Per Weight Flying

[Sylar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22001256

Thoughts on this?

Though not a perfect model, I personally think it's about time something was incorporated and something a lot more airlines might consider introducing. Nothing worse than being on a long-haul and getting stuck next to some morbidly obese chap/gal who's spreading over into your seat.

If I get charged for being slightly over my luggage weight allowance, airlines should be able to force anyone over a certain size to pay for their excess load.

No doubt the PC lobby would deem it as discriminatory if someone like British Airways tried to bring it in but there are many good reasons for airlines to consider it :agree:

[easty]

It's the luggage thing that bothers me, they charge you for going slightly over you baggage allowance then sit you next to someone 50 kilos heavier than you....who probably paid less than you did cos fatty is too self conscious to wear shorts so just packed a pair of jeans and a kaftan and came in well under his luggage allowance!! (I'm well aware that this is a stupidly long sentance.)

[Pretty Boy]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

[Sylar]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

And that's the argument which forced me to open with "Though not a perfect model..." as there will be people like you, or people with a significant muscle mass who will weigh more than the average bear naturally.

[hibsbollah]

Christian Nade was last seen playing in Thailand but his home is in France. The poor guy will be hammered by this move. Its these kind of cases we should consider when rushing to change things.

[Sylar]

Christian Nade was last seen playing in Thailand but his home is in France. The poor guy will be hammered by this move. Its these kind of cases we should consider when rushing to change things.

Surely with his Champions League winnings and resulting endorsements accrued whilst at Hearts, he can afford his own private jet with an onboard KFC?

[yeezus.]

I'd rather be stuck next to an obese man than a puking baby.

Just as well I don't have the need to fly.

[Peevemor]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

Ditto for me (although I'm currently carrying a wee bit too much weight to be honest). However, if ever I was to buy a flight ticket under this system, I assume I could expect a bigger seat and more legroom in return?

Thought not!

[Peevemor]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

Ditto for me (although I'm currently carrying a wee bit too much weight to be honest). However, if ever I was to buy a flight ticket under this system, I assume I could expect a bigger seat and more legroom in return?

Thought not!

[easty]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

I'm an inch taller, half a stone lighter....and twice as pretty as you :greengrin, but I think there should be some kind of 'charge by weight' system. Who's to say it'd have to be for everyone though, why not have a system similar to that of the luggage? Say a 20 stone limit, with £x extra for every pound/kilo/stone.

[Peevemor]

I'm an inch taller, half a stone lighter....and twice as pretty as you :greengrin, but I think there should be some kind of 'charge by weight' system. Who's to say it'd have to be for everyone though, why not have a system similar to that of the luggage? Say a 20 stone limit, with £x extra for every pound/kilo/stone.

You should get a cheap deal on a place in the overhead rack.

[lord bunberry]

I'd rather be stuck next to an obese man than a puking baby.

Just as well I don't have the need to fly.

When was the last time a baby was sick on you on s flight

[Jack]

Robbie Coltrane gets two seats (next to each other before any smartie says something) when he flies up and down to London.

Don't know about other flights.

[Beefster]

I'm 6'3 and weigh around the 15st mark, my BMI is within the normal range.

Why should I pay more than a girl who's 4'11?

I can't help being tall, which means I will be heavier. I'm a healthy weight but under the system outlined in the story above i'd be punished. Sorry but that's discrimination in it's most basic form.

Cos you cost more to get off the ground. It's not really much different to baggage limits.

I'm 6'1 and somewhere around 12.5st. I'd have no problem paying more than Mrs Beefster who is 5'2 and 7.5st.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

I think this would cause me to have a similar aversion to flying as Dennis Bergkamp!

[Pretty Boy]

Cos you cost more to get off the ground. It's not really much different to baggage limits.

I'm 6'1 and somewhere around 12.5st. I'd have no problem paying more than Mrs Beefster who is 5'2 and 7.5st.

On an aeroplane that weighs more than 100 tonnes at take off, i'd be interested to know the cost difference a couple of stone makes. Do we apply the same principle to taxi fares and bus fares and argue the heavier someone is the more fuel they use?

I accept there is an argument to be had here but making someone pay more when they have limited control over their weight seems wrong to me. It's essentially saying foreign travel could potentially become unaffordable to those on lower incomes who are tall and/or muscular.

[hibsbollah]

I'd rather be stuck next to an obese man than a puking baby.

Just as well I don't have the need to fly.

An obese puking man is pretty bad.

[easty]

An obese puking man is pretty bad.

An obese puking man dressed as a giant baby is even more pretty bad...

[Beefster]

On an aeroplane that weighs more than 100 tonnes at take off, i'd be interested to know the cost difference a couple of stone makes. Do we apply the same principle to taxi fares and bus fares and argue the heavier someone is the more fuel they use?

