[Joga Bonito]

   

Quote:

An economics scholar in Norway has recommended that air ticket costs be calculated according to a passenger’s weight.

Dr. Bharat P. Bhatta, associate professor of economics at Sogn og Fjordane University College, Norway, is proposing three models that he says, “may provide significant benefits to airlines, passengers and society at large.”

In his paper, published in the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Dr. Bhatta noted “a reduction of 1 kilo weight of a plane will result in fuel savings worth US$3,000 a year and a reduction of CO2 emissions by the same token.”

http://travel.cnn.com/airline-fat-tax-sh...ore-619046

[Vicious]

Saw this today and I applaud it. Obesity is not only bad for public health it's also a load on the environment and the national economy. Of course the whales are out in force and railing over it.

[Atlantic]

'Will all overweight passengers for flight GK1375 please reports to gate 7 for weigh in.' I like it

[BurnFirst]

Weight doesn't necessarily correlate with obesity though.
And $3000 a year savings? Cmon...

The reason is because it isn't fair to the passengers who have to sit next to the lard asses in an already uncomfortable crowded environment. Guess that wasn't compelling enough?

[Aliblahba]

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.

[Basil Ransom]

I've favored this for years.

(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.

BMI is irrelevant from a cost standpoint. More weight > less fuel. And yeah, it makes the most sense to price people and their luggage, and not just their body weight.

Another reason it would be awesome: the fatties wouldn't use the airlines that implemented this, as long as some airlines don't practice it.

There's a good possibility that once one airline does it, they all do, because they compete so much on price that if an airline consistently charges above market rates without offering better quality, it will be unpopular and go broke.

[PrimeTime32]

If you have to pay for two seats because you are too fat then you should.

[liberman]

There is also another good reason to accurately weigh passengers. On smaller planes for domestic flights the total weight on board is calculated by the pilots before taking of based on the average weight of a person and luggage. But because people are getting heavier and fatter at an increasing pace the calculations are actually incorrect and in some occurrences are grossly underestimated. This is a serious problem because an overloaded plane (small domestic plane) is at a greater risk of staling during takeoff.
Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashed during takeoff because it was overloaded by approximately 264kg and the weight distribution was uneven.
Because of this crash the NTSB recommended that airlines weigh each person boarding the plane. Of course this has yet to be implemented.

[LostGringo]

(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.

[Hannibal]

Seriously though. I got screwed for having luggage that was too heavy and I weigh no more than 185 lbs.

I saw some real fatties on the plane back to America, too.

[ryanf]

Quote:

Airline 'fat tax': Should heavy passengers pay more?

Yes.

[thegmanifesto]

Quote:

Airline 'fat tax': Should heavy passengers pay more?

Yes.

[Lothario]

OK True Story this past weekend, I'm in a Aisle seat and women comes in and tells me she is in window, Ok no problem , She is pushing 300 # and has a Bag , I offered I can put your bag up as I stood up so she can go to her seat but she wanted to keep the Bag between her legs. Now she is straddling her bag and Squishing me from both upper and lower ends.

I see two empty seats 2 rows in front of me, I tell her as soon as the Plane takes off, I will move to those seats. She looks at me and says , Ohhhhh Am I squishing you, I say nah I think my moving up front will give us both more free room which was my true Intention.

After the take off She turns to me says, Are you a Jockey ? I was surprised by that question and said No, Never ridden a horse in my lifetime and moved to the seats in front, When I got there I realized Bitch tried to get back at me and was Insecure about her Weight and got offended by my suggestion to move to another seat , Well It was too late for me to respond back with a Zinger. I did Let then one slide ........

[Kona]

I say let Samoans slide but charge everybody else.

Now that I have so many miles, the bulk of the flights I take are first class. It really pisses me off why a fat person is next to me then. Almost every flight I takr is also over six hours, and fat people snore.

Aloha!

[Screwston]

(03-27-2013 08:17 PM)Lothario Wrote:  

OK True Story this past weekend, I'm in a Aisle seat and women comes in and tells me she is in window, Ok no problem , She is pushing 300 # and has a Bag , I offered I can put your bag up as I stood up so she can go to her seat but she wanted to keep the Bag between her legs. Now she is straddling her bag and Squishing me from both upper and lower ends.

I see two empty seats 2 rows in front of me, I tell her as soon as the Plane takes off, I will move to those seats. She looks at me and says , Ohhhhh Am I squishing you, I say nah I think my moving up front will give us both more free room which was my true Intention.

After the take off She turns to me says, Are you a Jockey ? I was surprised by that question and said No, Never ridden a horse in my lifetime and moved to the seats in front, When I got there I realized Bitch tried to get back at me and was Insecure about her Weight and got offended by my suggestion to move to another seat , Well It was too late for me to respond back with a Zinger. I did Let then one slide ........

Lol at asking you if you're a 90 pound jockey because you weigh less than 200 pounds. Fat bitches and their

[BurnFirst]

Fat person should require two seats, problem solved. Wasn't this what happned with Kevin Smith?

A tall swollen guy shouldnt be put in the same category as a short obese person, which is what strictly going by weight would do. One affects the other paying customers negatively and the other doesn't.

[Goldin Boy]

If they can afford to buy the stuffed cheesy bread, 2 nestle crunch bars, and 5 piece chicken from Crown Fried with extra hot sauce for lunch every day then why not?

