Not Quite Up In the Air.. ...

After people around the world reacted strongly to American low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines giving director Kevin Smith the boot because he was 'too fat to fly', it has now emerged that Air Canada Jazz deplaned a passenger earlier this month for being 'too smelly'. The flight was waiting for takeoff when some passengers complained about the odour. Efforts were made to isolate the man from other passengers, but flight officials eventually decided to ask him to get off the plane. The man in question apparently lost his stink overnight and was allowed to fly the next morning.

So are airlines correct in refusing passengers who in their view cause inconvenience to fellow travelers? Opinion seems to be divided. Some sympathise with the deplaned passengers. They feel they don't deserve to be humiliated in such a manner. After all, economy seats in most airlines are barely big enough to comfortably seat someone who weighs 60 kgs. So isn't it then the airlines' onus to provide decently sized seating options to all passengers? Echoing this one Facebook status message says that 'Airlines need to make seats that will fit at least 85% of the population.'

On the 'smelly' passenger matter, some netizens feel that if the person concerned had a medical issue, then the treatment meted out by airline staff was definitely too harsh. On the other hand, some believe that well-being of the group is always more important than that of an individual, and that if the passenger actually smelt that bad then the action taken by the authorities was correct.

What do you think? What should Airline policy be towards passengers like Smith or the Air Canada Jazz passenger?