Airlines 'Should Charge Fat Passengers More'

[j636]

Airlines 'Should Charge Fat Passengers More' (http://news.sky.com/story/1069283/airlines-should-charge-fat-passengers-more)

I agree fat people should pay more as they will burn more fuel!!

[fly rc]

Not only do they burn more fuel, they take up more room. If it is necessary for them to use a seat belt extension and raise the arm rest too,
they should pay for two seats.

[DaveReidUK]

My life is complete, now I've discovered the Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management (http://www.palgrave-journals.com/rpm/index.html)

[grumbles69]

I disagree j636. But then I am a muscular 24 stone. :-)

[Lancelot37]

Will there be big discounts for very thin people?

[rallye parachute]

But we use standard weights on our load sheets.

How will it be enforced if the ticket is bought online? I could easily lie about my weight.

Mind you it will help in security as we will all have to strip naked to get an actual weight.

[EZYPZY]

What about those who are overweight because of a medical condition? Doesn't exactly sound fair for those people. Plus it would be a nightmare to enforce!

[vectisman]

People are fat because they eat too much of the wrong thing and do not exercise enough. Simple.

[MANTHRUST]

You should get compensation if you have to sit next to a fatty on a flight, down the back that is of course.

[on time all the time]

........And airlines should also charge/tax stupid people. They would be extremely rich if they were doing so.

[jamestkirk]

The article is from a nutcase Norwegian.

I think j636 is starting this thread as a joke.

[Dave Clarke Fife]

Weight doesn't always go hand in hand with being fat though;muscle being more dense than fat weighs more, hence the likes of rugby players like Laurence Dallaglio who I share a similar physique to (more hair tho thankfully) weigh in at 112kg (17st 9lbs) and stand 1.93m (6'4") but can hardly be considered fat

[j636]

I think j636 is starting this thread as a joke

Indeed but I Samoa Air are charging passengers by weight.

Samoan airline defends pay by weight plan - RTÉ News (http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2013/0403/379510-samoan-airline-defends-pay-by-weight-plan/)

[hampshireandy]

Fat people should travel on their own aircraft, it would have to be a wide body of course. :D

[Tonybavaro]

As one of life's fatter people,I agree that maybe I should pay more for my seat,but in return for the extra payment I should receive a larger seat.As for those of you who think that "fatness"is self inflicted,I would also point out that ignorance can also be self inflicted.

[FRatSTN]

........And airlines should also charge/tax stupid people. They would be extremely rich if they were doing so.

They already do... Ryanair.

£60 for each passenger per flight if they "forget" to print a boarding pass.

Accidently paying for something eg. travel insurance because you didn't take enough care when booking.

And charging people a lot more because they can't go to Spain for a fortnight without taking 20kg of luggage each in addition to the 10kg they have for free.

A fat tax or charging people more based on their weight is not right. The idea is that you pay less for being a more responsible customer in terms of your travel arangements and are all avoidable extra charges, it's not quite that simple when it comes to personal weight.

I think that anybody who comes to the airport with an overweight checked-in bag should not be allowed to fly and will not get refund. That way the airline gets the revenue from the passenger and reduces weight by not having the overweight bag(s) on board... or the passenger(s)!

[Fairdealfrank]

So it wasn't an April Fool then.....................

[Jack1985]

have to agree, why should any airline have to 'defend' introducing this sort of charge? Its entirely logical.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

If airlines go down this route then they'd better make everyone stand on the scales with ALL their luggage including duty free bags. Many of the stick-insect types travel laden with shopping bags. But lots of well built lads travel very light! Fair's fair ...

[flyawaybird]

TonyBavaro

Please do not take this topic on personal basis. The Topic comes from Dr. Bhatta of Norway and many other doctors too, write about it and research have shown that overeating is the primary cause for obesity and overweight.
Partially, I agree that for a very small number of people, obesity is not self inflicted for one or two reasons.
- as a baby, your mother or the person responsible for the baby care, maybe cooking the wrong foods and also may tend to overfeed the baby.
- there is also, a gut bacteria which can cause obesity.