I accept there is an argument to be had here but making someone pay more when they have limited control over their weight seems wrong to me. It's essentially saying foreign travel could potentially become unaffordable to those on lower incomes who are tall and/or muscular.

I can see your point but presumably flight is far more sensitive to weight differences and the counter -argument is why should Mrs Beefster be subsidising air travel for someone who is three times her weight (I'm not suggesting you are!)? Like I said, the airlines are happy enough to jump on you for large charges if your luggage is a kilo over so this sort of passenger charging is pretty much inevitable IMHO.

[yeezus.]

When was the last time a baby was sick on you on s flight

The baby was behind me actually, I was headed to Sri Lanka back in 2001.

[Jay]

Cos you cost more to get off the ground. It's not really much different to baggage limits.

I'm 6'1 and somewhere around 12.5st. I'd have no problem paying more than Mrs Beefster who is 5'2 and 7.5st.

Give her a plate of mince and tatties followed by some cake and custard will you?

Seriously though I think if they can fit in the seat and get the seatbelt on then they should pay the same as everyone else. If we start charging by weight then kids should get a huge reduction. My 3 stone son shouldnt pay the same as a 10 stone adult. I'm taking 4 kids so the airline would make far less money on me, they would be praying for a couple of fatties to get their money back! where does it stop? Will we all be in our knickers getting weighed before we get on the plane?

[easty]

Give her a plate of mince and tatties followed by some cake and custard will you?

Seriously though I think if they can fit in the seat and get the seatbelt on then they should pay the same as everyone else. If we start charging by weight then kids should get a huge reduction. My 3 stone son shouldnt pay the same as a 10 stone adult. I'm taking 4 kids so the airline would make far less money on me, they would be praying for a couple of fatties to get their money back! where does it stop? Will we all be in our knickers getting weighed before we get on the plane?

I'd not be wearing any knickers to get weighed....if it's going by the pound/ounce then I'm getting weighed in the bufty, not eating for a couple of days beforehand, taking a laxative at least 24 hours before and shaving every hair off my body! :greengrin

[Beefster]

Give her a plate of mince and tatties followed by some cake and custard will you?

Ha! You wouldn't believe how much she can eat!

[Jay]

I'd not be wearing any knickers to get weighed....if it's going by the pound/ounce then I'm getting weighed in the bufty, not eating for a couple of days beforehand, taking a laxative at least 24 hours before and shaving every hair off my body! :greengrin

Thats kinda the norm for my slimming classes :greengrin

[Jay]

Ha! You wouldn't believe how much she can eat!

I hate her already :boo hoo:

[lapsedhibee]

An obese puking man dressed as a giant baby is even more pretty bad...

An obese man puking up bits of a baby he'd eaten earlier would be worse.

Not that he's obese, but I wondered about RVP getting on the plane from London to Manchester after "the little boy inside him" told him to sign for United.

[Future17]

And that's the argument which forced me to open with "Though not a perfect model..." as there will be people like you, or people with a significant muscle mass who will weigh more than the average bear naturally.

I wasn't sure if you were referring to the system or your looks....:greengrin


I'd not be wearing any knickers to get weighed....if it's going by the pound/ounce then I'm getting weighed in the bufty, not eating for a couple of days beforehand, taking a laxative at least 24 hours before and shaving every hair off my body! :greengrin

In order to weigh less, or to better suit your giant baby costume?

[Sylar]

I wasn't sure if you were referring to the system or your looks....:greengrin



Evidently, we've met then? :greengrin

[hibsbollah]

An obese puking man dressed as a giant baby is even more pretty bad...

That would be horrible :agree: I've got the fear.

[Scouse Hibee]

No problem for me, at my last medical the doc said my weight was spot on, he did point out the problem with my height though as apparently I should be 7'6''.

[Future17]

Evidently, we've met then? :greengrin

:greengrin

[Just Alf]

Really hope this doesn't happen, the rest of the passengers would get on free! :-/

[Twa Cairpets]

The maths are discriminatory

I weigh 18 stone (6'3", and carrying it well mind). This is 114 kilos

If I'm charged £1/kilo, then (excluding luggage), it costs me £114.

Someone who is, say 13 stone is charged £83. It therefore costs me 38% more to travel.

The additional weight to a plane (an empty 737 weighs 31,300Kg. If its only me and skinny boy on the plane, combined we take the weight up 31,597Kg, an increase of less than 1%. My additional contribution for my extra poundage is 31Kg is 0.1% of the total weight.

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

End Of.

[easty]

The maths are discriminatory

I weigh 18 stone (6'3", and carrying it well mind). This is 114 kilos

If I'm charged £1/kilo, then (excluding luggage), it costs me £114.

