Airlines to start weighing passengers..

Dis86 said:
You on one side and me on the other and we're screwed!
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Yes, that plane's going to go round in circles :)


It poses an interesting idea. If I take my 68kg body onto a plane with 1kg excess in my luggage why should I pay extra when the guy ahead of me weighing in at 95kg kept within the baggage limit and got on without an additional charge - despite bringing on-board 26kg more?

Take it to a bit of an extreme, that same guy could weigh in at 137kg and bring on board a whole extra person in weight at no additional charge.
 
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Whitewater said:
Yes, that plane's going to go round in circles :)


It poses an interesting idea. If I take my 68kg body onto a plane with 1kg excess in my luggage why should I pay extra when the guy ahead of me weighing in at 95kg kept within the baggage limit and got on without an additional charge - despite bringing on-board 26kg more?

Take it to a bit of an extreme, that same guy could weigh in at 137kg and bring on board a whole extra person in weight at no additional charge.
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Because it's his own body?

As long as it doesn't affect people sitting next to you, I cant see the hoohah with people carrying a few extra pounds body weight on airlines. Lots of people try hard to keep their weight down, but it can be nigh on impossible for some people without leading a crappy life living on salads and lentils.
 
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It's something I pondered too after a flight to Barcelona where I was sat next to/under a woman who weighed in at 120kg easily. She was massive! She took up most of my seat in addition to hers leading to a massively uncomfortable flight for me. Yet we both paid the same price for a ticket, to occupy the same size seat for the same journey. She also would have cost the airline more in fuel than me.
 
Dis86 said:
It's something I pondered too after a flight to Barcelona where I was sat next to/under a woman who weighed in at 120kg easily. She was massive! She took up most of my seat in addition to hers leading to a massively uncomfortable flight for me. Yet we both paid the same price for a ticket, to occupy the same size seat for the same journey. She also would have cost the airline more in fuel than me.
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That's different. Either she should be charged more or you should be compensated.

It's a very tricky situation. It's a bit dehumanizing though to start putting people on scales at the airport :p
 
robfosters said:
That's different. Either she should be charged more or you should be compensated.

It's a very tricky situation. It's a bit dehumanizing though to start putting people on scales at the airport :p
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It was horrendous. I actually got some sympathy off one of the stewards but the flight was full so there was nothing he could do.
I wouldn't expect compensation off the airline though as it's not their fault. They can't exactly not allow someone to fly because of their size despite it leading to a significant inconvenience to others (in this case me) without no doubt causing that person offense as you've pointed out or probably being hit by a discrimination case.
 
Whitewater said:
It poses an interesting idea. If I take my 68kg body onto a plane with 1kg excess in my luggage why should I pay extra when the guy ahead of me weighing in at 95kg kept within the baggage limit and got on without an additional charge - despite bringing on-board 26kg more?
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A 10 hour flight will cost the airline around $90 (on say, a fully laden 747) per person in fuel, the individual probably pays the guts of $800-$1000 for a flight of that distance so your average fatty really doesn't cost the airline much more than flying stick insects.
 
How would this work for weight lifters? This article seems to make the connection that if you're above a certain weight, you require more than one seat. I'm a weight lifter currently hovering around 93kg and not fat - I flew to Italy 2 weeks ago and fit comfortably in one seat. Should I therefore have to pay extra because the 93kg fatty next to me needs two seats?

Going by a persons weight won't work.
 
Dynix said:
How would this work for weight lifters? This article seems to make the connection that if you're above a certain weight, you require more than one seat. I'm a weight lifter currently hovering around 93kg and not fat - I flew to Italy 2 weeks ago and fit comfortably in one seat. Should I therefore have to pay extra because the 93kg fatty next to me needs two seats?

Going by a persons weight won't work.
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But going by how buff they are would?
 
robfosters said:
Because it's his own body?

As long as it doesn't affect people sitting next to you, I cant see the hoohah with people carrying a few extra pounds body weight on airlines. Lots of people try hard to keep their weight down, but it can be nigh on impossible for some people without leading a crappy life living on salads and lentils.
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You seem to have completely missed his question.

Why should he be charged extra despite his gross weight (bodyweight + luggage) being less than that of an obese person.
 
Last time I checked passengers weren't handled by baggage handlers?

That's why planes have limits on luggage size, because they need to be lifted and carried about by blokes governed by some Health and Safety regulation. Your not charged £10 extra per KG because it costs more in fuel, your paying it as a fine for being over the limit.

Doesn't the 'taxes' part of a ticket cover fuel anyway?

And as for this article, I imagine it's more about weight distribution on the plane. On smaller craft you will often see them move people about, especially if only part filled, to make the weight distribution better for takeoff and landing. Weighing people before allocating seats prevents them filling row A with family fatty boom boom and then having to shuffle them around once boarded. Seems pretty sensible, if somewhat odd.
 
Should go by volume, not weight.

This wouldnt be a problem if the airlines wouldnt insist on trying to completely fill all available internal space with humanity, hell they're one step from teaming up with princes.

Considering i'm about as average as european males get in terms lf height, shoulder width etc that you can get and i struggle to fit comfortably in seats because i'm too wide (thats bones are too wide, i'd have to amputate my arms to fit within their 'alotted' space)
 
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