Complaining about the Cost of Flying
A friend mentioned a story about a man who was mistreated by an airline because of his weight. The politics of fat aside, air travel is not a commodity that is as equally as costly to any one person. Assuming all tickets cost passengers the same on a flight, the less you weigh, no matter that you are a child, woman, midget, or amputee, you are not getting the same deal as those who weigh more than you.
So here is my humble solution.
instead of buying a seat, you purchase a parcel units. Each unit is worth X in lbs times miles, restricted by YZ dimensions. This includes the passenger and their luggage. Each parcel unit reserves 1 seat, HxWxD space over in the overhead compartment and below deck. Each seat has height and width restrictions. No more than one person can occupy 1 seat.
(Note on seats: if the passenger is a say a 6'4" 170 marathoner, they may have to purchase an additional seat should a height requirement be set at 6'2" and allow of the temporary removal of a seat in front of her, lest her knees jam in the back of the other passengers chair. Likewise a man of 5' with a 60" waste would have to purchase the seat next to him as not to spill into his neighbor's space.)
To compute the X (weight alloted) in each unit a standard is set and periodically revisited. We let X be the average weight of travelers for the past 36 months + 1 standard deviation to the right+ 50 lbs of luggage. For examples below lets have the avg weight be 200 and a standard deviation is 50.
So with each parcel one get a seat and the capacity to carry 300lbs one mile in total. Now we still have the "problem" of heavy people having to pay for two seats. But we now have the "problem" of smaller people having to buy more than they need. And you better believe that a midget traveling just with her burlesque performers travel bag is going to feel like they are getting the short end of the stick.
At the end of the day what the airlines are doing is nothing more than moving cargo. Cargo that has a variable cost to it. A significant variable being weight. So treat that space on an airplane like a standard postal box: if it fits, it ships. This model takes out some of the variability for the airline, which is good for them. They know how much a parcel will sale for and cost at most.
Two sticky point exist here - 1.)"You mean I will have to weigh in at the ticket counter?" Yes. Get over it. I am not suggesting that a scale be set so that it's display faces out for others to see like a county fair game. Your units have been purchased before you arrived at the airport. You and your bags will be on the scale for the agent to verify you have purchased enough to make your travel that day. We should not be so niave as to say I really can't figure out how much I and my luggage would weigh. Even if we don't like our scales, we know how to use them. 2.) "I am not having a person put a tape measure around me to see if I fit in the seat." I don't blame you. However, space must be accounted for. So when you are on the scale with your luggage, there exist a camera above you that measures your width. If you are over, you and the agent discuss it there, not some god almighty steward. Once standards are set, you have the chance to prepare for them at home. If your waist or height require an extra seat, you know it before you leave for your trip. The scale and camera save us from the airline employee that suddenly feels all farm-y and wants to eyeball us like heads of cattle.
Do these thing make you uncomfortable? They do me. But I submit that this is the sort of discomformt we have in many situation that do not produce any benifit for us. I recall working on a car lot one summer and a very large woman wanted a KIA Rio. She fit snugly behind the wheel and as I looked from the back of the car it leaned with her weight. When she told me she wanted to buy, I told her I was happy to help her, but she had to consider the safety. I said my mom and aunt were big ladies like her and my dad would refused to let her drive the car and my aunt decided to buy better shocks. I knew before I even started that lie, it was hard for her to even come out to a lot and shop for a small car. Ethically though I could not not point out the safety issue. (She adknowdled the issue and after some discussion I got her free labor wholesale cost on better shocks)
But what I am suggesting here creates a new opportunity for consumers to pay only for what they use, purchase comfort, and maybe even make money; all by creating a futures market on airline parcels. Suppose Bob and Mary Suburbia have a 500 pound per mile load. Their trip to Florida will be 1200 miles. Since they are required to buy two seats they will have to purchase 360,000 parcel units (2 seats at 300lbs capacity a piece times 1200 miles). Now Bob and Mary have an excess of 120,000 units they did not use. This 120,000 units can be redeemed in the future (with a set expiration) or sold on a trading market to other passengers.
:Unlocked:
And so is the same for <>. When a person is forced to buy 2 seats for a 1000 mile trip, but only bring a total weight of say 250 lbs (see seat space restrictions above), they will be left with 3500 parcel units over. Again, now since they own these units they can sell them.
So no matter the person, you will inevitably purchase more units than you can use on a trip. But once you sell off the excess, you have only paid for what you used. (and perhaps turned a profit on those extra units)
So think about this. You take a trip from LA to New York. You really only need one seat. But instead you buy two dummy seats next to you. These dummies are sold by the airline as space holders and count as 50lbs passengers. You and your luggage come in at 225. You have paid for 900 units and used only 325. The 575 left over can be sold and you had two seats empty on either side of you for 2800 miles. A consumer engineered first class if you will. This is just the first of a number of possible ways to use parcel units.
There do exist problems with cost of flying to/from certain airports, or operating different aircraft and the like to then setting a price standard. However the airlines are able to negotiate national price for fuel and other commodities. Cost such as taking a 727 out of DFW or O'Hare versus a twin turbo prop out of Rooster-poop Iowa can be accommodated for. Requirements for minumul number of units being redeemed (min number of passengers) to operate a flight and other consideration must be given. But in the end, a public transit token system like this is worth the time develop.
