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Discussion: Should passenger weight affect fares?
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jimglab |
Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 6 2008, 1:16 PM EDT
As airlines look for ways to cope with skyrocketing fuel bills, some bloggers and letter-writers are suggesting a radical idea: airline passengers should pay the pound, with weight-based fares or surcharges (see this week’s story). Our question this week: Should passengers be charged for air travel based on their weight, like cargo is? Would that be logical? Would it be fair? Post your comments here.
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Posted Anonymously |
1. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 9 2008, 11:05 AM EDT
There should be a weight maximum, say 200 lbs, over which there would be a charge but under which there should be no charge
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Posted Anonymously |
2. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 9 2008, 11:12 AM EDT
I like the idea of a maximum weight, with a charge for those over the weight limit. However, an unintended consequence of any type of weight policy would be that people who are paying more for that seat will want a seat they can fit into. What does the airline do then? Should they give them the adjoining seat so the "overweight" person has that extra room? Right now they have to purchase two seats. Sounds like a losing proposition to me.
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Posted Anonymously |
3. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 9 2008, 11:17 AM EDT
Let the rabid ACLU attorneys attack...…..
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Posted Anonymously |
4. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 9 2008, 12:27 PM EDT
There needs to be some consideration for a maximum weight limit and accommodations made when exceeding that limit. e.g. If a passenger requires a seat belt extender, then maybe that passenger also requires a second seat and the accompanying charge. Try sitting on a regional jet next to a person who extends 6 inches over into your seat.
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DLFILLERS |
5. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 12 2008, 2:56 PM EDT
ABSOLUTELY NOT!! This is discrimination at it's best. I'm a bit overweight but can fit comfortably in one seat with no belt extender. If they are gonna charge me more, i want first class for that extra charge!!! don't cram me in a small seat. Furthermore, this just further shows how greedy the airlines are. Southwest (for example), still has low fares and no extra fees, and they still make money while the others are constantly wanting to charge anybody they can more money for every little thing. If they start charging by weight, i'm sure those airlines that choose to do so will lose alot of business!!!!!
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Posted Anonymously |
6. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jun 16 2008, 2:30 PM EDT
YES! we already have to pay extra for baggage due to soaring fuel costs. We should be allowed a max travel weight (posted when flight is ticketed) for both personal weight and baggage to make it fair. If you exceed that ,then you pay per pound. The fuel per pound can be calculated. Why should one person pay for another's excess weight? Most airlines already have a policy that if you cannot fit in your seat, you need to buy an extra seat - measured by the armrest being able to go down, or simply by the person next to you not having your thighs or belly extending over/under the armrest and squishing them! (Even Southwest has the policy posted - check the fine print!) Right now it's often measured by the afflicted passenger having to complain, which often doesn't happen. Passengers usually just grin-and-bear the discomfort, just like they do when a stinky/sweaty/gaseous/loud person sits next to you. However if there is offensive behavior for foul odors, the flight attendants take charge of those circumstances. Any doctors office posts the Guidelines for proper height/weight. Keep in mind this rule: Your special requirements shouldn't infringe on the greater good of the majority. We all pay for our special requirements in life - one way or another. (How about my 6'9" boyfriend who cannot fit in the tiny bathroom on some airplanes? he has to take multiple short flights, hold it, or only fly on certain airlines! And you can't adjust your height like you can your weight! So he pays extra for travel or drives!~)
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Posted Anonymously |
7. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Sep 29 2008, 9:34 AM EDT
If you sit in the seat and are taking any of MY seat... then you should pay for part of my ticket... I DON'T take up more than my seat and I'm sick of cows sitting next to me that can't fit into their own seat, encroching into my space. Just because you don't use a seat belt extender, does your butt fit into YOUR seat only? If the answer is NO, then order a salad and don't be pissed off when you have to pay more money because you take up more space.
