Flight Weight - Samoa Air charges passengers by their weight - Polidicks

[url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-02/an-samoa-air-charging-per-kilo/4604540[/url] [QUOTE]Samoa Air says a controversial new policy that calculates a passenger's fare based on their weight is proving successful.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Rates range from $1 a kilogram on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel from Samoa to American Samoa. The rate includes a customer's body weight and baggage. [/QUOTE] All the more reason to get in shape / cease eating.

Have you seen some Samoans? Those guys are fucking huge. Pacific Islanders tend to be heavy though, it's a cultural thing. Still a dick move, but it makes sense in a way since more weight = higher fuel consumption.

[QUOTE=Kuro.;40126716]Have you seen some Samoans? Those guys are fucking huge. Pacific Islanders tend to be heavy though, it's a cultural thing. Still a dick move, but it makes sense in a way since more weight = higher fuel consumption.[/QUOTE] Its never been an issue up until now, overweight people are nothing new. I think it is just another reason to charge more money. Though i expect a lot of people coming in saying "good", "give them a reason not to be fat lol" and other stupid sayings. We might as well just charge for other arbitrary things like eye color, skin color, height, etc while we're at it. Because it is totally okay to discriminate against people and charge them more. It isn't enough that airliners actually decreased leg-space and room to fit more chairs so they can get more people on one flight, it isn't enough that they cut out many complementary services, it isn't enough that they've added many charges that quickly add up. It is pretty asinine really.

Being samoan and flying to America Samoa and Western Samoa I understand this. Samoans are huge fuckers. When I visited my family all they did was eat and it was always a lot of food. Also, I had to fly in a small plane from America Samoa to Western Samoa and that was the scariest flight ever because it was full of huge ass samoans.

In the actual article it talks about aircraft being about weight not seats. It is more than fuel, you can flip a plane if it is unbalanced. They mention it makes their smaller aircraft safer this way. Big aircraft usually have to use computers to check if it is balanced only after everyone's on the plane. This would provide forward planning. Very useful. I think it is a great idea.

[QUOTE=MR-X;40126747]We might as well just charge for other arbitrary things like eye color, skin color, height, etc while we're at it. Because it is totally okay to discriminate against people and charge them more.[/QUOTE] Except you can change the fact that you're fat.

[QUOTE=rapperkid04;40126795]Except you can change the fact that you're fat.[/QUOTE] how dare you i am transfat and proud check your privilege

There's also the fact that fuel isn't getting any cheaper, airline companies feel that the most.

[QUOTE=MR-X;40126747]Its never been an issue up until now, overweight people are nothing new. I think it is just another reason to charge more money. Though i expect a lot of people coming in saying "good", "give them a reason not to be fat lol" and other stupid sayings. We might as well just charge for other arbitrary things like eye color, skin color, height, etc while we're at it. Because it is totally okay to discriminate against people and charge them more. [/QUOTE] Do you not understand basic physics? It takes more fuel to lift more weight. If you have a ton of fat people on a plane it's going to be more expensive for the airline than if you were to have a bunch of skinny people. Charging by weight is [I]perfectly[/I] reasonable on an airplane.

Weight in any flight is a big deal. There are tonnes of regulations and restrictions. It can get to the point where you can take off safely but because of weight dispersion on fuel burn rate by the time you get to your destination it is possible you can't actually land safely. Usually the calculations to check if it is safe are done after everyone's on board. They don't have much time to do it in. I'd prefer they had the information before hand anyway.

Yes let's cheer on yet another excuse from airlines to tack on extra fees, because everyone knows they've all basically been running a charity lately and making no money whatsoever [editline]1st April 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=MR-X;40126747]Its never been an issue up until now, overweight people are nothing new. I think it is just another reason to charge more money. Though i expect a lot of people coming in saying "good", "give them a reason not to be fat lol" and other stupid sayings. We might as well just charge for other arbitrary things like eye color, skin color, height, etc while we're at it. Because it is totally okay to discriminate against people and charge them more. It isn't enough that airliners actually decreased leg-space and room to fit more chairs so they can get more people on one flight, it isn't enough that they cut out many complementary services, it isn't enough that they've added many charges that quickly add up. It is pretty asinine really.[/QUOTE] Facepunch likes it because they all weigh 110 pounds and it means they'll fly cheaper

[QUOTE=rapperkid04;40126795]Except you can change the fact that you're fat.[/QUOTE] To be fair, this discriminates only against heavy people. You can be heavy but not fat.

