Jersey City man speaks out after he was kicked off flight due to his weight

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Publicly humiliated and kicked off a packed flight all because of his weight, Wednesday afternoon, a Jersey City man spoke out about his travel nightmare.

Errol Narvaez says his weight has never been an issue aboard a plane until now, and he hopes what happened to him never happens to anyone else.

"I was being told that you're too big to fly on this flight. I've never experienced that," Narvaez said.

Weighing in at 385 pounds, Narvaez has struggled with his weight all his life. It's an ongoing battle, but never one he thought he'd have to face aboard a plane.

"I'm already big and growing up you always get those big jokes and what have you and 31 years of living with myself I know how I am. I still look good, I still look good, I don't care what anybody says," Narvaez said.

After celebrating his 31st birthday in Vegas, Narvaez had a confirmed aisle seat on a United flight to Newark Tuesday, but when the aircraft was switched last minute, so was his seat and other passengers sitting next to him had a big problem.

"Because where we were sitting I could still kind of hear what he was saying. He said, 'Um, this is a five hour flight and that he needs to be comfortable and not only does he need to be comfortable he needs to be accommodated as well," Narvaez said.

Narvaez says a supervisor then came on board and asked him to get off the plane without offering any other solutions.

"Leaned into me to tell me unfortunately the aircraft could not accommodate me and if I had anything I need to get my stuff and I need to come with her," Narvaez said. "I'm just like wow, I felt really low, really low."

He was able to board another flight six hours later, but says he feels discriminated against, especially since his weight wasn't an issue on his outgoing flight and has never been an issue before.

In a written statement a spokesman for United said:

"To better ensure the comfort of all customers, United requires that customers purchase a second seat if they can't sit with both armrests lowered and without encroaching on the seats of their fellow passengers. This customer had not previously purchased a second seat and there were not two available seats together on the flight."