Charging passengers by weight?

Please, if calories in > calories out, you gain weight. Yes, some people require more effort to burn calories, but you can’t tell me that even with a “clinical reason” if you ate nothing but salad, you’d get obese!

Yes many people are fat because they eat too much – or more likely exercise too little.

People with psychiatric ‘conditions’ such as alcoholism or depression can tend towards obesity as overindulging in food and/or drink goes hand in hand with their ‘clinical’ condition – good luck to the airline that starts discriminating against ‘valued’ customers who happen to have psychological disorders.

I knew a very fat lady. You would be shocked what she ate as a so called normal meal. Her plate was literally piled up. People are fat because they eat too much, and it is a life choice – an unhappy one. Metablism and a stretched belly play a part too.

So yes, they should pay for a bigger seat so they don’t bloat out and take up adjoining pax sears. Political correctness should be banned imho. But if you’re stupidity fat you should take responsibiliy for that. Many of us suffer from low Self esteme and at times, unhappiness but not everyone eats themselves to death because of it. Maybe we find other ways but while fat pax pay the same as thin pax their tickets are being subsidised by rhin pax. If they were born fat it would be discrimination, but they came into the world as thin as you and me. Eating to excess is a choice, usually an unhappy one, and we pay for our choices in this world. Weight is everything with aircraft operation. If that fact upsets fat people then go by ship. Pilots are being forced to take only the barest legal minimum fuel (alternate + 30) risking everyone to circumstance. Fat pax should pay as some fat people are 2 or 3 times my weight but pay the same as me. And if they sit next to me they bloat out and i am unfairly impinged upon. What about my right to enjoy the seat i paid for? I would ban very fat pax altogether because in a crash they would either bw unable ro evacuate or would block up the process and people would die. Not to mention how they may crush pax around them in a crash landing, say an undershoot like that ba 777 at egll, or an aborted takeoff after v1 (it does happen).

and those with clinical reasons for their obesity

Please, if calories in > calories out, you gain weight. Yes, some people require more effort to burn calories, but you can’t tell me that even with a “clinical reason” if you ate nothing but salad, you’d get obese!

Anyway, back on topic, living close to Samoa it is pretty obvious why/how this airline has introduced this. It is not like most Western countries where you would only be offending the odd person. There are a lot of Islanders from this region that are overweight and a small airline like this must struggle with their local business.

And I’m pretty sure that the first airline to start grilling pregnant or ‘pregnant’ women at the check-in counter is going to get some fairly bad press.

But good press for Ryanair!;):) And any obese woman claiming pregnancy deserves to be slung off the plane!

Sounds like a minefield/unworkable – there’d have to be exemptions for pregnant women (or women claiming pregnancy – an obese former colleague told me she has used the ‘pregnant’ line to get on the planes first) and those with clinical reasons for their obesity.

Plus people have different frame sizes – I’m no Geoff Capes but I’m the same height as my mate and his frame is substantially less substantial than mine yet I’m not obese – his frame is that of a long distance runner (snappy).

And at 6’4″ I’m probably heavier than most 5’4″ people but don’t want to pay a tall tax so it would have to be done on Body mass index.

You can’t discriminate based on genetics – it’s been tried before and is generally frowned upon.

And I’m pretty sure that the first airline to start grilling pregnant or ‘pregnant’ women at the check-in counter is going to get some fairly bad press.

[QUOTE=cloud_9;2009284..£5 to submit your weight online and £20 to use the scales at the airport, anyone?!:p:diablo:[/QUOTE]

Very reasonable…you mean these are the introductory offer charges which would be increased after 6 months…..:diablo:

Afterthought: Ryanair probably would……

Indeed, I kind of guess that if any airline will follow suit, these will more than likey be the first of the European carriers, plus they’d no doubt use the opportunity to introduce yet another diabolical fee for the privilege…£5 to submit your weight online and £20 to use the scales at the airport, anyone?!:p:diablo:

I can’t see a problem. You pay excess baggage , why not a lard tax ?

When I went for a flight at Stapleford in 2011, there was a 15st weight limit.

If this takes off, it seems natural that one could book a ticket ahead of time and tell them your weight (any difference from this weight at time of flight would be charged at a higher rate than normal), and thus the total weight of passengers booked would affect the pricing for future passengers booking. As long as they aren’t printing out your weight on your ticket, I think this system could be acceptable… Hypothetically, having a flat per seat charge and the first X kilos charged at a lower rate, and a similar per volume charge for luggage with a base allowance of kilos charged at a lower rate than additional kilos would be the most ‘rational’ pricing system, but a simple to understand (and compare) pricing system is the real requirement IMHO.

An interesting concept. The 177lbs average weight (IIRC) might not be accurate these days and I know what a surprise a badly loaded/overweight plane can be. 😮

I can’t see much wrong with this in principle, but aren’t people going to object to being weighed en masse if the policy takes off, so to speak? Could you imagine being asked to jump on the scales at a travel agent?

And, what would you do if you ordered your ticket on the internet? Submit your weight? What if you lied and shaved a few kilos off, as most people do?

And, what about the issue of political correctness? I would like to suggest which countries’ airlines would be likely to carry the highest proportion of fat people, but I daren’t. 😉

Samoan maybe but can you really believe that any of the big international carriers would do so. In these “enlightened” times would they risk accusations of social discrimination, however much sense it makes.

Fat passengers had to sit up front in the joy-riding Rapides out of London Airport!!:)

Afterthought: Ryanair probably would……