Ticket price based on pax weight?
03-30-2013 | 04:41 PM
#21
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From: Falcon 900 LX owner
04-02-2013 | 04:40 PM
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04-02-2013 | 05:02 PM
#25
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From: Holding over Macho Grande
New Airline Is Charging Passengers Based On Their Weight
By Alex Davies
A new airline is creating a stir with a policy that determines ticket prices based on passenger weight.
Samoa Air, which launched last year to provide service around Samoa and neighboring islands, says its "pay-by-weight" system is the "fairest way" to charge travelers.
It's straightforward: When booking a ticket online, estimate your weight and the weight of your baggage. Then the fare is calculated. Rates per kilogram will vary based on the distance of the flight.
(To stop passengers from low-balling their weight to save money, the airline warns, "don't worry, we will weigh you again at the airport.")
The upsides for (thin) passengers are obvious: No more baggage fees, and no more paying for half the overweight passenger in the seat next to yours, Samoa Air Chief Executive Chris Langton told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat. Families with small children will benefit the most.
The airline is competing in an industry with thin profit margins, where rising fuel costs make weight savings vital. "Airplanes don't run on seats, they run on weight," Langton said. The airline flies small propeller planes, so weight variations are an important consideration on its flights, according to ABC News.
With its system, Samoa Air will not lose money if a group of especially heavy fliers takes the same flight, and skinny fliers won't have to subsidize the cost of flying their heavier neighbors from island to island.
The plan is sure to raise eyebrows, however: Weight is a sensitive issue, and Samoa Air can be seen as punishing its customers for their obesity, which can be caused by a mix of genetic and cultural factors, as well as personal decisions.
The issue is especially important in the South Pacific. American Samoa — a Samoa Air destination — has the highest rates in the world of overweight and obese adults, according to the World Health Organization (no data is available for Samoa).
By Alex Davies
A new airline is creating a stir with a policy that determines ticket prices based on passenger weight.
Samoa Air, which launched last year to provide service around Samoa and neighboring islands, says its "pay-by-weight" system is the "fairest way" to charge travelers.
It's straightforward: When booking a ticket online, estimate your weight and the weight of your baggage. Then the fare is calculated. Rates per kilogram will vary based on the distance of the flight.
(To stop passengers from low-balling their weight to save money, the airline warns, "don't worry, we will weigh you again at the airport.")
The upsides for (thin) passengers are obvious: No more baggage fees, and no more paying for half the overweight passenger in the seat next to yours, Samoa Air Chief Executive Chris Langton told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat. Families with small children will benefit the most.
The airline is competing in an industry with thin profit margins, where rising fuel costs make weight savings vital. "Airplanes don't run on seats, they run on weight," Langton said. The airline flies small propeller planes, so weight variations are an important consideration on its flights, according to ABC News.
With its system, Samoa Air will not lose money if a group of especially heavy fliers takes the same flight, and skinny fliers won't have to subsidize the cost of flying their heavier neighbors from island to island.
The plan is sure to raise eyebrows, however: Weight is a sensitive issue, and Samoa Air can be seen as punishing its customers for their obesity, which can be caused by a mix of genetic and cultural factors, as well as personal decisions.
The issue is especially important in the South Pacific. American Samoa — a Samoa Air destination — has the highest rates in the world of overweight and obese adults, according to the World Health Organization (no data is available for Samoa).
04-02-2013 | 05:09 PM
#26
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From: Holding over Macho Grande
FYI...this topic is being discussed in the Hangar Talk forum as well.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ha...ax-weight.html
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ha...ax-weight.html
04-02-2013 | 07:27 PM
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This is either the most idiotic discussion I've seen on APC ( and that's saying something), or you're all in on a lame April Fools joke. Besides the inherent unfairness of such a policy (one small example: women will pay less to fly than men on average), the logistics of such a system are absurd. Forget online check-in; go to the airport several hours in advance, get on a scale, then pay your fare.
People are not the same as cargo. Their weight has virtually nothing to do with how much it costs to move them in an airplane.
