Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
Plus-size model, Natalie Hage, was traveling on a recent American Airlines flight. When she sat down next to another passenger in the exit row, he began huffing and texting about her weight and being seated next to him. She confronted him and he questioned if she was fit enough to sit by the emergency exits.
While Hage says that she paid $91 for an extra-legroom seat, she found herself in the middle of an emergency exit row. She sat down and describes what happened next as follows:
As soon as I sat down, the gentleman on my left began loudly huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat. I see him furiously texting and then purposefully turning the phone away from me. so, naturally next time he texts, I take a look.”
She said the man was texting about her and received a text that read: “hopefully she didn’t have any Mexican food.” He replied, “I think she ate a Mexican.”
Apparently, they flew next to each other for the duration of the flight without incident. When they were deplaning, she confronted the man and told him that she had taken photos of his texts. He apologized, but followed up by asking if she was fit enough to be in the exit row in case there was an emergency. After the flight, she uploaded her pictures in an Instagram video that has been viewed over 1.2 million times.
I think there are two people in the wrong in this story. The man next to her did not need to be so rude and Hage did not need to photograph him and post it to Instagram. She was not asking for anything extra, so I have no issue with her. Unlike another plus-size “influencer” named Jaelynn Chaney who I’ve covered her nonsense several times.
In the past, I’ve written about how this plus-size woman from Vancouver started a petition demanding that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “protect plus-sized customers” by having taxpayers foot the bill for her extra space. The petition has almost reached 39,000 signatures and she’s continuing to champion her cause. She also has complained about the size of hotel hallways and recently claimed that she was abandoned by a wheelchair pusher and gasped for air as she meandered in the jet bridge. And, she wants rideshare vehicles to include seatbelt extenders to accommodate her ample girth. Enough already.
Anthony’s Take: This woman did nothing wrong on the flight besides taking photos of the man sitting next to her. He’s entitled to his own opinion and it couldn’t have been that bad if they remained seated next to each other for the entire flight. He should have been more careful with his texts or saved them until he was off the aircraft.
(Image Credits: Natalie Hage and Jaelynn Chaney.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
7 comments
I’m not as big as her, but considered plus size a d I have sat in the exit row numerous times without issues. I have sat next to more people feeling they are entitled to having both arm rests and spreading their legs out I to my space, all being men. This guy just seemed negative from the start and unfortunately, there are always passengers like this.
People have gotten bigger in size since the start of flying and instead of accommodating passengers, they have downsized the seating. Are there people out there that don’t take care if themselves, yes but you don’t know why that person is overweight. Sometimes it’s health related. So think about that before you huff and puff.
You know you’re a plus ➕️ size because of the mirror’s in your house, the clothes you buy, the booths you sit at, and the chairs you sit in, as well as the distance you can walk comfortably. To be shocked that someone as an issue with your size that you sit next to on an aircraft ( when you know you should purchase two seats), is too funny. You are looking for drama when you can do the right thing for yourself and the courtesy of traveling public.
she’s fat and there’s no way a woman that fat can have all of her body in one seat.
She needs two seats. Southwest will give her a 2nd seat for free. If she’s that big she doesn’t need to get upset that someone texts about how big she is. I would not have apologized. She’s very confrontational.
Depends on whether she was spilling out of her seat.
I’ve sat next to some pretty big people on airplanes in coach and somehow they manage to stay in their zone.
As long as they’re not encroaching on my space. It’s not my business.
“This woman did nothing wrong on the flight besides taking photos of the man sitting next to her” – I’m not familiar with the US laws, but in Europe that would not be the case.
The privacy of an individual is protected. You are allowed to take pictures of someone else in a public place, which an airplane is. But, you shouldn’t distribute these photos without permission, unless there’s a really good reason for that.
There’s yet another transgression in this case – you can not read another persons’ messages, especially so if he’s doing his best to hide them. That’s a violation of the privacy of communication and correspondence, which is a big no-no.
If you don’t want the world to see your Willy… don’t pull it out in the world. An airplane is a public space. There is no privacy. Both have blame in this case but the dude is downright ignorant and good on her for calling him out.
She violated his privacy by reading his texts; she was looking for a conflict. She should have picked up a book, magazine, watched a movie, whatever. NEVER EVER have I looked at a screen of my fellow passenger. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Problem solved.