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Sydney Watson: American Airlines flyer compensated after she complains of being 'wedged between two obese people'

Watson shared an email that she received from American Airlines, in which the company apologized for the discomfort and offered her a $150 coupon

An Australian woman who complained about being "wedged between two obese" passengers on a three-hour flight has finally received compensation from American Airlines.

Sydney Watson, an Australian-American conservative political commentator, took the internet by storm after she shared a picture on social media of her situation on a three-hour flight and ranted about being wedged between two overweight passengers on the flight. She tweeted, "I am currently - literally - WEDGED between two OBESE people on my flight," adding, "This is absolutely NOT acceptable or okay. If fat people want to be fat, fine. But it is something else entirely when I'm stuck between you, with your arm rolls on my body, for 3 hours." Responding to the complaint, American Airlines said that they cater to people of all sizes and shapes. But Watson, who was not very happy with the response, said she will stand by everything she said and asked for reparations from the airlines.

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However, on Monday, October 17, Watson shared an email that she received from the company, in which the company apologized for the discomfort and offered her a $150 coupon. The email read, "I sincerely regret the enjoyment and comfort of your flight AA was diminished due to another customer exceeding their seat's space."

"We do our best to avoid uncomfortable situations regarding seats. I can understand your disappointment with the situation not being remedied to your satisfaction. It seems that our Flight Attendants were not able to make changes to the seating arrangement. I'm sure you know, in the future, you are always welcome to discuss the matter with our flight attendants. If we have other available seats, you'll be allowed to move so that you can better enjoy your flight. As a gesture of goodwill, I have issued you a $150 Trip Credit which will arrive via a separate email," the email further read.

The email added that Watson can only use the credit on another American Airlines flight. Watson didn’t immediately reveal whether she is going to accept the offer or not but criticized the offer saying, "I'd rather take the $150 American Airlines offered me as a refund and give it to someone who needs a PT or a gym membership."

Earlier, Watson said she will "stand by everything I said" and is "totally fine with being in the news for fat shaming" after receiving backlash for sharing her discomfort on Twitter during the flight on October 11, 2022.

"I don't care if this is mean. My entire body is currently being touched against my wishes. I can't even put the armrests down on either side because there's no f***ing room," she wrote at the time. "I'm sick of acting like fatness to this extent is normal. Let me assure you, it is not. If you need a seat belt extender, you are TOO FAT TO BE ON A PLANE," she wrote, adding, "Buy two seats or don't fly."

According to Watson, she asked the brother of one of the women she was sitting next to if he'd like to "swap seats", "He says, 'no. That's okay :)' ...and then I started shrieking internally," Watson said. Watson said that the flight attendant on the plane "has asked me 4 times if I need anything" and gave her "the ‘this is f--ked’ pity expression."

Watson revealed she had not booked a middle seat for herself on the plane rather it was booked by the company that paid to fly her to an event.