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Posted Anonymously |
8. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Oct 11 2008, 9:37 AM EDT
"If you sit in the seat and are taking any of MY seat... then you should pay for part of my ticket... I DON'T take up more than my seat and I'm sick of cows sitting next to me that can't fit into their own seat, encroching into my space. Just because you don't use a seat belt extender, does your butt fit into YOUR seat only? If the answer is NO, then order a salad and don't be pissed off when you have to pay more money because you take up more space."oh so true! I have been stopped for being 3kg over baggage, and had to transfer some stuff to hand luggage(where's the sense there - it's still weight on the plane!!) whilst standing behind someone probably half as heavy again as me... seems ridiculously unfair. In a western world of escalating size, impending diabetes and general inactivity, it's time the political correctness brigade stopped insisting that there can be no discrimination against fat, and that there starts to be a pendulum swing towards social unacceptability of being grossly obese. 6 out of 19 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
10. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Feb 18 2009, 4:08 PM EST
Southwest has the strictest policy about size and weight. Check out thier "Guidelines for Customers of Size" If you can't get that arm rest down, sorry honey, but you're paying more. Discrimination maybe, but let's face it, safety first. That's the airlines' job. To insure the COMFORT and SAFTEY of ALL passengers. If you're not paying for a second seat you're discriminating against me because I'm small enough to squish next to you. Let's not even mention if there's an emergency or accident. Admittedly, I don't want to sit next to a "fat" person, but I don't want to sit next to someone with active tuberculosis either. Does it mean that I have to sacrafice my own comfort and SAFTEY to keep you from being "discriminated" against?
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Posted Anonymously |
11. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Apr 15 2009, 4:43 PM EDT
Obviously you are an ignorant person (and I mean that in it's truest meaning - as in unknowing, not the commonly used definition of rude), if you believe that most people have control of their weight. Aside from the many medical conditions that cause weight gain and excessive weight, there is a lot of the rest of the overweight people who have no diagnosis for their condition, yet cannot lose weight regardless of diet and exercise. To make such statements, you must not know the constant struggle of trying to lose weight and having your genes and your metabolism fight you every step of the way. You should just be thankful and keep your ignorance to yourself. Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you a fool, than open your mouth and prove them right.
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Posted Anonymously |
12. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Apr 15 2009, 4:51 PM EDT
"If you sit in the seat and are taking any of MY seat... then you should pay for part of my ticket... I DON'T take up more than my seat and I'm sick of cows sitting next to me that can't fit into their own seat, encroching into my space. Just because you don't use a seat belt extender, does your butt fit into YOUR seat only? If the answer is NO, then order a salad and don't be pissed off when you have to pay more money because you take up more space."Cows? What a imbecile you are. Order a salad? That does no good for someone with a thyroid condition or cushings disease. why is it ok to think that someone who is obese just has a lack of self control instead of a disease? There are some who just overeat, but that is not the majority of the cases. I can only hope you come down with a condition that causes you to gain a large amount of weight, and for which there is no way to reverse that. Then have you be embaraased to ask for a seatbelt extender, while the person beside you calls you a cow who should just eat a salad. 16 out of 19 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
13. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
May 13 2009, 2:15 AM EDT
I am one of those people who is now fighting an illness and I have gained a lot of weight. My husband and I still take our annual vacation and we do fly. We do purchase three seats and have been taking a neice or nephew with us on vacation. The child goes just to save me the embarassment of having everyone know I need a second seat. I have never had to ask for a seat belt extender, and when we fly southwest I do sit with the arm rest up. I have never been asked by a flight attendant to put the arm rest down. This is a very sensitive area for me. When I fly, I still have to put up with drunk men, women with children that did not behave, men who refuse to check luggage and take the space for my feet with their luggage and when I complained I received no compensation and there was nothing the flight attendants could or would do.
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Posted Anonymously |
14. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
May 26 2009, 11:25 PM EDT
I am flying for the first time in a long time next week and very nervous. I have gained over 70 lbs in the last 2 years. I was in a car accident and almost died, and over the last two years I have had various surguries. Just 8 weeks ago I had emergeny back surgery. I was invited on a trip to "get away" by a good friend and we are going out of the country. I was going to cancel, but my dr has cleared me as long as I get up every 30 min. I am so nervous that I might be too big for the seat. I am over 6'1 and the seats have never been comfortable, even before my weight gain, and now I am so nervous. It bothers me that people are so quick to pass judgement. Just remember, your life could change tomorrow and this could be you. Don't be so quick to pass judgement. 9 out of 10 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
15. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jul 13 2009, 1:23 PM EDT
