Technology Slice

Man Ejected From Flight For Being Overweight

A 203kg man who says he was thrown off a flight for being too fat has missed the chance to say goodbye to his dying aunt.

Sandy Russell, from Wolverhampton in England, said a stewardess told him to leave the Air Transat plane from London Gatwick to Toronto because he could not fit in his seat.

He was told he must pay for two seats if he wanted to catch the next available flight to visit his aunt who was dying of bowel cancer in Canada.

Mr Russell was unable to pay the $1564 fare and his aunt died two days after he was due to visit her.

“I was absolutely devastated. I hardly cry, and there I was reduced to tears out of frustration and humiliation in the middle of the airport,” Mr Russell told the News of the World.

“The worst thing is, my aunt has died now,” he said. “By the time I got home from the airport, she was too ill to talk on the phone, so I couldn’t even say goodbye to her.

Air Transat said Mr Russell’s 52-inch girth meant that the armrest could not be lowered for take-off, as demanded by regulations.

The passenger said he was angry he wasn’t made aware that his size was a problem before he boarded the plane.

A spokesman for the airline said Air Transat was not allowed to ask passengers their measurements before they booked a flight as it was “a breach of their human rights”.

The airline has offered to refund Mr Russell’s ticket price as a gesture of goodwill.

Tags: Air Transat, airline, Bowel Cancer, Breach, Frustration, Gesture, Goodwill, Human Rights, Humiliation, Inch Girth, London Gatwick, Measurements, Mr Russell, News Of The World, Sandy Russell, Spokesman, Stewardess, Ticket Price, Toronto, Wolverhampton
Posted in Travel