However, as adults it is good to watch what we eat, what we drink especially the soft beverages and avoid certain foods which cause fatness, while others increase the sugar level in our bodies. Eating all too often in restaurants or hotels can be another cause for obesity or overweight.
Obesity is not only a weight based problem, it can bring High Blood pressure, damage to feet and diabetes. It has also been found to cause infatility.

In most cases of obesity people tend to sweat a lot often emitting bad orders. Ofcourse, even a thin person can have such ordours if he or she does not bathe properly, but it is more in the obeses as it gets tought to reach all parts of the body when showering or bathing.

If we look back some decades, our parents, grand parents and great grand parents did not suffer the same calamity. People hardly ate in fast restaurants because there were not any. They also did not fry most of their foods.

A few tips can help in getting the gut bacteria by drinking lots of water with a few drops of Apple Cider Vinegar in each glass of water. Drinking water first thing in the morning, with meals, in between and the last thing before going to bed might be of great help. Also exercises and going to the gym may certainly help, especially when we have jobs where we sit for too long in any given period.

Dr. Oz has a lot of reasonable and cheap diets to offer online.

Lastly it is good to watch weight because overweight and obesity does make people to be invalids, that is unable to get out of beds, being sent to nursing homes for specialized help as movements limited and this is costly.

I believe when airlines start changing passengers per their weight, it will be good for those who are overweight because they will strive to keep good weight which is good for health. Airlians have standardized seats and do not cater for fat people. They will have to charge for an extra space besides the overweight.:)

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

"It will be good for those who are overweight ..."

There is an awful lot of patronising nonsense on this thread. Perhaps we should go further and encourage a eugenics programme to breed perfect human specimens ... I understand that a programme of this sort had the support of many influential politicians in the 1930's and 40's. It didn't end very well though.

Maybe we can take things another stage further. Why not go into schools to promote perfect body shape and encourage bullying of the fat kids. It will be good for them ... it will encourage them to lose weight! They must lack self-discipline, after all, and deserve all the stick they get for over-eating and under-exercising. We must drill into them the importance of extreme yo-yo dieting from a young age. Anorexia is good ... it means you are thin and can assume moral superiority over weak characters who must be despised! And we can promote the immense benefits of aspartame-laden drinks ... so much healthier than natural sugar!

Seriously now, this is a complex subject which lies well outside the core competence of airline companies. They would do well to give it a wide berth (sorry for the pun!). For some reason, whilst it has now (thankfully) become taboo to abuse people on the grounds of race, gender, orientation, religion, and even fashion choices (Goths, Emos etc.), if you're overweight then watch out. You're still fair game for all the latent Nazis out there. And the authorities seem to approve. No wonder there is a boom in eating disorders (fat and thin) and all the young kids are paranoid about their "body image".

As for airlines, if they want to charge me a bodyweight supplement I'll be sure to pack a bag with 23kg of bricks and check it in ... I rarely use my inclusive check-in allowance on regular journeys.

[Tonybavaro]

Flyawaybird,
I take no offence to being called "fat",because that is of course,what I am,and of course I am as guilty as anyone else in using outward appearance as a means of judging others.Your account of what causes people to be overweight is well meant,if a little patronising.In my particular case,I have always had an extremely healthy diet,and continue to eat healthily to this day.Also my exercise regime is as good ,if not better than most people's .I could go on and detail my sporting achievements in Rugby,Cricket etc.,but will not bore you with the details,suffice to say that I am prepared to wager that it is better than 99 per cent of the population.
Where I do take offence is your inference that fat people smell worse than others.The sense of smell is,of course,subjective much as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.I would much rather sit close to a person with a body odour problem than someone who has par taken of large quantities of garlic,as I once was forced to do on flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles.
Anyway,rant over,and I wish you all pleasant flying experiences.

[Buster the Bear]

Discrimination against bulky bears!