Plus-size traveller says she was ‘discriminated against’ at airport after worker ‘refused to push her wheelchair because she was too heavy’

A plus-sized travel blogger staged a protest at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after she was denied wheelchair assistance.

Jaelynn Chaney, 28, shared a video of herself holding up a sign demanding ‘wheelchair access for all’ at the airport, which she has accused of ‘blatant discrimination’.

It comes after the influencer, who has more than 140,000 followers on TikTok, said she experienced an ‘ordeal’ while flying into SeaTac Airport in May 2024. Jaelynn, who is reportedly a 6XL (UK size 24), accused an airport worker of refusing to push her in a wheelchair after getting off the plane because of her weight.

In her latest video, the content creator claimed that SeaTac Airport ‘violates our rights’ and claimed that there were other ‘fat travelers’ who had similar experiences.

‘If SeaTac refuses to assist fat people, they need to have a written policy stating their discrimination outright,’ she wrote in her caption.

‘But instead, they lie, deny services, and leave disabled fat travelers stranded.

‘This is unacceptable and I will not stay silent.’

In her original video detailing her complaint against SeaTac Airport, Jaelynn – who can walk – said she always requests wheelchair assistance when flying.

However, during this trip, she claimed that the employee assigned to help assist her from the entry of the jet bridge started to walk away when she realised she would be assisting Jaelynn instead of one of the smaller passengers.

Jaelynn claimed the employee also made comments about her size and ‘blatantly ignored’ her pleas for the wheelchair.

‘I was then forced to walk up one of the longest jet bridges I’ve encountered and she didn’t stop,’ the influencer wrote on her TikTok video.

She added that by the time she was allowed to reach the wheelchair and sit down, her lips were ‘white’, her oxygen levels had declined and she ‘almost fainted’.

‘This was my first time flying without oxygen,’ Jaelynn said.

‘This woman just assumed I could walk and would rather me do that instead of her having to push someone my size up the jet bridge.

‘All the other attendants wheeled their passengers up the jet bridge but my needs were disregarded.’

Jaelynn said her ‘ordeal’ was an example of why ’employee sensitivity training’ was necessary to help plus-size travellers and is one of the demands in a petition she launched in 2023.

Jaelynn is vocal about what she believes would be improvements to air travel for plus-sized passengers. Her petition called on the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and airlines to give overweight flyers additional free seats to ensure they are comfortable while flying.

She wants the FAA to mandate that all airlines implement a ‘comprehensive customer-of-size-policy that prioritises the comfort and wellbeing of ALL passengers’.

The policy should include ‘clear and inclusive guidelines on accommodating customers of size’, as well as ‘alternative seating arrangements, larger seats, and other size-accessible accommodations’.

According to Jaelynn, plus-size passengers who are ‘forced to occupy only one seat’ face experiencing ‘pain and vulnerability to poor treatment from fellow passengers including hateful comments, disapproving looks, and even refusal to sit next to them’.

‘This mistreatment of plus-size passengers is unacceptable and it highlights the urgent need for better policies that protect the dignity and rights of all passengers, regardless of size.’

Her petition has garnered more than 39,600 signatures, with many of those who support it sharing their own experiences in the comments.

One person pointed out that people of above-average height also get the short end of the stick and said: ‘We have zero choice in our height and must fit into smaller and smaller spaces. Ridiculous.’

Another signatory said: ‘After being fat-shamed by a passenger sitting next to me, I no longer fly.

‘I’m also tall and end up with bruised knees after flying because my knees bump up agains the seat in front of me.

‘If airlines are not going to support me with a comfortable seat, I’m not going to support them.

‘Many airlines will not allow you to purchase two seats under one passenger name, BTW.’