Airlines to charge by bodyweight?
With oil prices surging -- they jumped $10 yesterday -- airlines are coming up with all kinds of ridiculous schemes to figure out how to cope with fuel costs that have tripled since the year 2000. Delta is now charging $25 for phone reservations and American Airlines is in the process of rolling out an intensely unpopular plan to charge $15 per bag checked. Now, rumors are going around that airlines want to start charging customers based on their weight.
OK, I'll give them this much -- the idea does make logical sense. The heavier you are, the more fuel it takes to fly you from point A to point B, and thus you cost more money to the airline. It's hard to tell at this point whether the airlines industry is actually interested in gaging the public's reaction to this idea, or whether this news is just a product of the hyper-sensationalist news media. Either way, it's deliciously controversial news.
I'm pretty sure about one thing: the airlines are bleeding money. While I doubt they're desperate enough to treat people as freight, it seems like all bets are off. Southwest Airlines already charges overweight people for 2 seats if they're unable to lower the armrest between their seat and the next -- at least that seems somewhat fair. Making people stand on a scale before they board the planes seems like an insult to human dignity. You can file this news under "using fat people as a scapegoat."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-07-2008 @ 1:48PM
David said...
And this is why we take the train back and forth across the country - plenty of room, our own bedroom, a restaurant - what more could you want from travel! Airlines are dinosaurs, only a matter of time before they go the same way.
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6-08-2008 @ 10:34PM
Zachariah Crow said...
This seems totally fair to me and it is simple economics. Higher weight = higher fuel consumption. How about add up the passenger weight + weight of the luggage? It can be made a bit more fair by stating if the combined weight is less than xxx pounds, it is a fixed rate. Anything over that costs more.
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6-09-2008 @ 9:36AM
Karen said...
But isn't that baggage weight ballast? I was flying out of Houston to Birmingham and, for reasons known only to the airline, all our baggage was on another plane already on its way to Bham.
We did not have enough baggage in the hold to provide ballast, so the pilot told us it was not safe to fly. Some of us might have to get off the plane. Everyone then gave up all their carry on baggage to put in the baggage compartment. We then were able to take off.
If airlines start charging for baggage, people might take less. What are they going to do if that starts causing problems?
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