What a load of bollo*ks Leezyjet!
I know that more weight=more fuel , but has to be over a certain amount to require more fuel than planned anyway and that varies from type to type.
The flight is planned on estimated weights, and f/plan is produced on those estimates. When the flight closes out there are not many instances where crew will opt to take less fuel than the f/plan says just because the weight was a few hundred kgs lower than estimated. Most f/crew I've sent on the way will always take what has been planned even if the weight did drop off as they would rather have the extra. Out of all the short haul flights I've sent out, it's only on a very small % that the weight goes above the estimate, and when it does that isn't usually down to excess baggage, it's down to flights being combined and pax figs going up or extra cargo being carried. Excess baggage would normally only cause an increase if a majority of the pax had excess rather than the odd one or two.
So if pax A turns up with 50kgs excess bagagge, it isn't costing the airline any more to carry it as the fuel has already been planned in most instances and this is also offset by the fact that pax B,C,D or E might have less than the allowance anyway. I'm not saying it does entitle pax A to bring more and get away with it, I'm just saying that it's not actually costing the airlines any more to carry it when it's the odd 1 or 2 pax that bring it and it's mainly an extra way they can make money. A certain UK airline never used to charge excess until the last few of years when things have got a bit tight.
I'm mainly basing this on the 737 size a/c that is common among most lo-co's as this is what most of the discussion was about although I have only worked with the majors, not lo-co's but they are in an even better situation as they don't take cargo.
So not talking bollocks at all. After nearly 10 years of load planning flights, I have a good idea how the system works.
