Eventually Rodgers flags down a flight attendant and says: “Excuse me, can you find her another seat? Because I will not be verbally abused by this bitch or anybody else.”
When the attendant asked if the woman wanted to move seats, she responded, “I can’t sit here because they’re both so big left and right, I can’t even sit here.”
The woman was then asked to wait at the back of the plane until they could determine if another seat was available.
“Thank goodness, because I eat salad, okay?” she said as she got out of her seat.
Passengers on the flight who were outraged by the woman’s comments spoke out.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, what you’re doing is so terrible.”
“I’m not going to be politically correct,” the woman replied. “Why don’t you sit between those two big pigs?”
“Bitch, kiss my fat ass,” Rodgers yelled back as the woman left her sight.
In a Facebook post discussing the incident, Rodgers said United Airlines staff eventually escorted the woman off the plane following complaints from other customers.
“I would like to say thank you to the flight attendants, supervisor and gate agent that handled the situation professionally and calmly,” she wrote.
“Thank you for addressing the issue immediately and not letting it escalate any further.”
In a statement to the Independent, the airline said the passenger had been removed from the plane and placed on another flight the next day.
“United flight attendants care about the safety and well-being of all of our customers which is why they acted quickly to find a different seat for the disruptive customer,” a United spokesman said.
“When it became clear that this passenger’s behavior was likely to be problematic on this flight, she was provided alternate travel arrangements first thing the next morning.”