[corin_]

Ultimately while the principle is good - and, as an overweight person, I'd have no problem paying more if it was done fairly - no airline would ever introduce this fairly. Once they've raised the price for fatter people, why, as a business, would they lower the price for thinner people to balance it out? Why not just take more profit?

Think back to when smoking was banned on most airlines, the airlines didn't think "great, now we can give our customers an even better service for the same price but without that smell that non-smokers hate", they thought "cool, now we can massively cut down on how much air circulation we do, meaning less in-plane oxygen, and keep more profit for ourselves".

-----

This debate may sound discriminatory, but in fact what economists term price discrimination - charging consumers who buy essentially the same product a different price - is a common feature in the modern market.

Surely the argument is that you aren't charging consumers differently for the same product, you're charging them differently for different products - the same way you pay more when shipping a heavier package through a courier firm or USPS/Royal Mail.

[Lewisham]

I had a conversation in an airport holding lounge once with some random guy, as I was annoyed that I had personally lost weight, but paid extra because my bags were a kilo too much. He told me that in one of the Indonesian countries, you simply stand on a scale with your bag, and that's how they calculated your weight allowance, and if you were over or not.

I don't know the truth of it, but I see no reason to not simply add onto the bag allowance and put in a scale as described.

[lutorm]

This is what I've been saying for a long time. It makes no difference if the weight is in the bag or in the seat (and as a small guy with generally large bags, this is obviously a self-serving argument.)

[PidGin128]

This is a reply to both of you:

Baggage handling type people don't have to haul you around and stow you beneath the plane. I was recently bitten by an overweight bag, and subsequently broke it into a second carry-on in a return flight. 25$ for extra bag, 100$ for overweight...

Anyways, what I was traveling with was unreasonably heavy, and would be a hassle to toss into the stowage, probably be a greater burden/wear on the conveyors etc.

[ShabbyDoo]

>Why not just take more profit?

Why do businesses not just raise prices on everything? Unless they are colluding and very good at limiting competition/alternatives, a competitor will happily undercut them.

I'm happy that airlines are beginning to decouple the service offerings of a seat, food, and baggage handling. This means that I can choose a flight which maximizes my happiness at a particular price point. Is United offering cheap fares but charging for baggage? Maybe I'll choose them when making an overnight trip. No food service? My local gourmet grocery sells very good take-out lunch boxes, so I'll just bring one of those onboard.

So, charging by weight is just another means of pricing innovation. What are some other ways the airlines could achieve price discrimination? The days of charging extra without a Saturday night stay seem all but gone thanks to Southwest and other innovative airlines.

[tomp]

Can you bring food to airplanes in the USA? I don't think that's allowed in most of Europe any more...

[pwthornton]

Yes, you can bring food and drinks onto planes. There may be limits to what you can bring before security, but anything after the security line is fair game.

[tomp]

After security, of course. As long as they earn money on you buying expensive unhealthy food...

But they don't like you bringing food through security, AFAIK. Drinks are completely forbidden, even plain water, except for infants.

[sushantsharma]

Not true. I have taken food several times through security. I am talking about US airports. Drinks, however, are not allowed.

[pwthornton]

I've brought sandwiches, beef jerky, nuts, fruit, etc. through security. Drinks never work.

[kaybe]

Just bring an empty bottle and refill it at a tap behind security.

[curtisholmes]

> Once they've raised the price for fatter people, why, as a business, would they lower the price for thinner people to balance it out? Why not just take more profit?

You can't assume that raising prices will cause your profit to go up. Higher prices (for heavier people) means that they are less likely to buy plane tickets, which could potentially mean less profit. So, you have to counteract this by incentivizing less heaver people to fly, by lowering the price for them, or by lowering the base ticket price slightly. Having heavier people pay more wouldn't necessarily get more money out of people, it would achieve having less weight on the plane so that fuel costs are lower.

[rdouble]

would they lower the price for thinner people to balance it out?

The author of the article does mention a "petite discount:"

Conversely, a female weighing just 50 kilos would get a "petite" discount of $14.50 each way.

[corin_]

The author mentioning it in no way means airlines would do it.

[justncase80]

You just charge per seat. People large enough, if they have to pay more, should get two seats. Skinny people still have to have 1 whole seat.