Let's all just forget the whole supply and demand system that actually determines airfares. Why would we want to use that when we can just hope that a lot of fat people fly?
Who comes up with this stuff?
People are not the same as cargo. Their weight has virtually nothing to do with how much it costs to move them in an airplane.
Let's all just forget the whole supply and demand system that actually determines airfares. Why would we want to use that when we can just hope that a lot of fat people fly?
Who comes up with this stuff?
Last edited by Dashdog; 04-02-2013 at 07:45 PM.
04-02-2013 | 08:14 PM
#28
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The fixed vs. variable costs should be relatively easy to figure out, right? Let's say your ticket price is based on a fixed seat price + average pax weight calculation, including that of your baggage (yes, why not include carry-ons). When you buy your ticket, you estimate your weight and what you anticipate your baggage to weigh, and pay accordingly. Then, in the interest of true fairness, when you get to the gate, weigh in, and if you're over what you paid for, you pay the difference to board. If you're under, you get credited at the same pound-for-pound rate. If you're a 2-seater, and you only paid for one, pay up or stay back. Sadly, doing the math on this would be really easy, but no one has the guts to do it.
I agree with dashdog's point that weight has little to do with the actual cost, but if the ticket prices were broken out according to actual cost, and I saw that by weighing 180lb I only save $3 compared to the 350lb guy next to me on a regional jump, I won't spend the whole leg thinking about how I subsidized his use of the armrest and the extra biscoff he asked for....
As long as we're on this rant/idea, what if ticket prices had to disclose in dollar amounts where the money went? As long as restaurants have to tell us how much the food is going to kill us and where it came from, why not know that $2.50 of my ticket went to pilot wages, $86 to fuel, $12 to marketing, and $.40 to the guy who sucks out the lavs at the ramp? Maybe they should charge pound-for-pound for that :-)
I agree with dashdog's point that weight has little to do with the actual cost, but if the ticket prices were broken out according to actual cost, and I saw that by weighing 180lb I only save $3 compared to the 350lb guy next to me on a regional jump, I won't spend the whole leg thinking about how I subsidized his use of the armrest and the extra biscoff he asked for....
As long as we're on this rant/idea, what if ticket prices had to disclose in dollar amounts where the money went? As long as restaurants have to tell us how much the food is going to kill us and where it came from, why not know that $2.50 of my ticket went to pilot wages, $86 to fuel, $12 to marketing, and $.40 to the guy who sucks out the lavs at the ramp? Maybe they should charge pound-for-pound for that :-)
04-02-2013 | 08:47 PM
#29
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This is either the most idiotic discussion I've seen on APC ( and that's saying something), or you're all in on a lame April Fools joke. Besides the inherent unfairness of such a policy (one small example: women will pay less to fly than men on average), the logistics of such a system are absurd. Forget online check-in; go to the airport several hours in advance, get on a scale, then pay your fare.
People are not the same as cargo. Their weight has virtually nothing to do with how much it costs to move them in an airplane.
Let's all just forget the whole supply and demand system that actually determines airfares. Why would we want to use that when we can just hope that a lot of fat people fly?
Who comes up with this stuff?
People are not the same as cargo. Their weight has virtually nothing to do with how much it costs to move them in an airplane.
Let's all just forget the whole supply and demand system that actually determines airfares. Why would we want to use that when we can just hope that a lot of fat people fly?
Who comes up with this stuff?
Imagine that hey? People actually have to take responsibility for themselves and pay for what they weigh!
JAL a while back, was asking their passengers to pee before every flight because of the fuel savings in having one less pound of fluids inside each passenger. You cannot convince me hauling a busload of heavy passengers is no more expensive then a bunch of light ones.
04-02-2013 | 08:49 PM
#30
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Also, keep in mind specifically for Samoa Air that they fly caravans and other smaller aircraft that are often weight restricted. And Samoans are, by no stretch, small people. So often, I'm sure, they have had to leave the 7th seat open, or leave a bag behind resulting in lost revenue.
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