The weigh to pay to fly

[Gob]

Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to implement "pay as you weigh" flights, meaning overweight passengers pay more for their seats.

"This is the fairest way of travelling," chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, told ABC Radio. "There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo."

Like many Pacific island nations, Samoa has a serious obesity problem and is often included in the top 10 countries for obesity levels. As such, Mr Langton believes his airline's new payment policy will also help promote health and obesity awareness.

"When you get into the Pacific, standard weight is substantially higher [than south-east Asia]," he said. "That's a health issue in some areas. [This payment system] has raised the awareness of weight."

Under the new system, Samoa Air passengers must type in their weight and the weight of their baggage into the online booking section of the airline's website. The rates vary depending on the distance flown: from $1 per kilogram on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel between Samoa and American Samoa. Passengers are then weighed again on scales at the airport, to check that they weren't fibbing online.

Samoa Air operates BN2A Islander and Cessna 172 aircraft.

Mr Langton said he believed it to be a system of the future, and added that "the standard width and pitch of seats are changing as people are getting a bit bigger, wider and taller than they were 40 to 50 years ago".

He also pointed out that families travelling with small children could end up paying far less with the pay-by-weight scheme.

"A family of maybe two adults and a couple of mid-sized kids ... can travel at considerably less than what they were being charged before," he said.

Public relations and marketing representative for Samoa Tourism, Peter Sereno, said he believed that the policy would also help with safety standards.

"When you're only fitting eight to 12 people in these aircraft and you've got some bigger Samoans getting on, you do need to weigh them and distribute that weight evenly throughout the aircraft, to make sure everyone's safe," he said. "At the end of the day, I don't care who they're weighing or how they're weighing them as long as it's safe."

Norwegian economist Bharat P. Bhatta proposed in a recent journal article that by implementing pay-per-kilo policies, carriers could also recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people.

Some airlines in the United States already force obese passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to pay for two seats, but this is the first time a per-kilo rate has been used by an airline.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... z2PHMBOXE2

[Sean]

It tickled me that this is happening in Samoa... They'll make a fortune!

[Big RR]

[quoteNorwegian economist Bharat P. Bhatta proposed in a recent journal article that by implementing pay-per-kilo policies, carriers could also recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people.
][/quote]
'
I'd love to see the data on this; my guess is that the weight of the passengers is a minor component of the total weight of the flying plane. As I recall, an empty 747 weighs 600,000 lbs; add in around 250,000 lbs of fuel for a medium to long haul flight and we get around 850,000lbs. Carrying 500 passengers at 150 lbs each, , we get about 75,000 lbs of weight; even if the passengers are 200 lbs each, it would only be 100,000 lbs. If we use the 150 lb average weight, you can see the addition of another 100 or 150 lbs of weight to the plane would be negligible. My guess is the extra fuel the heavier passengers incur would also be neglible.

[Econoline]

The situation for Samoa Air would be totally different:

Samoa Air operates BN2A Islander and Cessna 172 aircraft.

(No 747s in that fleet. )




ETA: BN2A Islander- max.takeoff wt.6600#; Cessna 172S- max.takeoff wt.2550#

[oldr_n_wsr]

Forget the amount of fuel, try siting next to someone over 300lbs.

[Econoline]

True dat.

[Big RR]

Forget the amount of fuel, try siting next to someone over 300lbs.

True, but how would his paying additional to fly make you any more comfortable?

[Econoline]

Maybe it would motivate him (or her) to lose some weight before taking that trip?

(Or to take surface transportation instead?)

[Gob]

Or go by sea, avoiding the Japanese ships of course....

[Big RR]

Maybe it would motivate him (or her) to lose some weight before taking that trip?

(Or to take surface transportation instead?)

Dream on.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Forget the amount of fuel, try siting next to someone over 300lbs.

True, but how would his paying additional to fly make you any more comfortable?

Instead of penalizing fatties, why not reduce airfare for the slim and trim? Or pay by weight like cargo?

[Econoline]

Or pay by weight like cargo?

Apparently that's exactly what Samoa Air is doing--albeit with small planes with maximum load capacities of around 3000# (9 passengers+pilot) for the BN2A and 800# (3 passengers+pilot) for the C172.

[Big RR]

On very small planes with small capacities, this sort of charging might make sense--although if the plane is to have 10 passengers weighing and a total weight capacity of 30000 lbs, we're talking about 300 lbs individuals being the budgeted weight, so surcharging above that would make sense (as it could limit the number of other passengers which could be carried). On larger planes, it makes less sense.

[oldr_n_wsr]

On larger planes, it makes less sense.

Until they start doing load studies and they figure out that for every +50lbs per passenger (depending on how many they carry a year) leads to $X of fuel costs. I heard some stats the other day on the radio. Now it might be only $100 per plane but when you make 50,000 flights a year, it adds up.
I'm not for or against it (other than having to sit next to fatty, just seeing the airlines side on cost)

[Big RR]

But how much would you have to charge each overweight person to recoup that $100/plane--a few cents, a dollar? It would cost more to collect it.

[Crackpot]

You underestimate the cost of airplane fuel

[Big RR]

Actually, the estimate was from oldr, not me. If you have a better one, with the data to back it up, I'd be happy to see it.

[Crackpot]

I don't know about larger craft buy for smaller ones it is a major factor so much so that lately my friend hasn't been able to afford flying