Someone who is, say 13 stone is charged £83. It therefore costs me 38% more to travel.

The additional weight to a plane (an empty 737 weighs 31,300Kg. If its only me and skinny boy on the plane, combined we take the weight up 31,597Kg, an increase of less than 1%. My additional contribution for my extra poundage is 31Kg is 0.1% of the total weight.

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

End Of.

Pfft..to quote Stewart Lee's taxi driver - "you can prove anything with facts."

[hibsbollah]

The maths are discriminatory

I weigh 18 stone (6'3", and carrying it well mind). This is 114 kilos

If I'm charged £1/kilo, then (excluding luggage), it costs me £114.

Someone who is, say 13 stone is charged £83. It therefore costs me 38% more to travel.

The additional weight to a plane (an empty 737 weighs 31,300Kg. If its only me and skinny boy on the plane, combined we take the weight up 31,597Kg, an increase of less than 1%. My additional contribution for my extra poundage is 31Kg is 0.1% of the total weight.

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

End Of.

Yeah, but you get hit extra with the Pedantry Surcharge :agree:

[VickMackie]

I was listening to a simoan airline exec on bbc Scotland yesterday and he made the point if that it was cargo being flown it would be charged by the kilo, and on a purely financial basis it makes sense.

He also said there are varying standard rates around the world based on population weights.

If Britain wants to remain fat as **** then its going to happen. If you were to fill up the plane with 20 stone monsters it could potentially be a safety risk.

What he also said is that the airline should move to make the journey as equally comfortable for everyone, regardless of size.

[Beefster]

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

Try telling that to BA when they charge you £40 for being a kilo over the luggage allowance.

[lord bunberry]

The maths are discriminatory

I weigh 18 stone (6'3", and carrying it well mind). This is 114 kilos

If I'm charged £1/kilo, then (excluding luggage), it costs me £114.

Someone who is, say 13 stone is charged £83. It therefore costs me 38% more to travel.

The additional weight to a plane (an empty 737 weighs 31,300Kg. If its only me and skinny boy on the plane, combined we take the weight up 31,597Kg, an increase of less than 1%. My additional contribution for my extra poundage is 31Kg is 0.1% of the total weight.

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

End Of.

It will never happen it would be discriminating against people's who may be overweight due to ill health. The only way they could charge more is if someone is to big for one seat

[lapsedhibee]

If you were to fill up the plane with 20 stone monsters it could potentially be a safety risk.

Definitely wouldn't want to fly with a score of Egyptian sphinxes or that.

[Future17]

I was listening to a simoan airline exec on bbc Scotland yesterday and he made the point if that it was cargo being flown it would be charged by the kilo, and on a purely financial basis it makes sense.

Sounds like money business to me. I expect a lot of his passengers would go ape.


Definitely wouldn't want to fly with a score of Egyptian sphinxes or that.

:greengrin

[Beefster]

The maths are discriminatory

I weigh 18 stone (6'3", and carrying it well mind). This is 114 kilos

If I'm charged £1/kilo, then (excluding luggage), it costs me £114.

Someone who is, say 13 stone is charged £83. It therefore costs me 38% more to travel.

The additional weight to a plane (an empty 737 weighs 31,300Kg. If its only me and skinny boy on the plane, combined we take the weight up 31,597Kg, an increase of less than 1%. My additional contribution for my extra poundage is 31Kg is 0.1% of the total weight.

It is disproportionately unfair to charge a 38% premium for a 0.1% increase in weight.

End Of.

I'm no airline expert but wouldn't the price of a ticket be split into three parts - the cost of getting the plane off the ground, the cost of getting the cargo off the ground and the profit. Assuming that the cost of getting the plane off the ground and the profit are fixed costs and split between all passengers equally, it would only be the cost of the cargo that would be variable. The weight of you compared to the plane would be pretty much irrelevant. Your weight against the average passenger would really be the only thing that mattered.

[Twa Cairpets]

I'm no airline expert but wouldn't the price of a ticket be split into three parts - the cost of getting the plane off the ground, the cost of getting the cargo off the ground and the profit. Assuming that the cost of getting the plane off the ground and the profit are fixed costs and split between all passengers equally, it would only be the cost of the cargo that would be variable. The weight of you compared to the plane would be pretty much irrelevant. Your weight against the average passenger would really be the only thing that mattered.

Correct, but if the justification for a weight based charge is the extra cost involved in flying my carcass, then the cost should be directly relative to the precise (and I suspect extremely marginal) extra cost, which would be fuel.
I suspect this is a way of increasing margin and increasing prices, nothing else.

[Holmesdale Hibs]

It's an interesting idea but personally, as a 6ft non-overweight person, I'm not in favour of it.