So here is my humble solution.
instead of buying a seat, you purchase a parcel units. Each unit is worth X in lbs times miles, restricted by YZ dimensions. This includes the passenger and their luggage. Each parcel unit reserves 1 seat, HxWxD space over in the overhead compartment and below deck. Each seat has height and width restrictions. No more than one person can occupy 1 seat.
(Note on seats: if the passenger is a say a 6'4" 170 marathoner, they may have to purchase an additional seat should a height requirement be set at 6'2" and allow of the temporary removal of a seat in front of her, lest her knees jam in the back of the other passengers chair. Likewise a man of 5' with a 60" waste would have to purchase the seat next to him as not to spill into his neighbor's space.)
To compute the X (weight alloted) in each unit a standard is set and periodically revisited. We let X be the average weight of travelers for the past 36 months + 1 standard deviation to the right+ 50 lbs of luggage. For examples below lets have the avg weight be 200 and a standard deviation is 50.
So with each parcel one get a seat and the capacity to carry 300lbs one mile in total. Now we still have the "problem" of heavy people having to pay for two seats. But we now have the "problem" of smaller people having to buy more than they need. And you better believe that a midget traveling just with her burlesque performers travel bag is going to feel like they are getting the short end of the stick.
At the end of the day what the airlines are doing is nothing more than moving cargo. Cargo that has a variable cost to it. A significant variable being weight. So treat that space on an airplane like a standard postal box: if it fits, it ships. This model takes out some of the variability for the airline, which is good for them. They know how much a parcel will sale for and cost at most.
Two sticky point exist here - 1.)"You mean I will have to weigh in at the ticket counter?" Yes. Get over it. I am not suggesting that a scale be set so that it's display faces out for others to see like a county fair game. Your units have been purchased before you arrived at the airport. You and your bags will be on the scale for the agent to verify you have purchased enough to make your travel that day. We should not be so niave as to say I really can't figure out how much I and my luggage would weigh. Even if we don't like our scales, we know how to use them. 2.) "I am not having a person put a tape measure around me to see if I fit in the seat." I don't blame you. However, space must be accounted for. So when you are on the scale with your luggage, there exist a camera above you that measures your width. If you are over, you and the agent discuss it there, not some god almighty steward. Once standards are set, you have the chance to prepare for them at home. If your waist or height require an extra seat, you know it before you leave for your trip. The scale and camera save us from the airline employee that suddenly feels all farm-y and wants to eyeball us like heads of cattle.
Do these thing make you uncomfortable? They do me. But I submit that this is the sort of discomformt we have in many situation that do not produce any benifit for us. I recall working on a car lot one summer and a very large woman wanted a KIA Rio. She fit snugly behind the wheel and as I looked from the back of the car it leaned with her weight. When she told me she wanted to buy, I told her I was happy to help her, but she had to consider the safety. I said my mom and aunt were big ladies like her and my dad would refused to let her drive the car and my aunt decided to buy better shocks. I knew before I even started that lie, it was hard for her to even come out to a lot and shop for a small car. Ethically though I could not not point out the safety issue. (She adknowdled the issue and after some discussion I got her free labor wholesale cost on better shocks)
But what I am suggesting here creates a new opportunity for consumers to pay only for what they use, purchase comfort, and maybe even make money; all by creating a futures market on airline parcels. Suppose Bob and Mary Suburbia have a 500 pound per mile load. Their trip to Florida will be 1200 miles. Since they are required to buy two seats they will have to purchase 360,000 parcel units (2 seats at 300lbs capacity a piece times 1200 miles). Now Bob and Mary have an excess of 120,000 units they did not use. This 120,000 units can be redeemed in the future (with a set expiration) or sold on a trading market to other passengers.
:Unlocked:
And so is the same for <>. When a person is forced to buy 2 seats for a 1000 mile trip, but only bring a total weight of say 250 lbs (see seat space restrictions above), they will be left with 3500 parcel units over. Again, now since they own these units they can sell them.
So no matter the person, you will inevitably purchase more units than you can use on a trip. But once you sell off the excess, you have only paid for what you used. (and perhaps turned a profit on those extra units)
So think about this. You take a trip from LA to New York. You really only need one seat. But instead you buy two dummy seats next to you. These dummies are sold by the airline as space holders and count as 50lbs passengers. You and your luggage come in at 225. You have paid for 900 units and used only 325. The 575 left over can be sold and you had two seats empty on either side of you for 2800 miles. A consumer engineered first class if you will. This is just the first of a number of possible ways to use parcel units.
There do exist problems with cost of flying to/from certain airports, or operating different aircraft and the like to then setting a price standard. However the airlines are able to negotiate national price for fuel and other commodities. Cost such as taking a 727 out of DFW or O'Hare versus a twin turbo prop out of Rooster-poop Iowa can be accommodated for. Requirements for minumul number of units being redeemed (min number of passengers) to operate a flight and other consideration must be given. But in the end, a public transit token system like this is worth the time develop.