[QUOTE=Soldier32;40126770]Being samoan and flying to America Samoa and Western Samoa I understand this. Samoans are huge fuckers. When I visited my family all they did was eat and it was always a lot of food. Also, I had to fly in a small plane from America Samoa to Western Samoa and that was the scariest flight ever because it was full of huge ass samoans.[/QUOTE] If I remember right, Apia had the only McDonalds in all of Samoa and it's expensive.

[QUOTE=gerbe1;40126696]All the more reason to get in shape / cease eating.[/QUOTE] What if I'm Herculean as fuck? I'll still get charged

thats bogus as shit lol. samoans are naturally big as shit and on top of.that a lot of them are poor. way to fuck them over.

It's how people should be charged to fly, honestly. Planes can only carry so much weight, and that includes fuel. The heavier it is, the more fuel it's going to take and jet fuel isn't cheap anymore. It used to be a fraction of how much gas for your cars cost, but now it's just as much. Eventually if it keeps going at the rate it is going, it won't be practical to fly anymore, it'll just be for the super rich

[QUOTE=Billiam;40127049]What if I'm Herculean as fuck? I'll still get charged[/QUOTE] Doesn't matter. If you're ripped as shit and you weigh 280 it makes no difference than the flabby 280 person. It's not about image.

Weight and airplanes is like PB&J. Every pound counts.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;40127069]It's how people should be charged to fly, honestly. Planes can only carry so much weight, and that includes fuel. The heavier it is, the more fuel it's going to take and jet fuel isn't cheap anymore. It used to be a fraction of how much gas for your cars cost, but now it's just as much. Eventually if it keeps going at the rate it is going, it won't be practical to fly anymore, it'll just be for the super rich[/QUOTE] Like they aren't already charging rates that can make up for everyone being fat

[QUOTE=Zeke129;40127161]Like they aren't already charging rates that can make up for everyone being fat[/QUOTE] exactly, and i don't want to have to pay more on my ticket, being an average weighted person, because some other guy doesn't have an ounce of self control. it's like charging exceptionally fat people for the two seats that they use when they fly- there's nothing wrong with it.

[QUOTE=zzzz;40127199]exactly, and i don't want to have to pay more on my ticket, being an average weighted person, because some other guy doesn't have an ounce of self control. it's like charging exceptionally fat people for the two seats that they use when they fly- there's nothing wrong with it.[/QUOTE] Charging someone for two seats when they need two seats makes sense because if the airline didn't they'd lose a sale Charging based on weight is ridiculous, there are plenty of people who'd be considered overweight or obese based on weight alone who take up 1 seat and people who aren't overweight according to the scale but are incapable of taking up a reasonable amount of space and require 2 seats Charging by weight would result in situations where other passengers are uncomfortable because the light guy next to them just so happens to take up 1.7 seats

[QUOTE=Zeke129;40127228]Charging someone for two seats when they need two seats makes sense because if the airline didn't they'd lose a sale Charging based on weight is ridiculous, there are plenty of people who'd be considered overweight or obese based on weight alone who take up 1 seat and people who aren't overweight according to the scale but are incapable of taking up a reasonable amount of space and require 2 seats Charging by weight would result in situations where other passengers are uncomfortable because the light guy next to them just so happens to take up 1.7 seats[/QUOTE] well a flight, from the perspective of the airline company, with only people of average weight would be much cheaper to fly than a flight with only obese people. obese people cost more to transport. why should people who aren't obese have to have the price of their tickets raised as well just because of other people's decisions. it would be like if you went over the weight limit for your bags, and instead of charging only you 50 dollars extra, they charge everybody on the plane 1-2 dollars extra instead. it's not fair.

[QUOTE=Kuro.;40126716]Have you seen some Samoans? Those guys are fucking huge. Pacific Islanders tend to be heavy though, it's a cultural thing. Still a dick move, but it makes sense in a way since more weight = higher fuel consumption.[/QUOTE] Yea the more weight they have over there, the more mana they have which is sorta like power

[QUOTE=Zeke129;40126911]Yes let's cheer on yet another excuse from airlines to tack on extra fees, because everyone knows they've all basically been running a charity lately and making no money whatsoever [editline]1st April 2013[/editline] Facepunch likes it because they all weigh 110 pounds and it means they'll fly cheaper[/QUOTE] Atleast in the US they run razor thin profit margins. All those fees are because the lack of regulation forced ticket prices down. This is based off a NPR Planet Money episode I listened to though.

