Airfares By the pound

In yesterday's Orlando Sentinel's Travel Section, they are reporting that airlines are considering charging people by their weight.  Not unlike shippers who charge for shipping by weight.
 
The author reminds us that the airlines have cut down weight on their planes now by eliminating free water, free magazines, etc.  One idea is to ask customers when they book to estimate their weight.  This is wild stuff.  The article goes on to say that it is not that crazy a concept.  After all, who would have ever expected them to charge for checked bags!
 
We're flying SW Air next month..They don't charge for bags. ..yet!  What a world.

I have a hard time with that..  Females are just built smaller than males (usually).  Family genetics play into your height, and some family are just built tall, with height comes weight.

I could possibly see a set flat rate through 175 lbs, then a sliding scale of additional fee beyond that.  But even that isn't exactly fair.  It'd have to come down to a BMI (Body Mass Index) assesment or something.  That way regardless of height, a certain fat/mass ratio was payed for.  A 5' 2" female and a 6' 6" male could end up with the same additional fee if it went by BMI.

I dunno.  But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Hey, I think it is incredibly rude.  But, the way things are going with the airlines, anything is possible.  I call air travel today "Greyhounds with wings."

Remember the baggage charge was supposed to be to combat the rise in gas prices..Well, why is it still in effect!

I can understand it from a pure business financial point of view.  It takes fuel to move weight.  Fuel = $$$. 

A 5' 2" 120 lbs female with a light overnight bag is just straight out cheaper to move than a 6'4" 290 lbs guy with a large suitecase.  This is the reality of operating a trasportation company of any type.  The airlines just operate on a larger scale and fuel is a big piece of their operating pie.

And yes, after decades of flat rates regardless of build, suddenly moving to a pay per pound system (like every other form of shipping) will meet increadible resistance.  Even be considered rude since we socially are touchy about our build.

I love the claim that taking away free water and  magazines was to reduce weight.  Anybody who buys that as a primary answer, I've got some lovely oceanfront property in Nebraska for sale.  It must have been to reduce weight...couldn't possibly be to increase profit...no, that couldn't possibly be the case!

It does make sense, and if you've ever flown a small regional airline you know that when you board they ask you your weight so they can distribute passengers accordingly.  I'm good with that, as it helps the plane not fall out of the air.  But on a 767?  Please.

Personally, I'm not offended that they would charge by weight, per se.  What offends me is that they would be treating living, breathing, thinking human beings as if they are freight.  Kind of like slave ships, or trucks taking illegal aliens over the border.

I HATE THE AIRLINES! They have become a necessary evil..Not something to look forward to.
 
They don't care anymore..They think we don't pay enough.  Many of them have lost their jobs.  They are not happy and it shows.  Once in a while you get a nice person, but just as many times, you now get people who could care less.  Lost bags, damaged bags, late arrivals, failure to inform about flight changes, etc.
 
We just have to grin and bear it.  That's why I am so happy when I can plan a vavation and don't have to fly!  Greyhounds with wings..That's what flying has become. 

One particular Irish airline wants to charge people to use the toilets on their aircrafts!

kirstinem1


One particular Irish airline wants to charge people to use the toilets on their aircrafts!

Exact change? Euros or US$? Something else to worry about before you get on a plane.

cavandre
Exact change? Euros or US$? Something else to worry about before you get on a plane.

 
They want to charge £1:
 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article5815088.ece

Just amazing....

I must be one lucky dude.  I fly all the time and don't seem to encounter any of the "uncaring" airline employees that others do.  I encounter miserable passengers - who seem to wonder why, for ~$150 round-trip, they are not served meals or otherwise entitled to the perks and benefits of air travel from the pre-deregulation days.  Of course, 25 years ago, you couldn't find airfares for <$150, either (no go and factor in the inflation, too).  Maybe $1,000 advance-purchase coach fares for NYC-LAX is what we need.

I do encounter employees who have seen their pay and benefits gutted over the last decade; and employees whose friends have left the industry altogether in an attempt to find better paying jobs, leaving them with younger, less-trained co-workers.

