Call for 'fat flyers' to pay more...again
Tony Webber, who was Qantas group chief economist until 2011, says "people who weigh more should pay more" in the same way airlines currently charge a fee for excess baggage, The Age reported.
"The rationale is simple. The fuel burnt by planes depends on many things but the most important is the weight of the aircraft. The more a plane weighs, the more fuel it must burn," he wrote in a column for the newspaper.
Mr Webber denied the introduction of a surcharge for overweight passengers was discriminatory, arguing that other service providers including cinemas and trains set ticket prices on the basis of age and employment status.
He proposed passengers should be weighed at check in along with their bags and forced to pay a surcharge if they are over a pre-determined limit.
Source: http://travel.msn.co.nz/travelnews/8401977/call-for-fat-flyers-to-pay-more
From another site:
A former Qantas chief economist says overweight passengers should be paying a surcharge to fly with Australian airlines.
Mr Webber says skinny people should also get a discount on their ticket price, as should fat people without luggage.
"In different parts of the world, for example in Indonesia, particularly rural Indonesia, they actually weigh the baggage and the passenger at the same time," he said.
"You'd have to work out the total weight of the baggage and the person and then have a critical weight, say 90 kilos or 100 kilos, above which you'd impose a surcharge."
Mr Webber admits charging overweight passengers extra could be humiliating for some.
"For some people it would be humiliating, awful, and so that clearly would have some impact on the brand of the airline," he said.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-12/charge-airline-passengers-by-weight-call/3768804?section=business
"The rationale is simple. The fuel burnt by planes depends on many things but the most important is the weight of the aircraft. The more a plane weighs, the more fuel it must burn," he wrote in a column for the newspaper.
Mr Webber denied the introduction of a surcharge for overweight passengers was discriminatory, arguing that other service providers including cinemas and trains set ticket prices on the basis of age and employment status.
He proposed passengers should be weighed at check in along with their bags and forced to pay a surcharge if they are over a pre-determined limit.
Source: http://travel.msn.co.nz/travelnews/8401977/call-for-fat-flyers-to-pay-more
From another site:
A former Qantas chief economist says overweight passengers should be paying a surcharge to fly with Australian airlines.
Mr Webber says skinny people should also get a discount on their ticket price, as should fat people without luggage.
"In different parts of the world, for example in Indonesia, particularly rural Indonesia, they actually weigh the baggage and the passenger at the same time," he said.
"You'd have to work out the total weight of the baggage and the person and then have a critical weight, say 90 kilos or 100 kilos, above which you'd impose a surcharge."
Mr Webber admits charging overweight passengers extra could be humiliating for some.
"For some people it would be humiliating, awful, and so that clearly would have some impact on the brand of the airline," he said.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-12/charge-airline-passengers-by-weight-call/3768804?section=business