with advocates for fat rights and disability justice. Southwest has to ensure that procedures are put into place to protect accessibility as they change the way we travel with their company. Southwest has the opportunity to continue to be an industry leader in equity and inclusion. Those in our community who actually do have other options are essential to this advocacy.
Please join us in urging Southwest to prioritize accessibility in this and all other decisions they are making about the future of the airlines’ planes, policies, and procedures. We’ve gathered over 1,000 signatures on our petition to Southwest at naafa.org/southwest, Please share the petition and FAQ with your networks, and tag @southwestair in your posts.