I know this might seem Fatty-ist, but please bear with me for a few moments and you might see where I'm coming from:
1) Airlines calculate the fuel requirement based on the weight of passengers and luggage - therefore heavier passengers mean more fuel is needed.
2) Larger passengers need more space (for obvious reasons), so in the same flight less passengers could be fitted in, which means less profit for the Airline.
Yet, despite these two points, plane tickets cost us the same whether we weigh 8st or 20st - how is that fair. (You wouldn't pay the same postage fee for a large or small parcel, so what's different for people?)
I know it wouldn't go down well with heavier people, but surely some kind of scale (pardon the pun) would be fairer for everyone?
(This proposal would also have the benefit of helping the current obesity problem by adding in a financial incentive as well......we could even do the same for Taxis, Trains, and then there's the environmental impact....
2006-09-19 02:38:15 · 28 answers · asked by Dilbert Fan of Essex 1 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
I am answering this question from purely economic point of view.
I think the logistics involved in implementing such system is not cost effective and not practical especially with Internet booking and so forth. Airlines are cutting cost by making flying as easy as possible
2006-09-19 02:44:12 · answer #1 · answered by toietmoi 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you see any practical problems with implementing this poorly thought-through idea? For a start there would be no travel agents doing advanced ticket purchases since they would not know how much you weigh or if you are going to go on a Las Vegas Buffet binge before your return flight. Would airline passengers have to strip naked so they aren't overcharged for a bulky winter coat? Would a person who looks skinny but is wearing a heavy money belt still get the skinny-person rate? Would a pregnant skinny person count as two skinny people? What about a concert musician who wants a seat for their not-heavy but very delicate musical instrument. With those cheap tickets based on its low weight they could bring their favorite one and a few spares. And so on and so on with the crazy rules. You would have to get to the airport an extra hour earlier just to participate in sorting out what you need to be charged for your ticket.
Airlines are trying to encourage more fliers not discourage them with annoying fare rules. If you are concerned about the impact of weights why not suggest a rule that no luggage flies free? It is all weighed and you must pay for its weight before you get on the plane.
Did you ever send an express mail package? It costs the same $3.50 whether you put in a single sheet of paper or a whole photo album. You are paying for the service not for the impact on the postal truck.
2006-09-19 02:53:49 · answer #2 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Oh yes! Thank you, I've had the same sentiments and got totally roasted for saying such a thing. Another environmental impact would be the excess food packaging and bodily discharges that have to be processed. The NHS is under strain from heart conditions caused by obesity. Excuse the pun but they're getting to be a real "burden" on society. Hopefully Jamie Oliver will sort it out.
I reckon skinny people should be allowed more luggage on a plane to compensate.
2006-09-19 02:50:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I just wrote a whole thing about this subject on Sept 9 (link below).
With all the restrictions on flying due to 9/11, if they are going to start weighing people and their luggage together, more people are just going to book vacations they can drive to. Nobody wants that kind of hassle. Plus I can see a fat person going on vacation with a skinny person and loading that person up with luggage to balance out the equation. It would be like a black market--a skinny person with no luggage would take money to carry on a fat person's luggage. What a security nightmare.
Plus, as someone else said, when you book your flight online, you pay a flat rate not based on your weight or luggage. It would be a nightmare for airlines to try to charge extra based on all these online specials.
2006-09-19 06:15:30 · answer #4 · answered by Rosie Young 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There should be a price for 'Total Weight' and pay based on that on your arrival.
So if you weigh 10st and have 10st of luggage you pay the same as a 20st bloke with no luggage.
But if you weigh 12st and have 3st of luggage you should pay less.
I think it's well unfair that I can get a sircharge for having packed an extra pair of shoes when a rugby team can go on the same flight and those big guys don't get charged for all the fuel they are using.
2006-09-19 02:50:33 · answer #5 · answered by badgerbeetle 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This seems to be a question for fatty Americans (Hi all you lardy chops out there) but i like where its coming from, as an average weight guy 11.5st i wouldn't mind paying my proportional weight, as it goes we all have to pay excess baggage if we pack too much! Your point hinges on the point of fat people using more fuel (unless they take up 2 seats). However if you do the calculations an 747 fully loaded has better miles per gallon than a Ford Fiesta (a small car) and the cost of fuel becomes neglegable. So maybe fat people should just get taxed more for useing up resources, such as health care and creating more waste from all their fast food wrappers. On that note maybe you Americans should pay some of my taxes for starting wars our soldiers need to go and help you win, and maybe you should pay my TV licence because i have to put up with too much of your crap on the box. I don't hate americans, they're just fat and stupid.
2006-09-19 03:14:08 · answer #6 · answered by jonny Atlantis 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are some over weight people that can't fit into the seat and they do have to pay for 2 seats, if you fly air china like from LA to Bangkok, they have the new 747-400 and a lot less room, no way for those big uns to fit! Yes you have a great idea, but I am afraid when they put people on the scale with their luggage, you have some FAT law suits, and definately the ACLU would have to get in their 2 censt, thos fags would be all over that, not to mention the lesbo's working next to them! Good Luck and a good idea!
2006-09-19 02:43:15 · answer #7 · answered by Michael 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
A few years ago either a travel agent or airline in Sweden had a special sale on based on people's weight. So they less you weighed the less you paid. Went down a treat!! I guess in this day and age it would all be far too politcally incorrect.
On a positive note, it would be a good incentive for people to lose weight!!!
2006-09-19 02:42:34 · answer #8 · answered by chilling 2 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Most obese people are charged more if they can't fit in the seats and skinny people don't pay anymore than the average person so that's a blanketed statement you're making, but at the same time it's nothing new since most airlines charge extra for a heavier person since they have to pay for an extra seat. Most obese people don't fly anyway because it's not comfortable for them.
2006-09-19 02:44:18 · answer #9 · answered by nabdullah2001 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Lol, one person takes up one seat so you can't get any more on a flight of skinny people. What about luggage? Some people have loads and others don't. The parcel thingy...well they aren't 'things' they are human beings as we all are :-) I am sure you are about to be bombarded now....duck
2006-09-19 02:45:09 · answer #10 · answered by Angel D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