Should obese travelers pay more for airline tickets?

Set as news: False

Set as news: True

Made Brian's change. Looks good!

Looks good to me... I think it's a real debate for various reasons...

I see. Thanks for the info JZipp! 

I find it hard to believe this has never been an issue before, and I had it explained that the weight affects gas consumption which has the effect of increasing gas costs and lowering profits for airlines. So this is definitely related to rising oil costs... damn war.

Everyone okay with my suggestion below? If so, let's "turn it loose!"

Actually, the reason this is an issue (aside from airlines looking to find ways of pulling in more money) is because airplanes have weight restrictions for safe flying. If you had an airplane full of people who were categorized as "obese" by medical standards, chances are the airline would cancel the flight, especially if the weather wasn't great to begin with. Planes have to be proportionately weighted, which can be done with checked luggage, but only (I think) to a certain extent...

This is really an issue?

How about Should obese people pay double price at the theatre? Should vans pay double at the drive in?

oooh! oooh! here's one! Should smelly people have to pay for a whole ailse to themselves on flight over 2 hrs in length?  I was on this flight once and WHOA!!!

I think you can leave it as...

Should obese travelers pay more for airline tickets?
 

Hmmm. This is a test.

We've never shied away from insensitivity, MikeD.

Actually, there's been a fair amount of debate about this, especially given the size of coach seats and the expense of fuel.

This seems a touch insensitive, but Newsweek goes there:

But when most of us are looking over our shoulders at our carbon footprints, the obese seem a, well, fat target. Americans persist in the belief that it's fat people who consume more than their share of resources, rather than, say, movie stars flying private jets to Cannes. And since existing social disincentives to obesity haven't worked, people keep suggesting ways to enhance them, including weight surcharges for airplane tickets and higher rates for medical insurance.

It is indisputable that heavy people are more expensive to fly. A study concluded that the 10 pounds Americans gained on average during the 1990s required an additional 350 million gallons of fuel a year. But as much as the airlines could use the revenue, it's highly unlikely they will start charging passengers by weight, according to a spokesman for the Air Transport Association. Peggy Howell, of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, agrees. "I don't believe people are willing to stand on a scale in public," she says. She happens to weigh 300 pounds, but points out that even thin people would probably object. One of the few experts who endorse a penalty for fat fliers is Laurie Zoloth, who heads the bioethics center at Northwestern University—but for her it's a question of fairness to the person in the next seat, rather than carbon emissions. In fact, Southwest Airlines already requires passengers who can't fit in a seat without raising the armrest to pay for two seats. (The extra cost applies only if the flight is oversold.)