Overweight Passengers Should Pay Extra For Flights: Former Airline Executive

Former Qantas Group Chief Economist Tony Webber has suggested that airlines start charging overweight passengers an extra “weight surcharge” due to the higher cost that would be incurred by the planes from the extra weight on the aircraft.

Former Qantas Group Chief Economist Tony Webber has suggested that airlines start charging overweight passengers an extra “weight surcharge” due to the higher cost that would be incurred by the planes from the extra weight on the aircraft.

In an editorial published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday, the ex-Qantas executive cited the current high price for fuel, as well as the need for airlines to reduce their costs, as the primary reasons for such a decision.

“The rationale is simple. The fuel burnt by planes depends on many things but the most important is the weight of the aircraft. The more a plane weighs, the more fuel it must burn.

“If the passengers on the aircraft weigh more, the aircraft consumes more fuel and the airline’s costs go up.

[quote]“In turn, the airline will need to lift airfares to recover these additional costs. And when they do, the burden of these higher fees should not be lumbered on those who are shedding a few kilos or keeping their weight stable.”[/quote]

According to Webber, the average weight of an Australian has gone up by 2 kilograms since 2000, resulting in an airline flying three times a day from Sydney to London via Singapore around $1 million extra a year in fuel costs.

This would take out around 13 percent of an airline’s profits, which in turns lays a heavy burden on the company due to the “thinness of margins these days particularly on international routes.”

In turn, Webber suggests placing a weight limit for passengers, with a surcharge incurred for every kilogram that the passengers weighs over the limit.

This fee, he feels, should be around 58 cents per kilogram, and as such, if the critical weight limit is set at 75 kilograms, a man weighing 100 kilograms for instance would have to pay $14.50 extra for a one-way flight. Conversely, Webber notes, a person who weighs 50 kilograms, might also get a $14.50 discount for his/her flight.

While Webber admits, in an ABC News interview, that his plan would cause “public outroar”, he insists that there this type of “price discrimination” was already a “common feature in the modern market”, and should thus be treated as acceptable.

[quote]“Movie theatres practise price discriminate on the basis of age and employment status. Trains price discriminate on the basis of time of travel. Taxis price discriminate on the basis of the payment method customers use.[/quote]

“In short, companies usually practise price discrimination because they think they can make more money by doing so.”

“As the obesity crisis worsens, however, and the price of jet fuel continues to spiral upward, such user-pay charge may be something the airlines can’t ignore for too much longer.”

Related: Airline Profits Surge w Higher Prices & Fees, Worse Service

Webber’s former employers though have sought to distance themselves from his comments. A Qantas spokeswoman told the Sydney Morning Herald that the airline ”has no plans to introduce a surcharge”, while a Virgin Australia spokesman said that ”such a notion is not under consideration”.

Other rivals including Tiger Airways pointed out that it was a passenger’s choice to purchase an extra seat for ”comfort reasons” while Jetstar noted that passengers’ weight was not a significant issue in light of the millions of passengers it carries each year.

Webber, who now runs his own consultancy firm, also freely admitted that such a surcharge would be difficult to implement, while noting that his former employer had not been interested in the proposal during his time at the company.