Plus-size women ‘humiliated’ for being ‘too big’ for business-class seats

A woman and her two daughters were ‘utterly humiliated’ at the business-class check-in counter for a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Auckland. The three women were told by airline staff that they were ‘too big’ to sit in the business-class seats which they had paid for.

‘I’ve never felt discriminated against before because of my size, so this experience left me completely in shock,’ said Ms Huhana Iripa, 59. She and her daughters Renell, 28, and Tere, 37, were returning to New Zealand after weight loss surgery, according to The Independent.

The three paid NZ$2,650 (about R25,200) each for business class seats as they wanted to be more comfortable after the surgery.

Iripa told the New Zealand Herald, that a member of the airline staff approached the three at the check-in counter and started saying ‘no, you’re too big, you’re too big’.

‘She then pulled out a measuring tape and wrapped it around my daughter Renell, moving her arms outstretched, before trying to do the same to me and Tere.

‘At this point, I broke down in tears.’

The women were moved to economy-class seats where the seatbelts can be fitted with extensions.

According to the airline, the seatbelts of the business-class seats in the Thai Airways Dreamliner 787-900 are fitted with airbags, which prevents them from being extended.

‘The new 787-900 Dreamliner aircraft used on flights between New Zealand and Thailand is fitted with integrated airbag seatbelts in business class,’ a Thai Airways spokesperson told The Independent.

‘The extension seatbelt normally used to accommodate oversized passengers cannot be fitted to the airbag seatbelts; therefore passengers not able to fit the standard airbag seatbelt cannot be carried in business class.’

‘As this issue involves passenger safety, I am sure you will understand that we cannot compromise on this.’

Image credit: Wkipedia Commons

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