Sure, I get better service from some airlines than from others.  My solution is a simple one - I fly the airlines where I get better service more often than the ones that I don't.  In the last six months, Southwest has let me check baggage for a flight with less than 25 minutes to departure (the rule in Orlando is 45 minutes).  I tried to check baggage with Delta at the 40 minute mark - and they wouldn't even let me board the plane.  So, if given the choice, I fly Southwest more frequently than Delta.  I missed a Continental flight departing San Jose, CA.  It was the last flight of the day - and I am sure that the employee who had to deal with me was DYING to go home - not fix my problem.  She re-routed me out of San Francisco - at no extra charge, which meant waiving fees and penalties.  She also gave me instruction on how to get from SJC to SFO easily and with the least cost.  Somehow, she managed to book me into first-class, too.  I didn't ask for it - but, I accepted full responsibility for being late for my flight - and ASKED for help, rather than demand something to which I was not entitled.

What I haven't encountered was any article that made mention of any US, domestic airline that has ever mentioned charging customers "by the pound."  Instead, this whole thread probably just goes down as alarmist rhetoric.

I fly pretty frequently.  Most of the time it is with Delta as they are the leading carrier out of Knoxville.  I always try to get the first flight out of Knoxville in the AM as it is least likely to be canceled.  I always carry my luggage and I insure that I have no contraband on board.
 
I think Delta has slipped considerably over the years.  At one time they were the best but no longer but they are the best option available.
 
They still do not charge for one bag shipped although I do not ship.
 
I find Delta employees very good.  They are in the same boat as with many of us.  Most of them are long time employees who have made the cut.  I know most of them and I guest when I am traveling, most of them are the same.  Just hard working folks just trying to keep their jobs.
 
I have not heard of Delta charing by the pound.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

felix4067


It does make sense, and if you've ever flown a small regional airline you know that when you board they ask you your weight so they can distribute passengers accordingly.  I'm good with that, as it helps the plane not fall out of the air.  But on a 767?  Please.

Personally, I'm not offended that they would charge by weight, per se.  What offends me is that they would be treating living, breathing, thinking human beings as if they are freight.  Kind of like slave ships, or trucks taking illegal aliens over the border.

Absolutely,on a 767 a plane of well muscled body builders and your average sorry physical specimen American is gonna burn a heck of a lot more fuel then a plane of olympic swimmers. For example Delta uses the 767-300 powered by GE CF6-80's. At cruising speed of Mach .81 at FL31 with 260 170lb passengers and no baggage it will burn approx 10,816lbs per hour. Now load that plane with portly Americans at an average clothed weight of 220lbs. The plane will now burn 11,237lbs of Jet A an hour at cruise to maintain the same speed. Now load that plane with portly Americans at an average clothed weight of 220lbs and they have an average of 70lbs of luggage each. The same 767-300 is now burning 11826lbs an hour of that expensive Jet A at a hedged price of $2.10 a gallon. A gallon of Jet A weighs 6.84lbs. So let us do a little math on a flight from NYC to San Francisco for just the cruising portion. Now if anyone wants I can go super technical and give the climb and decent figures 2 for a total cost increase per plane.
So lets say just cruise San francisco to Nyc approx 6 hours average in cruise for simplicities sake
1st plane with 170lb passengers no baggage-$19,924 on fuel
2nd plane with 220lb passengers no baggage-$20,700 on fuel
3rd plane with 220lb passengers and 70lbs luggage a passenger-$21,785
Thats a $1861 diffrence from a slim american with no baggage to an average american with luggage. That is approx how much of a diffrence for cruise alone it it. I'm to lazy to compute climb to FL31 numbers, but the 2nd plane is going to consume several thousand more pounds of fuel then the first plane,and the 3rd plane will easily guzzle more then ten thousand pounds more fuel then the first plane. Your talking a diffrence of several thousand dollars over the course of the flight on fuel  alone each time you increase weight by 50 or pounds a passenger. Who should bear this burden,airlines? It's not a fat tax, as I'm 230lbs 6' with 12% Bf and don't see it as a problem as it doesn't only target fat people contrary to what most would tell you 230lbs and 6' doesn't mean your fat depending on muscle mass It's non-discrimanatory as its strictly weight and weight alone.

Bob,

Could you also kindly calculate how much fuel the airlines waste because they all schedule departure times at the same exact times, causing long lines of airplanes waiting to depart on the tarmac?

Look, the marketing executives and suicide airlines that went in with below cost airfares caused fare wars that are a fight-to-the death. (Most of them are now bankrupt) This led to all sorts of hidden fees, gotchas, and other attempts to turn a profit.
 
Dealing with airlines today is like dealing with a Three Card Monte artist on a Manhattan street.