Kevin Smith VS. Virgin Atlantic Airlines

Kevin Smith vs. Virgin Atlantic Airlines

It’s Kevin Smith versus the friendly skies once again.

This time he is taking aim at Virgin Atlantic Airlines.

Kevin Smith, who had a run-in with Southwest Airlines earlier this year after they denied him boarding on the grounds that he was too large to fit in a standard seat, was also denied boarding by Virgin Atlantic Airlines on December 6th.

This time, Kevin says, he used a concierge service, as referred by Ben Affleck, which would board him last on a plane so as passengers wouldn’t stare and make comments about him as they passed him in first class. As you know, first class passengers generally board first, so as Kevin put it:

When you fly first, you board first, sit down… and then EVERYONE files past you. And when you’re the Too Fat To Fly guy on a plane? Well, everyone stares. Then the whispering starts. A hundred people look right at you – when you’re not on a stage. It kinda blows.

So Kevin decided the concierge was the way to go. And being as the woman working for the concierge service had 27-years experience, he felt comfortable in trusting her services.

The way it works is this, after the plane has been boarded by first class and coach customers, the concierge then gets their passengers ready for boarding. Baggage already checked and loaded an hour ahead of time.

So what could have gone wrong? Well, it seems Kevin Smith and his traveling partners, his wife and Jay Mewes (of Jay & Silent Bob) weren’t boarded in the small window between when passengers are boarded and the plane’s door is shut. When he and his party arrived to board, (10 minutes before departure as recommended by the experienced concierge), an employee of Virgin Atlantic was closing the door, so Jay Mewes called out to him to let him know they were coming. The Virgin Atlantic employee, named Manny, basically said, ‘tough titty, you’re not getting on.’

To make matters more complicated, Kevin Smith’s wife, Jen, had packed her medication (which needs to be taken every 8 hours) in her luggage, and that luggage was already on the plane and the Virgin Atlantic employees refused to retrieve the luggage.

The story is far too long for me to go into every single detail, but Kevin Smith did quite a good job at filling us in on the details. You can read his rant about Virgin Atlantic HERE on his blog.

The outcome? Kevin Smith was refunded his tickets, received an apologetic email, and got a free ticket offer for his, his wife and Jay Mewes’ troubles.

It seems trouble finds Kevin Smith when he flies the “friendly skies!” At this rate he’ll be out of airlines to fly in a few years. Maybe he should save up for a private plane? With extra wide seats of course.

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