It'll never happen though, not when rules such as this are being introduced...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/motorinsurance/9760222/Young-women-to-see-insurance-premiums-double.html

[jonty]

Cargo also gets the space it needs. Airlines already have 'fat seats' and choose not to run them on all flights. They're called first class.

Of course if airlines weren't trying to squeeze as many people as possible into planes then we'd all have plenty room.

Trains are getting just as bad.

[sleeping giant]

It's my knob that's the problem. I need to sit with my legs at nearly a ninety degree angle which doesn't go down to well with the person in the next seat. They seem to go quiet though when I tell them the reason :-)

[--------]

It's an interesting idea but personally, as a 6ft non-overweight person, I'm not in favour of it.

It'll never happen though, not when rules such as this are being introduced...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/motorinsurance/9760222/Young-women-to-see-insurance-premiums-double.html


I can't think of anything much worse than being stuck in an aluminum tube for 8 hours being half sat on by a monstrous lard-ass. It's actually not an issue of comfort - it's an issue of health and safety, surely. Blood clots, etc.

So I think if I were ever asked to sit next to a John Candy lookalike I would complain loudly and offensively until they found me another seat.

HOWEVER - I have a cunning plan that works for me every time. I wear my clerical collar, a black suit, and carry my biggest black leather Bible with me. As soon as anyone sits down beside me I open my Bible, put on a manic look and ask them, "Excuse me, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

They NEVER stay around.

Works for buses and trains, and (though I haven't tried it yet) I'm sure it would work for planes too. :devil:

[Future17]

I can't think of anything much worse than being stuck in an aluminum tube for 8 hours being half sat on by a monstrous lard-ass. It's actually not an issue of comfort - it's an issue of health and safety, surely. Blood clots, etc.

So I think if I were ever asked to sit next to a John Candy lookalike I would complain loudly and offensively until they found me another seat.

HOWEVER - I have a cunning plan that works for me every time. I wear my clerical collar, a black suit, and carry my biggest black leather Bible with me. As soon as anyone sits down beside me I open my Bible, put on a manic look and ask them, "Excuse me, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

They NEVER stay around.

Works for buses and trains, and (though I haven't tried it yet) I'm sure it would work for planes too. :devil:

That's a dangerous tactic...imagine the first person who DOES stick around! :greengrin

[Twa Cairpets]

I can't think of anything much worse than being stuck in an aluminum tube for 8 hours being half sat on by a monstrous lard-ass. It's actually not an issue of comfort - it's an issue of health and safety, surely. Blood clots, etc.

So I think if I were ever asked to sit next to a John Candy lookalike I would complain loudly and offensively until they found me another seat.

HOWEVER - I have a cunning plan that works for me every time. I wear my clerical collar, a black suit, and carry my biggest black leather Bible with me. As soon as anyone sits down beside me I open my Bible, put on a manic look and ask them, "Excuse me, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

They NEVER stay around.

Works for buses and trains, and (though I haven't tried it yet) I'm sure it would work for planes too. :devil:

Brilliant. :greengrin

[IWasThere2016]

Could be a nice little earner for the airlines that don't apply such 'logic' to their pricing models.

[--------]

That's a dangerous tactic...imagine the first person who DOES stick around! :greengrin


You don't know how manic I can be ....

You have to imagine a mixture of Ian Paisley, Elmer Gantry, and Father Fintan Stack from "Father Ted".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU2_1OgFSWY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXOZpTZKVY

It's never failed in thirty years of Rev-ness. :devil: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XXOZpTZKVY)

[--------]

Being serious, I see no reason why any passenger should be stuck beside someone so overweight that they're taking up more space than the seat they've actually paid for.

And if you do have to evacuate the aircraft in a hurry, I wouldn't want to be stuck behind someone so fat that he/she has difficulty getting out of his/her seat and down the aisle to the exit.

Ity's not about how much it costs the airline to move behemoth from London to New York - who wants to be stuck beside them all that time?

[Beefster]

Being serious, I see no reason why any passenger should be stuck beside someone so overweight that they're taking up more space than the seat they've actually paid for.

And if you do have to evacuate the aircraft in a hurry, I wouldn't want to be stuck behind someone so fat that he/she has difficulty getting out of his/her seat and down the aisle to the exit.

Ity's not about how much it costs the airline to move behemoth from London to New York - who wants to be stuck beside them all that time?

Keep a spare doughnut in your hand luggage for throwing down the aisle in an emergency. That'll get them moving.

[--------]

Keep a spare doughnut in your hand luggage for throwing down the aisle in an emergency. That'll get them moving.


I'm rather partial to doughnuts myself, Beefster. 'Snickers' bars might do the trick, though.

The Russians could have the answer, though ....


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lOKnANShTqE/UADvhfumdfI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/iEaNSy263o8/s1600/antonov225faci1.jpg