Blake Hall
Get ready for this one.
It’s heavy.
According to a retired United States Marine and Orange County California resident, a major airline told him to get his big rear end off a commercial flight scheduled from Dallas to Santa Ana because an “elderly” woman sitting next to him complained he was simply too big for his seat.
Chris Shelley, a Huntington Beach engineer (above), claims that he boarded the American Airlines flight on Friday, nestled in, then soon noticed that the older “petite” female passenger adjacent to him was visibly upset, and in a huff got up and headed toward the back of the aircraft.
Not long after, to the U.S. military veteran’s surprise, he was accosted by one of the jet’s attendants, who told him he needed to “deplane immediately” because “anyone over two inches in the seat cannot sit on the aircraft”.
Shelley admitted he was in shock being pegged a criminal.
“Not only a criminal, but a fat criminal.”
“They never once asked me or anyone else if we could switch seats. It was just simply – get off the plane!” he said.
According to him, eventually he convinced one of the flight attendants to convince the woman to switch seats. When she did, he was allowed back on.
CBS Los Angeles reports that since the incident, American Airlines has sent him two apology emails. A spokesperson for the company said they also launched an investigation.