A politically incorrect question.....
I'm currently in Houston, which for the fourth year running has won a prize as the fattest city in America. My colleagues and I (who fly a lot , but down the back), have been speculating wildy on the cost to US airlines of flying blubber around the Land of the Free. So if we reckon the average US domestic flight is 2 hours, and the average flight has a cabin crew of five, what is the cost per flight of shipping 5 kilos of excess baggage immutably tied to a cabin crew member? How many flights per year does an average cabin crew member make?
If the average flight has 120 passengers (150 and a load factor of 70%), how much would be saved on a 2 hour flight if they were all 1 kilo lighter?
Would it be possible to get a major US carrier out of Chapter 11 by putting the cabin crew on a diet? Is this the secret of South Wests success?
I think we should be told!
Feel free to question the assumptions above.