I refuse to get drawn into the whole Fat=Evil / Skinny=Virtuous debate that this story was clearly written to stir up.
Setting aside the possibility that they might have been able to juggle the seating of other passengers to put the larger kid next to a toddler or small child to even out the space issue and satisfy *everyone* (god forbid somebody should have to do a bit of lateral thinking!), the gate agents had two options: Bump the woman who was flying standby or deny boarding to the late-arriving unaccompanied minor.
It's a no-brainer. You can't just say "tough luck" to the kid and leave him to his own devices. The woman who was flying standby willingly accepted the risk that she might not be able to take that flight, and that's exactly what happened. Case closed.
Setting aside the possibility that they might have been able to juggle the seating of other passengers to put the larger kid next to a toddler or small child to even out the space issue and satisfy *everyone* (god forbid somebody should have to do a bit of lateral thinking!), the gate agents had two options: Bump the woman who was flying standby or deny boarding to the late-arriving unaccompanied minor.
It's a no-brainer. You can't just say "tough luck" to the kid and leave him to his own devices. The woman who was flying standby willingly accepted the risk that she might not be able to take that flight, and that's exactly what happened. Case closed.