Todos
← Back to Squawk list
A Samoan Airline Now Charges Passengers By Body Weight
Bad news for those carrying a few extra pounds: Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to introduce a pricing policy which charges passengers by body weight. Time to diet. (gizmodo.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
It should be passenger plus luggage weight if it is just the physics driving the pricing. So fat people with little or no luggage should pay the same as small people with lots of luggage if the total weight of service is the same.
I agree totally and think you have it exactly right!
The only additional thing that should be part of that is a single ticket buys a single seat width. Should one exceed that seat width, then two tickets (for an additional adjoining seat) must be purchased, same as exceeding a total (passenger & baggage) base weight incurs additional per pound charges.
Remember, airlines are a business, not a social agency. People that do not exceed the FAA's standard passenger weight (for flight planning purposes) are subsidizing (paying for) the extra expense of flying people that do exceed the standard.
This is no different (except for magnitude) from the extra fuel expense incurred by operating a car with more weight in it. Extra weight burns extra fuel--simple physics. And, one cannot fit as many large passengers in a car as thin passengers. Bottom line, it costs more to move large people. People with less total weight (body plus baggage) are paying to move those with a heavier total weight.
To put it even more bluntly, those with heavier total weights are not paying their fair share!
The only additional thing that should be part of that is a single ticket buys a single seat width. Should one exceed that seat width, then two tickets (for an additional adjoining seat) must be purchased, same as exceeding a total (passenger & baggage) base weight incurs additional per pound charges.
Remember, airlines are a business, not a social agency. People that do not exceed the FAA's standard passenger weight (for flight planning purposes) are subsidizing (paying for) the extra expense of flying people that do exceed the standard.
This is no different (except for magnitude) from the extra fuel expense incurred by operating a car with more weight in it. Extra weight burns extra fuel--simple physics. And, one cannot fit as many large passengers in a car as thin passengers. Bottom line, it costs more to move large people. People with less total weight (body plus baggage) are paying to move those with a heavier total weight.
To put it even more bluntly, those with heavier total weights are not paying their fair share!
For all the people who think that I have should pay extra because I am a big person, I don't even try and fly on those airlines. On Southwest airlines I have tried to buy the extra seat on their aircraft, and was refused. It wasn't because I didn't want you to be uncomfortable, but it was because they don't offer the first class seat that is bigger, and I wanted to be comfortable. However, Southwest Airlines told me that they wanted everyone who could fit on the aircraft to go on that flight, and their issues with the second seat are different from ours. So much for the money angle of the airline. Even if I was able to buy two seats, the seats are uncomfortable trying to sit with on cheek of the butt sitting in the gap between seats. If you think that everyone is under 6'0" and weigh less than 175 pounds, should be the only ones on the aircraft, then you are living in a cloud. It isn't just the width of the seat that bothers me on long flights, but the space in-between the seats. When the airlines get down to a 31" pitch there isn't a way of contorting my tall body from putting my knee's in your back. So, what can I do? Now days, I don't fly on an aircraft that can't accommodate my largeness. That generally means first class or business class. If the flights require a 31"pitch and a 17" seat, then I don't go to that location. So, guess what? I won't be going to Samoa anytime soon, and realistically, probably not ever. If the truth is actually revealed, from both sides of the issues, that neither one of the two sides care what the personal problems are!
That only helps if the passenger actually fits into a single seat. I've sat near some that took up part of my seat as well.
If I have to pay extra for baggage over the limit, why not passengers over a certain weight too?
weeeeelllll....nobody told you to pack half of your wardrobe...lol
I don't understand why this isn't how every airline calculates fares. All the other schemes, like fees tacked on to roller coaster fares, have never made sense to me compared to something like this. This way everything on the mailing tube is just treated like cargo. Set profitable rates and move on.
I guess the moral of the story is my parents raised a realist and I would happily step on the scale right there in front of God and everybody, pay my fare, and get on the plane. I'm not worried about what number people might see.
I guess the moral of the story is my parents raised a realist and I would happily step on the scale right there in front of God and everybody, pay my fare, and get on the plane. I'm not worried about what number people might see.