Man judged too fat to fly home from his holiday

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But one south suburban couple found themselves forced to stay in Vegas a lot longer they wanted. The man flew from Midway Airport to Las Vegas without incident. But when he tried to fly home to Midway several days later, he says he was prevented from doing so because of his girth.

Emery Orto has a cancelled ticket from Southwest Airlines, which says, "OK to refund, did not travel." What it doesn't say is why the Park Forest man didn't fly last week. "They gave us the impression I was too big or too fat to fly," Orto said.

For that reason, this 6-foot, 350-pound man says he was barred from flying home with his wife. Orto says he was 20 feet from getting on the plane when he was stopped.



"She hustled after me and grabbed me and she said 'Can you sit in an airplane seat with the arms down?' I told her yes, I could sit in the seat with the arms down, I've flown many times and never had a problem. And she said, 'Well, you're not flying today.'"

Clara Orto is still enraged about what happened to her husband of 43 years. "I just can't believe how heartless they are," she said. "They had no reason to pick on him."

Orto says Southwest's decision cost them more than $800 and turned what should have been a four-hour trip home into a more than 19-hour odyssey. "It was just absolutely humiliating and embarrassing," he said. "I hope that it never happens to anyone again."