Airline flies into Twitter trouble with "fat" director

The danger of upsetting customers in a micro-blogging age was highlighted again over the weekend after Southwest Airlines threw an outspoken film director off a plane for being too fat.

Kevin Smith, a US director of cult films such as Chasing Amy and Clerks, in which he played a character called Silent Bob, forced the airline into issuing an apology after venting his spleen on Twitter in a move that resulted in complaints from his 1.64 million followers.

Smith was ejected from a flight from Oakland to Burbank on Saturday after being informed by a flight attendant that his bulk meant that he was a "safety risk". Southwest’s booking guidelines for a "customer of size" state that passengers who are unable to lower both armrests when seated need to book another seat because the "encroachment of a large seatmate" makes the flight uncomfortable for others.

Smith tweeted in response: "I’m way fat. But I’m not THERE yet. But if I am, why wait til [sic] my bag is up, and I’m seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who’d already ided me as ‘Silent Bob’."

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