Should passengers be charged for airline tickets based on their weight?
That idea is being floated in the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management by Bharat P Bhatta, associate professor of economics at Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway.
Related: A fine for being fat?
Bhatta published his controversial findings saying, “Charging according to weight and space is a universally accepted principle, not only in transportation, but also in other services.”
He suggests three methods of implementing the scheme: a simple price-per-pound, a fixed low fare with heavier passengers paying a surcharge and lighter passengers being offered a discount.
Bhatta said that charging overweight fliers more would help carriers recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry them, saying that reducing the weight on a plane by a little more than 2 pounds will result in fuel savings of $3,000 a year.
Many argue that such policies are discriminatory and humiliating. But the debate over "passengers of size" has been growing since 2008 due to the rising price of jet fuel. About 30 percent of American adults are considered obese, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Samoa Air, which operates out of the Pacific, is already charging passengers based on their weight. Many U.S. carriers have also been tightening up their policies.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/0...#ixzz2PLcFCqH2
Is this fair or discriminatory?