[QUOTE=zzzz;40127199]exactly, and i don't want to have to pay more on my ticket, being an average weighted person, because some other guy doesn't have an ounce of self control. it's like charging exceptionally fat people for the two seats that they use when they fly- there's nothing wrong with it.[/QUOTE] But weight is not necessarily restricted to bodyfat. A person who is 7'0" at 10% bodyfat is going to weigh more than someone who is 5'6" at 10% bodyfat. This is entirely out of the taller persons control and is something they will not be able to overcome through dieting.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;40127228]Charging someone for two seats when they need two seats makes sense because if the airline didn't they'd lose a sale Charging based on weight is ridiculous, there are plenty of people who'd be considered overweight or obese based on weight alone who take up 1 seat and people who aren't overweight according to the scale but are incapable of taking up a reasonable amount of space and require 2 seats Charging by weight would result in situations where other passengers are uncomfortable because the light guy next to them just so happens to take up 1.7 seats[/QUOTE] also airline companies are known to have a very low profit margin anyway (which happens to be declining steadily as the price of fuel rises), so, i mean, it's not unwarranted that, as a business, in order to continue functioning, they should attempt to widen their profit margin.... don't you realize there have been no innovations in commercial air travel in decades because the companies simply aren't making enough money to innovate and get ahead of the curve. it's not a good situation to be in. [QUOTE=Hobo4President;40127298]But weight is not necessarily restricted to bodyfat. A person who is 7'0" at 10% bodyfat is going to weigh more than someone who is 5'6" at 10% bodyfat. This is entirely out of the taller persons control and is something they will not be able to overcome through dieting.[/QUOTE] i do concede to this point, though. i'm not sure how you fix that.

I'm going into aviation as a career, specifically I want to be an air ambulance pilot. A single large passenger on a 737 is not going to make a big difference but if everyone on the flight weighs 300 pounds you've doubled your payload. That means those big engines have to work harder and [i]that[/i] means you're going to consume a LOT more fuel. Airlines barely profit as is - I know it seems hard to believe but imagine how much maintenance those planes need. You have to pay for all the parts (747s have hundreds of thousands of parts that need to be checked and potentially replaced) and you have to pay the people who work on them. You have to pay for fuel and you have to pay the people who fuel up the jet. You have to pay the crews. You have to pay for the planes themselves, which clock in at around $20 million apiece on average, if the FAA decides they've got too many hours on the airframe. Then there's advertising and frequent waived tickets because passengers get whiny about turbulence or other sources of aerial misery, and still more taxes, FAA fees... Airlines are one of the few industries I can sympathize with for jacking up prices so much. Despite the expensive tickets, many flights are made at a net loss to the company with other flights hoping to cover the hit.

[QUOTE=Hobo4President;40127298]But weight is not necessarily restricted to bodyfat. A person who is 7'0" at 10% bodyfat is going to weigh more than someone who is 5'6" at 10% bodyfat. This is entirely out of the taller persons control and is something they will not be able to overcome through dieting.[/QUOTE] And because they weigh more it'll cost the airline more to fly them. It may not be something you can help, but someone still has to pay for it.

Therefore I'm not surprised that a Samoan airline is taking this initiative. If they raised everyone's prices equally they'd be called greedy too; if they did nothing they'd go bankrupt. There's just not an easy solution here.

[QUOTE=catbarf;40127334]And because they weigh more it'll cost the airline more to fly them. It may not be something you can help, but someone still has to pay for it.[/QUOTE] yeah but the problem with that is that it appears discriminatory. i'm not sure how one would supersede the height issue. i suppose you could base the increase in price upon a ratio of height to weight. it someone weighed 180 and was 6'0 and someone else weighed 150 and was 5'0 they would be charged the same, something like that. however, that doesn't account for the density of one's body mass, in that a short person may have a much higher ratio for their weight in spite of their size due to the fact that they are more muscular or something idk