I don't care if your BMI is perfect, if you are 6'6" you are going to spill over.
Us big people hate to fly. Damn tiny seats. And there is no amount of weight loss that will help for us people who are simply big.
Yet someone who weighs 90 pounds and takes up the same one seat of someone who weighs 180 pounds surely costs more than 50% of what it costs to carry the 180 pounder. A “fair” price thus would factor in per-seat costs as well.
The real answer, of course, is that airlines ought to be able to charge on whatever basis makes the most sense to them from a marketing perspective—or whatever they want to charge.
The issue is somewhat like a buffet restaurant setting its prices. A true-cost basis would be an inclusion of a per-seat cost and a per-pound cost of all of the food taken from the buffet. Yet, to be even more specific, there would be a per-pound cost specific to each item offered, with the mashed potatoes, for example, presumably being less costly than the baked salmon.
Yet, some, more deli-style, buffet restaurants charge per pound of food taken and essentially give the seating away free. Others charge on a per-seat “all you can eat” basis and don’t bother to charge for the weight of the buffet food taken. Few restaurants try to tease out a more specific pricing of different per-pound costs of different foods taken. Some rare restaurants may charge per seat plus only per pound for leaving an exceptional amount of unconsumed food on your plate. (A Japanese restaurant I know with a sushi buffet offers that threat.)
Anyway, though most airlines presumably wouldn’t want to charge per pound, a few may choose to do so—or some may do so in extreme cases only.
True. Charge everyone a median price up front, and then issue an additional charge for overage or a refund for underage at check-in.
I’m 6’5” and 235. I’m basically tall & thin, but I lift weights regularly. But according to the government’s BMI index I’m about 20-lbs overweight. If the airlines are going to do this then they need an objective standard. I’d just be leery of them using a government stat that can be manipulated by the simple whim of a regulator.
Oh, and I might be willing to pay more for that ticket if the airlines put in a few rows with more leg-room. But you see they won’t do this because of the headaches it cases the flight reservation systems. If you get, as I once did, the University of Nevada’s basketball team on one of your flights, then there won’t be any extra leg-room seats no matter how many there are.
I don't care if your BMI is perfect, if you are 6'6" you are going to spill over.
You know, I kind of like this idea. They could scale their seating based on size/price too. So a larger passenger would pay more but ultimately be more comfortable. A smaller one would have less room but be paying less. My husband is 6'4" and slim, but never has enough room for his legs so I think a guarantee of legroom would be appealing to him for an extra $20-$30 bucks.
Then again, there is such a thing as first class. Maybe people of a certain size and over should be required to fly first class.