Charging passengers on weight - a good move by airlines

Charging passengers on weight - a good move by airlines

Samoa airlines national carrier of the south pacific island is one of the first few carriers, they have claimed that they would be charging as per the weight of the passengers. Is it fair to do so?

For:

- Convenient for small airlines
- If such a practice is made communal, commuters would have to become more health conscious to save travelling costs
- This exercise would help in saving the fuel costs, as the fuel consumption is dependent upon the weight of the aircraft, which is interdependent with the passengers weight
- In countries like US, where the ratio of stout people is more, it’s reasonable for those societies to pay more, as they would be consuming more seat space
- Discounts are offered to women and kids who are travelling, as in general they weigh less than men
- In comparison to airlines, where flat rates are applicable you have to pay extra amount for the baggage weight, here passengers have to pay a combined rate of what they weigh and what their baggage weighs

Against:

- Not practical for large airlines that daily cater to more than 1000 passengers
- To make this practice applicable on a daily basis, the airline people will have to mount a weighing machine on each and every check in counters
- The pre – flight preparation time would increase as the process of weighing each passenger will take a lot of time
- This practice will lead to reduction in the productivity of the staff, further leading to higher costs as they will have to employ more people
- It will be biased, as each and every individual will be paying a different amount for his seat while travelling in the same air line
- People who are obese because of any disorder, it would be an injustice to those people and hence destroying the public relations of the airlines
- Discrimination amongst the people will increase, as it is not necessary that people who are fat may be less sensitive to the pricing factor

Conclusion:

- This idea is not practical for huge airline and plus it is not the only way to reduce costs. There are a lot of other options also available to curb costs, for instance: People who cannot fit in one sit should be made to pay for two seats.