Qatar Airways tells plus-size model to upgrade to first class because she didn't fit in economy seat: report
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Qatar Airways is responding after a plus-size model said she was not allowed to board a flight because she was too "fat" to fit in an economy seat.
Juliana Nehme reportedly claimed that the airline had told her to shell out about $3,000 to upgrade to first class and would not refund her the $947 she had spent on the flight from Beirut, Lebanon, to Doha, Qatar.
She shared her experience in Instagram videos that each have more than 60,000 likes, with commenters calling out Qatar Airways and asking them to take action.
"I bought a return ticket to Brazil through Qatar and arriving at the time to check in, a Qatar flight attendant called my mother while another staffer was finishing our check in and told her I wasn’t welcome to board because I’m fat," she said, according to News.com.au.
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This picture taken on November 13, 2019, shows a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 aircraft waiting on the tarmac prior to take-off at Lebanon's Beirut International Airport. (AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
She told her followers that she had missed her connecting flight to São Paulo due to the incident, claiming that she had had no issues boarding an Air France flight previously and that she had been threatened when attempting to take a video.
Qatar Airways told FOX Business on Saturday that Nehme, who News.com.au said was 38, had been extremely aggressive with staff members and that security had to be called over twice to calm her down.
They said she had been scaring both workers and passengers who had been checking in.
A Qatar Airways Airbus A380 double-decker aircraft flies at 40,000 feet over Europe on Feb. 11, 2022, performing a flight connection from Doha to London Heathrow in the U.K. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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"Qatar Airways treats all passengers with respect and dignity and in line with industry practices and similar to most airlines, anyone who impedes upon the space of a fellow traveler and cannot secure their seatbelt or lower their armrests may be required to purchase an additional seat both as a safety precaution and for the comfort and safety of all passengers," the airline said in an emailed statement. "The passenger in question at Beirut Airport was initially extremely rude and aggressive to check-in staff when one of her traveling party did not produce required PCR documentation for entry to Brazil."
A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of the airline Qatar Airways lands at Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, Nov. 2, 2020. (Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"As a result, airport security was requested to intervene as staff and passengers were extremely concerned with her behavior," it concluded.
Qatar Airways said Nehme was rebooked on a flight from Lebanon.
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It was not clear whether she had to pay for an upgrade to be allowed to fly.
Nehme did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.