Is This A Sick Joke? Airline Refuses To Give “Disabled” Woman Two Free Extra Seats

A woman has gone viral for a telephone conversation with an airline in which she demands two extra seats for free due to her disability…claustrophobia. Is this some sort of sick joke or could it actually be real?

Woman Demands Two Extra Airline Seats For Free, Claims She Suffers From Claustrophobia

A viral conversation purports to re-create a genuine interaction between a woman and an airline, during which she:

demands two extra seats for free so she can have a full row to herself
likens her disability to a peanut allergy
claims that because she has a “genuine medical note” from her doctor, she must be accommodated
remarks, “I shouldn’t have to pay for something if it’s a medical condition.”

The airline agent ultimately says, “It’s a very unreasonable request,” and I would agree.

To the woman: the gravest medical condition you have is a sense of entitlement. If you want extra space, pay for it or stay home.

Contrary to what some of my readers may think, I’m not stupid…and I’m also not posting this knowing it is fake. We live in a world of confusion and it would not surprise me if such a request was genuinely made. After all, Southwest Airlines gives up to two free extra seats to the morbidly obese, so why not try it for claustrophobia as well?

Claustrophobia is a real condition…but the premise of accommodation is that is reasonable and not an undue burden and a viable solution exists for those who want a little more space: purchase extra seats or upgrade to business class.

This is not a lack of compassion or a “parade of horribles” fallacy but a simple observation that accommodation laws were not envisioned to help people game the system for extra space onboard. It is people like this who will ruin accommodation for everyone…we see that with dogs and now we see it requesting extra space onboard.