Aside: In the U.S. alot of people are fat because they overeat and view eating as a hobby/social activity. I threw out all junk food, started eating 3 serving of kale and 4 of fruit a day and I've gone from 189 to 177 in two weeks which is almost a lb a day. We can't shame them openly anymore, so maybe if they pay more they'll be inspired to lose weight.

I love it: make the fatties pay for the poor lifestyle choices figuratively and literally. In the meanwhile I'm going to buy shares for any company in bariatrics as they will skyrocket in the next few years.

[Parlay44]

They can save money by shipping themselves as freight

[Goldin Boy]

Quote:

After the take off She turns to me says, Are you a Jockey ? I was surprised by that question and said No, Never ridden a horse in my lifetime and moved to the seats in front, When I got there I realized Bitch tried to get back at me and was Insecure about her Weight and got offended by my suggestion to move to another seat , Well It was too late for me to respond back with a Zinger. I did Let then one slide ........

1. Not anymore b/c you ate my horse. or
2. "Yes, I ride horses, not cows like you, but thanks for the offer." or the classic:
3. Ignore her asinine question.

You can't let those slide especially from a fattie lol

[Ovid]

This is a great idea. Losing weight isn't that hard, but it requires a little bit of discipline. In America there is so much food, and most of it is very bad for the waistline, and eating is a constant social occurrence, so it takes real willpower not to stuff your face with high-carb, chemical-laden crap 2-3 times a day with everyone else. People won't undertake that discipline on their own behalf, but they absolutely would if society let them know that their blubber was bad and started calling them out on it.

I consider making fat jokes to be a public service -an act of charity, if you will.

[Screwston]

(03-27-2013 09:19 PM)Goldin Boy Wrote:  

Quote:

After the take off She turns to me says, Are you a Jockey ? I was surprised by that question and said No, Never ridden a horse in my lifetime and moved to the seats in front, When I got there I realized Bitch tried to get back at me and was Insecure about her Weight and got offended by my suggestion to move to another seat , Well It was too late for me to respond back with a Zinger. I did Let then one slide ........

1. Not anymore b/c you ate my horse. or
2. "Yes, I ride horses, not cows like you, but thanks for the offer." or the classic:
3. Ignore her asinine question.

You can't let those slide especially from a fattie lol

We are at the point where fat people make jokes about average sized and skinny people to their faces.

[MattW]

Purely by weight doesn't make sense IMO. If someone takes up two seats above and has no luggage they should still pay for the two seats because people and luggage aren't interchangeable from the airline's standpoint. Seats should each have one price and the luggage compartment should have its own pricing (weight/space).

[ryanf]

(03-27-2013 08:17 PM)Lothario Wrote:  

OK True Story this past weekend, I'm in a Aisle seat and women comes in and tells me she is in window, Ok no problem , She is pushing 300 # and has a Bag , I offered I can put your bag up as I stood up so she can go to her seat but she wanted to keep the Bag between her legs. Now she is straddling her bag and Squishing me from both upper and lower ends.

I see two empty seats 2 rows in front of me, I tell her as soon as the Plane takes off, I will move to those seats. She looks at me and says , Ohhhhh Am I squishing you, I say nah I think my moving up front will give us both more free room which was my true Intention.

After the take off She turns to me says, Are you a Jockey ? I was surprised by that question and said No, Never ridden a horse in my lifetime and moved to the seats in front, When I got there I realized Bitch tried to get back at me and was Insecure about her Weight and got offended by my suggestion to move to another seat , Well It was too late for me to respond back with a Zinger. I did Let then one slide ........

Don't worry about responding with a Zinger. Nature did that. This fat-asses whole life is a Zinger.

[Avarence]

If someone is 220 lbs. but 6' 4" and muscular, they aren't fat.
Fatties should be shamed, but this is about weight, not fat.

Why charge people who are tall and/or just swole?

"Scholars" are great at drafting solutions that make sense on paper but have no bearing in reality. I'd agree if it made sense to charge based on BMI but in this instance it just doesn't. Overall weight in pounds and how fat someone is are two different things. Also, if you're a sea cow who needs two seats then you're already paying double for your fat ass.

[Basil Ransom]

(03-27-2013 09:37 PM)MattW Wrote:  

Purely by weight doesn't make sense IMO. If someone takes up two seats above and has no luggage they should still pay for the two seats because people and luggage aren't interchangeable from the airline's standpoint. Seats should each have one price and the luggage compartment should have its own pricing (weight/space).

I never hear of airplanes running out of room for checked baggage, at least on flights with big planes. But there's no reason why a 2 seat requirement for ultra fatties can't be imposed in addition to a weight tax.

(03-27-2013 10:10 PM)IQVX Wrote:  

If someone is 220 lbs. but 6' 4" and muscular, they aren't fat.
Fatties should be shamed, but this is about weight, not fat.

Why charge people who are tall and/or just swole?

"Scholars" are great at drafting solutions that make sense on paper but have no bearing in reality. I'd agree if it made sense to charge based on BMI but in this instance it just doesn't. Overall weight in pounds and how fat someone is are two different things. Also, if you're a sea cow who needs two seats then you're already paying double for your fat ass.

Why? Because it costs more to ship someone who's 250 lbs, whether they're cut or fat. This isn't a program to encourage people to be skinny, but to charge people what they cost to move. This proposal is very much based in reality.

I don't stand to gain much, I'm probably heavier than average.