Comments on: Airlines aren’t the only ones who should charge a fat tax

By: angela

angela — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:08:59 +0000

Hi, I have been in this industry since 1974 and have seen huge changes! The good old days had 3 classes of travel, economy, business class and first class and each airline charged the same!! great days !
Now into todays world or charging for tickets..its like working on the stock exchange with fares changing constantly, taxes changing and some very varied fuel levies even on the same route between different airlines. – non one seems to be challenging this either.
The suggestion of paying by the kilo is actually in my opinion the fairest way as it would be like a user pays system. The airlines would have same charges per kilo (one would hope) and they would then get the business on professionalism, schedules and in flight performance (as it used to be) and they would be transparrent with their chargesI have predicted for some time that in years to come the airlines will start to charge by per kilo per passenger . Just wonder when.

By: Tim Richards

Tim Richards — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:23:34 +0000

The statement “if you take up more than one seat, you should pay for it” sounds OK at first hearing, but is only plausible if the seats being supplied by airlines are big enough to comfortably seat the vast majority of human body sizes (including height as well as width) to start with.

Let’s face it, they’re not. The average airline seat dimensions and pitch fall below the World Health Organisation’s recommendations, and probably are only really suitable for, say, two thirds of the population. In these circumstances, it’s discriminatory to expect larger people to pay more. A 188 cm tall, stocky rugby player, for example, has committed no fault if he can’t fit into an Australian airline’s tiny seats – why should he be penalised?

Remember too that discriminating against someone according to an inherent characteristic – race, gender, sexuality – is clearly perceived by most as unfair and is usually illegal. If, at the point that someone steps on an airline, they don’t fit into tiny seats, refusing them entry or charging for two seats is similarly discriminatory.

If the airlines intend to continue making profits from providing seats that are too small to encompass the entire population, they should either a) make all seats larger, or b) provide a few rows of larger seats for larger people at the same fare. Obviously the second option would be more cost-effective.

I often think the vehemence directed at larger than average size people over this issue is the charming old human tendecy for bigotry, being redirected now that its traditional targets have been placed off-limits.

Tim Richards
http://www.aerohaveno.com/

By: carly

carly — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:25:38 +0000

This is a dilemma for both types of passengers. There is a related post at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?p=1961

By: Peter Winn

Peter Winn — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:18:29 +0000

Hi,
I never comment on these things, but I do have objections to people who make choices (ie get themselves obese) and not be prepared to face the consequences, or make the people around them suffer the consequences.
I think airlines could consider charging a small fee for the ticket, then a charge per total kilo for pax weight and luggage. That way, ‘carry on’ only passengers would pay less, kids could be cheaper because they are lighter, parents would pay for thier kids luggage and obese/tall people would pay more.
There could be a selection of wide seats for the obese people and longer seats for the tall people. Having paid more, they deserve it (and so do the people around them). Short and/or light people could pay a premium to be in the wide and long seats, or the attendants could ‘upgrade’ passengers to these seats like they do currently with the exit rows.
Before everyone jumps up and down about my discriminatory rant, I am 6′ 3″ and would be paying more than most people – but personally I would be OK with that because I already recognise that I am wider/taller than most, and although not fat I simply take up more space. I would be grateful for the longer seat and compensate by making choices about my luggage weight, just like obese people should make choices about what they eat.
If obese people were weighed every time they flew, they might even be more confronted with thier weight problem and either do something about it, or fly less.
I hope this provokes thought, not anger, and basically the Western world has an increasing problem with obesity. We should be more concerned about the costs (in billions) to our public health system as a nation, and less being uncomfortable on a flight. Everyone can imagine asking someone to put out a cigarette on a plane, but who is going to say ‘put that pie down’?
Pete