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Yet another reason to thumb one's nose at the airline industry. I don't plan to fly again, so I don't care what they do.
Unfortunately the US is isolated from most of the world by ocean, and they don't have a great train infrastructure, so US airlines know they hold the cards when it comes to Americans wanting to leave North America.
Unfortunately the US is isolated from most of the world by ocean, and they don't have a great train infrastructure, so US airlines know they hold the cards when it comes to Americans wanting to leave North America.
Sadly this is true...
Mod cut.
Last edited by PJSaturn; 11-10-2014 at 08:25 AM..
Reason: Off topic.
I am against this idea and I'm not one of the larger people that would end up paying quite a bit more.
Here are a few of the problems I can see with it:
1) When is this charged? At time of booking? What happens if the person books say 4 months in advance and then gains or loses 25lbs by the day of the flight?
2) If it's charged at the check-in counter, then obviously not everybody stops there. Then, for the people that do stop there, you have to assume that it would be loosely enforced, just the size of carry-on bags is loosely enforced.
3) The airlines were the ones that got us in this situation. They are the ones that decided to jam as many seats on a plane as they possibly could. Yes, us passengers wanted lower airfares so we are guilty of that, but even without us, the airlines more than likely would have started packing more seats on planes. So it is the fault of the airlines that it takes more fuel than it used to to fly the same distance.
Regarding #3, it would be like if somebody asked me to drive them to Chicago, which is 2 1/2 hours from me, and offered to give me money for gas. Then when I pick them up, I decide to go to Cincinnati first and tried to charge them more for gas even though the trip to Cincinnati was completely my own choice. If you want to keep the comparison based on weight, then I could show up to pick the person up in a fully loaded U-Haul and ask them to pay for gas in that instead of just taking my car that gets 35 MPG.
It's logistically costly to implement and maintain. It would increase time at the airport for the weighing process. You'd have to pay for your seats twice - once when reserving them and again when your precise weight is registered.
Guess what happens when airlines start purchasing all those scales, and paying hiring extra employees to conduct the weigh-ins and to process the fees after that? They pass all those additional costs onto the passengers.
I'm sorry, did I call this idea absurd? My apologies - I shouldn't have given it such undue credit...
You don't even need much more room to make things comfortable. Like take economy on the A380. The seats are only and inch or two wider and only slightly more leg room but they are a million times nicer than economy on a 777 or 747. Unfortunately I cant afford to upgrade for long haul flights. When flying domestically usually only upgrade when flights are over 2 hours and under $40
Be sure you don't ever fly on a 787. Most airlines are going with a 16 to 16.5" seat width! That is less than most commuter planes, which are 17". A 777 is 18", and an A380 is sometimes 19 (depends on airline).
Boeing intended the Dreamliner to have even wider seats than the A380, but airlines opted to squeeze an extra seat into each row. Boeing isn't thrilled as their spiffy new plane is quickly getting a reputation for being a miserable experience -- the narrow seat more than takes away the advantages of the bigger windows and fresher air.
Phony or not, at 6' * 8" * ~275 lb., I say let 'em. It'll just provide yet another reason for me to continue refusing to fly commercially. That's what these things called "cars" and "trains" are for.
Of course they should. And, charge fat people for TWO seats if they intrude into the adjacent seat! It costs more fuel to fly HEAVY, so why not?
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