Southwest vs. Kevin Smith

A jerk on an airplane is bad enough, but a Hollywood jerk on an airplance is almost too much to bear. Yet Kevin Smith keeps getting all too much air time for being let off a Southwest flight over the weekend. (Well, it is a holiday and there's not much going on). Just to recap, Smith, who just so happens to have a movie coming out, was deemed too overweight to fit in one seat for an Oakland-Burbank run. When that happens, the airline asks passengers to purchase a second seat (and offers to refund the price of the second ticket if the plane isn't full). Smith said he was able to fit into the seat, made a big stink, and then broadcast his protests on Twitter, which is when it became a big deal. "I know I'm fat, but was [the airline] really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?" he wrote. But this is real life, not a screenplay, and there's a little more to the story than what Smith let on. From the WSJ's Scott McCartney:

In Mr. Smith's case, the director actually did buy two seats, then tried to standby for an earlier flight. There was only one seat on that flight, and when Mr. Smith sandwiched himself into it, trouble started. The crew asked him to wait for a later flight with two seats.

So if he bought two seats in the first place, why was he so huffy when the airline said he couldn't use just one for that earlier flight? (Did I mention that he has a movie coming out?) Thing is, Southwest's policy for very heavy passengers has been in place for many years, as Smith apparently knew.

You make the reservation for two seats, and the "name'' of the "second passenger'' is your name with the middle initials XS. If you're buying a discounted ticket, the second seat costs the same as the first. If you're buying a full-fare ticket, the second seat is priced at a child's fare (child fares are sold only by telephone, but Southwest charges no telephone reservation booking fees). You get a "reserved seat'' document to block the seat next to you. And if the flight isn't full and an empty seat would have been available, Southwest will refund the cost of the second seat.

In other words, the airline did everything right, and Smith is a jerk - a Hollywood jerk, the worst kind.