Quote: (03-27-2013 06:05 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:
The only way this will fly (pun intended) is if they clump body weight with bags. All passengers get an across the board max weight limit, and have to pay extra for overages.
So if a morbidly obese is already at 350 lbs, for example, then they have to pay for "luggage". It's not feasible to go by BMI, or employee discretion. Too much liability.
Smart call Ali.
Airlines used to sell floor space and flexibility. Obviously they now also break out services like checked baggage and meal services in coach class.
A coach seat is "X" square inches of floor space, and a premium class seat is a multiple of "X", 2X, 3X, etc. You pay for your space. You also buy food and booze with the premium class seat, but its almost negligible to the cost of the ticket. An average food/bev cost on a $5000 business class fare is somewhere around $50-100 for the average passenger.
Flexibility represents the ability to obtain a refund and make changes. The more flexibility, the more you pay.
It about time to start charging passengers for weight, just like they do for cargo.
It would be easy, you buy a block of weight when you purchase your ticket, say 100 kilos and then increments of 25 kilos. So, if I weigh 170lbs, I have an allowance of 220lbs of weight credit. When you check in, you are weighed with your total baggage, and if you are over, you get charged the appropriate up-grade. On the scale, weight is good or you get the appropriate penalty, swipe the card and move on.
Add the flexibility elements and you would have a very simple pricing regime;
100 kilos and then pick your "flex" level. Not a whole lot different than sending a FedEx package. Take your weight and choose your level of service.
This would better reflect the carrier's real costs as well as rid the industry of the obnoxious baggage charges, as they would simply be part of a total weight-based pricing system. Obviously this only works in the back of the bus -which is where most of us suffer.
It would also greatly improve the boarding process, which has completely gone to shit with as a result of the ludicrous baggage charges.
You know why Southwest doesn't charge for bags? It aint because they like you - its because by not having the stooges standing in the aisle fighting for bin space, they are sitting their asses down, which results in the fastest loading process in the industry. By saving 10 minutes a turn in the boarding process, they are able to squeeze another hour of flight time into a day. That hour of flight time is worth $10,000 bucks. It also helps that they don't assign seats, which motivates the sheep to find a seat fast.