Drunk passenger spits on plus-size traveler in viral Southwest flight altercation
A drunk Southwest Airlines passenger was arrested last week after allegedly attacking a plus-size traveler with spitting and grabbing her hair, according to officials.
Authorities responded to a call at around 1:10 a.m. on June 17 regarding an "intoxicated passenger," now identified as 32-year-old Leanna Perry from New York, on a Southwest flight at Terminal B in LaGuardia Airport, the Port Authority Police Department told USA TODAY.
In a now-viral recording of the altercation posted to Reddit, Perry is seen grabbing the other passenger's hair. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't want to sit next to a (expletive) fat lady," Perry said in the video.
Southwest Airlines staff and other passengers restrain the unruly passenger, who continues to insult the woman. "Look at this fat lady," Perry said, and is later seen spitting in the woman's face. When restrained, Perry falls to the ground while still cursing, as seen in another video, and is then removed from the flight.
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Perry was then transported to a hospital for evaluation before being transferred to the New York City Department of Corrections, the police said. She has been charged with aggravated assault, authorities said.
"The customer involved in the incident was removed from the flight and denied boarding," said Chris Perry, a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines. "We commend our team for their professionalism during the incident."
Facing discrimination as a plus-size traveler
Annette Richmond, a plus-size content creator and founder of the fat-positive travel community Fat Girls Traveling, said she felt "desensitized" and "not surprised" to see Perry's meltdown. "As a fat traveler, someone who travels frequently for work and pleasure, we're constantly having to deal with these micro and macro aggressions," she told USA TODAY.
While Richmond has never experienced "such a violent, unhinged reaction to sitting next to me," she has had others comment on her body on flights. "As I'm putting my seatbelt on, I've had more than one time a random stranger be like, that's not gonna fit," she said. "I don't put like emotional value on a seat belt fitting me or not, but when it does fit, they don't say anything."
There are also extra barriers that plus-size travelers have to overcome to make flying more comfortable, such as spending more money to purchase a second seat for more space – and then possibly having to explain to another passenger that the seat isn't unoccupied. "It's not as simple as buying a second seat," she said.
"I've been saying this for years, that fatphobia is one of the last acceptable forms of discrimination," Richmond said. "So people assume that if you are a fat person, they have the right or authority to dog you out or to treat you like you are less than because that's how they see you."
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