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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talk of Lawsuit in Air Against Southwest Airlines

Aired June 19, 2002 - 06:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Talk of a lawsuit is in the air against Southwest Airlines. The reason? People of size are angry. They may soon be charged double to ride to their destination.

The story from David Beanik (ph) of CNN affiliate station KCRA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID BEANIK (ph), CNN AFFILIATE KCRA REPORTER (voice-over): Starting with flights that take off next Wednesday, Southwest Airlines will require two tickets for what the company calls, "people of size."

JARED HUTCHINS, PASSENGER: It's a lot of money to buy plane tickets, and that's just really discriminatory, asking people like to buy two tickets like that, I think.

BEANIK (ph): And Sheila Allen thought the same thing when she first heard about Southwest's policy change last week.

SHEILA ALLEN, NAT'L. ASSN. TO ADVANCE FAT ACCEPTANCE: I was angered.

BEANIK (ph): Sheila is part of a group called the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, which protested at the Sacramento Airport several years ago when Southwest first suggested this idea of a special policy for larger passengers.

ALLEN: Who is going to decide who needs to pay for the extra ticket? Do we have to get on a scale? I mean, my weight is private medical information. It's not for anybody else's knowledge.

BEANIK (ph): A spokesperson for Southwest couldn't tell us exactly how the policy will be implemented, except to say that in the past, ticket agents had the option of double charging larger passengers, and that now it will happen every time.

(on camera): So do you think two tickets is fair for larger people?

AMIRA KELLOW, PASSENGER: I don't know. Maybe yes. But I don't think -- I mean, one-and-a-half, I think.

BEANIK (ph) (voice-over): But Sheila Allen says she won't pay double, one-and-a-half, or even a penny more than other passengers, and predicts that if Southwest does go through with this policy, it will have something on its own lap, a lawsuit.

ALLEN: This is a policy that is, I feel, nothing but -- is going to cause but trouble for Southwest Airlines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That story from David Beanik (ph) of CNN affiliate station KCRA.

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