Overweight and obese travelers might have to pay more to fly

According to an Australian travel site where people can post on travel issues response has been mixed to Tony Webber, a former Qantas Air and his statement that overweight people should pay extra for the cost of their seats. Thirty percent of the people responding were in favor of bigger charges while sixty percent thought it to be unreasonable. Those who found it reasonable argued that at the moment overweight people not being charged more is actually discrimination against thinner people. Their rationale is that the weight they carry is significantly less stress on the fuel usage than a heavy set bloke and they still pay for the same cost. On the other side, those against it claimed that this would never work because of anti-discrimination laws. A 2000 study showed that there were 7,000,000 people overweight in Australia, corresponding to 36% of the population. So, it isn't just people that are overweight that are against this measure.

However, flights between Samoa and American Samoa already have implemented this policy. When you fly between Samoa and American Samoa passengers have to step on the scales. It seems to work well for this area.

It made me think of this restaurant I used to frequent when I was on holiday in Myrtle Beach, SC. This was before they turned the whole city into a golf resort and it had some character in it. Back in the days of the Pavilion and Peaches Corner foot-long hot dogs and Skee ball for miles. Thankfully the capitalist bourgeois did not have the audacity to tear down Peaches Corner when they ripped the heart out of the city. But I digress. It worked well for the restaurant back then and I don't see why it couldn't work now. But, it might be a bit unfair considering even someone weight in at over 500 lbs. would still only be .056% of the takeoff weight.