Of fat asses and airline seats.....

[rforsythe]

Are you even tall enough to ride on the airplane?

I think the flight attendant has to escort him to the gate...

I see it making complete sense to charge extra for people who consume more than an "average" amount of the resource, certainly in a confined space.

It costs them more fuel to haul an obese person, period. It's physics. One could argue that if you need more than one seat you're requiring the same fuel as two smaller people occupying both seats, but then they sell tickets based on seats, not people (important distinction).

They have published dimensions for carry-on luggage now - if the bag is too big, it gets checked. Now we can't just go tossing fat people into the belly of the aircraft with Grandma's pant suits, but I think clearly defined "people size" should be published. If you are wider than 'X' in a seated position, you need to pay up for the extra space you will use.

One could also argue that heavy people might be seated to the rear to save fuel (aft CG improves aircraft performance), but that's so politically incorrect that it'd never fly, pun intended.

I also see the benefit and logic to charge drivers based on the amount they drive annually as long as the fees are returned to the DOT for their budget. My electric company charges me based on my consumption. Extra cost serves as a motivator to change behavior.

I already pay more based on how much I annualy drive. It's called fuel tax. The more I drive, the more fuel I use, ergo the more fuel tax I pay. I believe if you check your fuel receipts, you will find yourself in a similar pay-to-play situation.

[modette99]

Make them try a mock seat that is placed at the gate like at amusement parks. Hey sorry mam it is for your safety. You don't fit, sorry you don't board if the flight is full or you buy an extra seat if there is one available.

I'm still okay with the overall charging someone based on weight. But you still got to fit in the seat or pay extra for another one.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I think the flight attendant has to escort him to the gate...



It costs them more fuel to haul an obese person, period. It's physics. One could argue that if you need more than one seat you're requiring the same fuel as two smaller people occupying both seats, but then they sell tickets based on seats, not people (important distinction).

They have published dimensions for carry-on luggage now - if the bag is too big, it gets checked. Now we can't just go tossing fat people into the belly of the aircraft with Grandma's pant suits, but I think clearly defined "people size" should be published. If you are wider than 'X' in a seated position, you need to pay up for the extra space you will use.

One could also argue that heavy people might be seated to the rear to save fuel (aft CG improves aircraft performance), but that's so politically incorrect that it'd never fly, pun intended.



I already pay more based on how much I annualy drive. It's called fuel tax. The more I drive, the more fuel I use, ergo the more fuel tax I pay. I believe if you check your fuel receipts, you will find yourself in a similar pay-to-play situation.

Weight affects not just fuel consumption. It affects CG, and especially the loading the landing gear takes in landing. I've been on smaller turboprop planes in high heat, at about 4k ft elevation (lower air density/lift in both cases) where they had to get some of the larger people off and redistribute some others to get the CG and weight where it needed to be for safety. The margin of safety is a little different in larger planes where the people's weight isn't as much a factor.

Charge the fat people extra!

[Wrider]

I fly ~ 100K miles a year, am not overweight (5'11" 190lbs) and my shoulders still hang over the edge of the armrests. And unless you are over 6'4" tall the bones are mostly the same (I work in Radiology so I've seen the truth!! LOL!) But I have to agree that if you need an extender for the belt then you should pay more for fuel if not the fact that you will be infringing on my personal space.

For some reason I thought I responded to this.

Back when I wrecked the bike in 09, they were x-raying my knee up in Gunnison. Small town, so the radiologist for humans also does it for vets. He had to use the same dose as he does for horses to get a good picture of my knee... lol I really am big boned!