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!! This is discrimination at it's best. I'm a bit overweight but can fit comfortably in one seat with no belt extender. If they are gonna charge me more, i want first class for that extra charge!!! don't cram me in a small seat. Furthermore, this just further shows how greedy the airlines are. Southwest (for example), still has low fares and no extra fees, and they still make money while the others are constantly wanting to charge anybody they can more money for every little thing. If they start charging by weight, i'm sure those airlines that choose to do so will lose alot of business!!!!!"Southwest only makes money becuase they hedged their fuel when it was cheap. The heavier the plane is the more fuel it uses. It makes perfect sense to charge by the pound. Its fair to everyone. After all isnt being over weight a personal choice? 1 out of 11 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
16. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jul 21 2009, 6:28 PM EDT
"Southwest only makes money becuase they hedged their fuel when it was cheap. The heavier the plane is the more fuel it uses. It makes perfect sense to charge by the pound. Its fair to everyone. After all isnt being over weight a personal choice?"Ummm. Being overweight is not a personal choice. I don't think you should make a general statement like that because like some of the people mentioned above, a good number of people have glandular issues and actual diseases or even catalytic circumstances that cause them to overweight. I can understand why you say what you say though. Because there are some people who could diet and it would come right off (and I'm thinking you probably have come into contact with some of them), but they choose not too. But not everybody has made obesity or being overweight a personal choice, it was made for them. But by the pound, though? That is not fair at all. Especially if you fit perfectly in your seat, do not spill over, and could put down the arm rest, and you are a little plump like myself. I have never spilled over on anyone ever in my life or encroached on any "thinner" person than me. So you are saying I have to pay a bunch more? No way, man. As long as I can fit and still have space on either side for the other folks I should not be paying more. 5 out of 6 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
17. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Jul 29 2009, 12:41 PM EDT
I got smashed into a seat next to a guy that weighed well over 400 pounds. It was just stupid. I was in the middle seat, and I was sitting next to an average sized guy. I am no small chick, weighing in at 175 and being nearly 6 feet tall myself. There was NO way that arm rest was going down, and the entire flight, the guy by the window was pushing on me as hard as he could and telling me to move over. I finally got angry and asked him where I was supposed to go, since I only had 1/2 seat and no arm rest. I flew from NYC to SF in this situation. It was awful. I do feel the big guy should have been moved to first class or we shoulld have. I could not move at all, and when I had to use the restroom, it took the big guy nearly 15 minutes to get out of seat. I blame the staff for not accomodating US, meaing me and the other guy, because we would have fit quite well into our seats, if we didn't have to share with the really big guy.
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Posted Anonymously |
18. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Aug 1 2009, 10:54 PM EDT
yes , as a flight attendant of 20 years i do honestly feel like the seats are way too small in the first place ..so when an over weight person sits in the seat thats a difficult situation for everyone including the overweght passenger. I do have compassion for overweight people , but perhaps there should be some rules that you can overlap into the other seat as its not fair to the other person. After watching a tlc special on overweight people , i realize how difficult their lives are and have more compassion, but also i dont feel its right for another person in a seat next to them to be uncomfortable because they overlap in their space especially on a long flight.
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Posted Anonymously |
19. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Aug 4 2009, 10:12 AM EDT
I am 6' 8" tall and weigh about 270 pounds. While that is a bit heavy if one believes in the BMI, the actual weight I would have to be to have a BMI of 25 (upper limit for "normal"), I would have to weigh 227 pounds. At that weight, I would be a scarecrow. I fit the current seats, although leg room is always a challenge. I can easily sit with the arm rest down, so that is not a problem. My "problem", if I have one beyond leg room, is that my shoulders are quite wide. Most of the time, this is not a problem, as the person seated next to me is most often enough shorter that there is no conflict. On rare occasion, I do run into someone who is tall enough that our shoulders touch. The real problem is that the airlines, in their quest for more revenue over the last 25-30+ years, have crammed more and more seats into the coach section, and have made them more narrow and the pitch shorter and shorter. I would gladly pay a little more for more leg room and more shoulder room, but the up-charge for First Class is just too high to be able to justify, especially in these difficult economic times.
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Posted Anonymously |
20. RE: Should passenger weight affect fares?
Aug 25 2009, 5:52 PM EDT
"As airlines look for ways to cope with skyrocketing fuel bills, some bloggers and letter-writers are suggesting a radical idea: airline passengers should pay the pound, with weight-based fares or surcharges (see this week’s story). Our question this week: Should passengers be charged for air travel based on their weight, like cargo is? Would that be logical? Would it be fair? Post your comments here."Only if everyone's on-plane weight is measured (baggage and person together) and you pay for the space that you will use. If you take up less space, you pay less and get a smaller footprint. If you take up more space, you pay more and get a larger footprint. That's how it works for freight shipping and I can see the logic in the idea. But, when people have to purchase their space ahead of time-by weeks in most cases-then how can you accurately weigh and charge them? People gain and lose weight sometimes quite rapidly and not everyone knows exactly what they are going to pack for their trip that far in advance. Also, how can you provide comfortable accomodations for everyone, when the space needs to be dynamic? You don't worry about the "comfort" of cargo because, in general, it really doesn't care what else it's sitting next to or what it's sitting on top of, whereas human beings do. And that is really the bottom line: do we want to be treated like humans or like freight? 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
