Charged by the Pound

Airlines are seriously considering charging overweight passengers more for flying. Like they were freight. Is there any possible way to do this humanely?

The 11 O'Clock Hour Rundown

Today’s headlines read “Airlines may start treating passengers like freight.” Doug said the airlines always treated him like freight, but now they might start asking for a customer’s weight before buying a ticket. Some already make overly large people buy two, but Doug wondered how far they’re willing to take it.

Will they check passengers on a scale like luggage? When you book online will you have tell them your weight and verify it when you check in? Picture a pregnant wife whose husband tries to boost her self-esteem by telling her how great she looks. Stepping on the scale and hearing the overweight sirens go off might sabotage his efforts.

Doug commented how amazing it is that everything seems to be tied to fuel costs, even monitoring passenger weight.

He remembered seeing large people who realized they were making others uncomfortable and tried to make themselves smaller by folding their arms and crossing their legs.

A caller said she had to sit on a long flight between two large passengers, and she had a fraction of a seat left. She suggested having a test seat in the airport, and if passengers could sit without “blubbering” over, they only had to buy 1 ticket.

A caller said Nature Air in Costa Rica already does it. You stand on a scale with your luggage, and if it comes to over 200 pounds, they add a surcharge. He said analysts all over the world are studying that airline because they’ve stayed profitable and their passengers accept being weighed as normal.

If that happened, how many would file lawsuits claiming the airlines made them anorexic?