A plus-sized businesswoman, Holly Richards, who bought herself two seats has lashed out at the airline saying that she was ashamed when staff refused to let her carry extra luggage on board.

According to a Daily Mail report, Holly Richards had at the time been flying from Sydney to Melbourne. Richards who is a size 28/30 said she did not want any uncomfortable looks so she purchased two tickets but there was a mix-up with her hand luggage as she had also purchased an extra 7kg for that.

“I had my handbag, a small suitcase and also my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea which I knew from previous experience is considered a medical device and therefore not included in carry-on baggage allowance,” said Holly.

But two employees weighed her luggage and allegedly very rudely told her she was 3kg overweight and was only allowed two items.

After some altercation, “I tell her she’s being very rude and unreasonable and ask to speak to a manager. She tells me I’m being rude and that the manager will just tell me the same thing but eventually leaves to get the manager. I immediately burst into tears.”

Holly on Instagram

Upon hearing that she had an extra seat, the manager apologized immediately.

Holly posted on Instagram stating:

“This is of course ignoring the fact that the world is not built for diverse bodies and is excluding many, many people with differing bodies, brains and abilities, not just me and people my size or larger. That extreme injustice aside, even though I had taken every single measure I could to conform, I was met repeatedly with bad faith, rudeness and disdain.

I was forced to embarrass myself further and further again while enduring air travel which is already incredibly stressful for me at the absolute best of times. I am always taking extra steps to avoid being a burden to the current system. But even so, I was not treated like a human being.”

“I was forced to embarrass myself further and further again, while enduring air travel which is already incredibly stressful for me at the absolute best of times.

“I am always taking extra steps to avoid being a burden to the current system. But even so, I was not treated like a human being. Yes, my day is ruined but the knock this will take to my already precarious mental health and self esteem is immense.

“There will of course be many, many people who will say ‘just lose weight.’ I don’t own anyone any explanation or apology for my body.”

Ranting

Her rant was well received by others with one netizen writing that Jetstar should be ashamed for its lack of humanity and inability to accept diverse bodies and needs.

A Jetstar spokesperson subsequently reached out to Molly stating, “We’re really sorry to hear about Ms Richards recent experience and appreciate that it would have been an upsetting situation.

“We pride ourselves on providing great customer service and treating everyone with respect and we’re looking into what happened and how we can do better.”

Jetstar has since refunded Ms Richards flights.

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