[pwthornton]

While the idea may make sense on paper, would this really save money?

To do this, airlines would have to weigh passengers before they fly and then charge them a surcharge based on what they weigh (say that everything up to 120 there is a flat fee and then you pay for every pound over).

Think about how much man power that would take. It would greatly slow down flying even more, unless of course airports got much bigger and had considerably more staff.

From the airlines' perspectives this doesn't make sense. It may make sense in the abstract if you're a smaller passenger, but would an airline really want to have hundreds of possible SKUs for each flight?

Asking someone who is big to pay for a second seat doesn't require a lot on an airlines part, but the idea of paying by how much you weigh would require a lot of additional resources.

[GFischer]

Lewisham just mentioned a way it is already done, by weighing both passenger and bags together.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3562617

Doesn't seem like it would take more staff, and I'm pretty sure there are technical solutions to automate that.

Also, there are fees for extra weight in the baggage already, so it's not a new feature.

[lutorm]

They already weigh your bags when you check them. Just step up on the scale along with your bags. It doesn't really have to be more complicated.

[pwthornton]

Many of us who fly don't check luggage. In fact, I'd be willing to be that the majority of people on shorter domestic flights don't check luggage. All of the sudden an airline would need a lot more staff to weigh people because everyone would now be getting in line to be weighed.

Currently, I print my ticket at home, never go the ticket counter and don't check luggage and have nothing weigh for most of my flights. The idea of weighing me with my bags would require me to start checking luggage.

It is complicated when you think about it. Airlines are trying to get more and more passengers to skip the ticket counter, print their own boarding passes and to not check luggage. That all saves money and time by requiring less staff and even less ticket printers. This proposal to weigh every passenger does not save time or staff resources.

[mc32]

I think they could simplify it.

Everyone who pays for fare gets: 200lb‡ allotment (person + luggage)

If person only (no luggage) they are assumed to come under the 200lb limit, even if they don't -as this will average out with others weighing less.

People with luggage are weighed and any overage is paid for at the counter.

‡ 200 assumes that men might weigh on ave 180-ish, women 150-ish. Here's where women make back what they pay in haircuts.