Posted on 02/22/2025 11:07:02 PM PST by Cronos
A debate is brewing over whether airlines should adopt weight-based pricing, charging passengers based on their weight to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
This discussion follows a broader trend of U.S. airlines implementing fees for checked baggage, which began in 2008 with American Airlines, and has since become standard practice.
While Samoa Air's 2013 'fat tax' failed to gain traction, Finnair recently conducted a three-month voluntary data collection initiative, gathering passengers' weight along with their carry-on luggage.
This anonymized data — including age, gender and travel class — will be used to refine aircraft balance and loading calculations from 2025 to 2030.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Well ,if you weigh 600lbs ,take a flat bed .
“The pilot & co-pilot actually seated us by assumed weight.”
I once flew from Vancover BC to Prince of Wales island There was just the pilot he put me in the co-pilots seat.
I guess he had heard I was a Boeing Flight test engineer from somewhere at the airport.
as we landed Stall warning went off and the tires looked like shit but I didn’t say anything.
After landing I asked if I could ask a question or two?
I asked my questions.
I paraphrase, his answer,
You flight test aircraft worth millions of dollars,
out here we just get you from A to Z as cheap as possible and stay safe.
BTW nobody but you would have noticed the stall warning.
You know what would happen if we proceeded to a stall?
My response was yes I’ve been in 747s doing stalls.
Y’all drop like a rock.
His response was well we didn’t do that.
I have no issue with that as they’re already charging economy passengers for baggage.
American food is poisoned.
Dozens of chemicals and process used by US food and processing corporations are outlawed in the EU.
Every time my brother goes to Europe he loses 10 lbs a week without even trying. I do the same when I travel to the Middle East.
Their hobby is eating. Granted we all eat but some are really into it in a big way so to speak.
Q for airlines: Are you serving passengers or carrying cargo?
If you’re a cargo shipper, then charging per pound makes perfect sense.
And since I don’t consider myself cargo, is the reason I haven’t set foot on a plane in over 20 years.
And BTW, I don’t need to buy 2 seats just for me.
If an overweight person needs two seats, they should pay for two seats, as that means someone else can’t have that second seat.
Conversely, even a skinny person takes up an entire seat and therefore would not rate a discount.
Makes sense. They weigh luggage to determine how much to charge. Why not people?
You all easily fit the definition of bigots.
Re-regulate the airlines.
Bring back Pan Am.
Bring back cute stewardesses.
Bring back a dress code for passengers.
Higher prices? Yes. I don’t care.
Base plus by the pound. People over 350 on the no fly list. They are too much trouble.
The rational system would be to charge passengers together with their luggage by weight. Then morbidly obese individuals could rationally be given two seats. Shoving a 400 pound behemoth into a single seat between two normal passengers is unconscionable as he or she overflows a single seat on both sides and it is not practical to try to charge for two seats. The fatty will nearly always assert his right to squeeze the skinny passenger so that the fatty can be comfortable and the skinny one is pressed miserably. Imagine being the thin one beside the super heavy on a 13 hour Pacific crossing.
My wife was a fight attendant for 37 years, and she said when she started (early 80’s) it was fairly rare to give out seatbelt extensions. When she retired, she said having enough extenders was problematic as some people required more than one. There is a problem and it needs to be addressed by having people with more “girth” pay for more space.
It used to be common practice to put dogs in the luggage compartment.
“... charging passengers based on their weight to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.”
You gonna calculate how much fuel you need based on the total carrying weight? That’s the implication...
So long as you fit in the seat, even with a belt extender, then, no...fill the damn plane up and go.
If this gets implemented then later they will adjust the weight standards downward while the fees go upwards. For those that check their bags and pay the fee their baggage gets beat up and sometimes temporarily lost. Bag fees should come with perks like extra miles or a free drink. After 9/11 the whole airline flying has become a real downer, no pun intended.
Makes perfect sense especially when their fat azzes roll into other seats. They need to ban all in cabin animals as well or put their emotionally unstable owners in the cargo hold with them.
Charging fat people more won't create less fuel consumption. But it will pay for the extra fuel they cause the airlines to use.
If someone takes up two seats they should pay for two seats.
I've watched several episodes of *My 600 LB Life* and that is VERY true.
Not one person on that show ever had a true medical condition.
I don’t see that charging someone for damage done is *exploiting* them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.