{The Body Liberation Guide} Southwest’s seating change + customer of size policy
Hi friend,
A quick note on the BLP website: The work that I thought would take me a week has dragged on, and on, and on.
Insert someone who was supposed to be fixing the WordPress theme erasing chunks of the site entirely, days of the site being down altogether, and endless screaming.
I hope the site will be back up to full function and also have a shiny new look soon!
Now, on to this week’s letter….
The big buzz this week — in both thin and fat circles — is American airline Southwest Airlines’ announcement that the company is ending its open seating sometime in early 2025.
After the switch, customers will need to reserve a specific seat on a flight, rather than Southwest’s current method, where customers can choose any open seat on the plane.
But what does that mean for Southwest’s customer of size policy?
The customer of size policy, which allows people who can’t fit in a standard seat to use a second one for free (or to buy two seats and be refunded for one after the flight) is beloved by many fat folks, and for people like me makes flying possible.
It’s not yet fully known what effect the shift will have on the CoS policy.
Fat activist and movement elder Marilyn Wann says,
I called their 800 number just now and the person there said that the Customer of Size policy is still in effect. When checking in or boarding a plane on the day of a flight, one can request an extra seat. If the flight is not full, workers should offer adjoining seats. If the flight is full, they would reschedule the passenger to the next available flight.
Check Marilyn’s post for an animated discussion in the comments as well.
Also, have you seen this feature on my work in The Phoblographer yet? Here’s a little excerpt:
THE PHOBLOGRAPHER: WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF CAPTURING BEAUTY AND HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE?
Lindley Ashline: People in big bodies are encouraged our whole lives to shrink and disappear and become invisible. We’re put in the back row in group shots. We’re discouraged from appearing in photos.
Or we become the ones who are always behind the camera so we can avoid visibility entirely.
My photography sessions give people a space to try rejecting that mentality and become visible, and they just blossom.
From a selfish standpoint, with that visibility I get to see all kinds of bodies, in all shapes and sizes and skin tones, and from an artistic and aesthetic standpoint it’s incredible.
Read the Phoblographer article »
Hi there! I'm Lindley. I create artwork that celebrates the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards at Body Liberation Photography. I'm also the creator of Body Liberation Stock and the Body Love Shop, a curated central resource for body-friendly artwork and products. Find all my work here at bodyliberationphotos.com.
