Do you weigh more than 160 lbs? Airlines may soon be charging you more

[True Dough]

Another reason for the masses to loathe the airlines!

A debate is brewing over whether airlines should adopt weight-based pricing, charging passengers based on their weight to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

This discussion follows a broader trend of U.S. airlines implementing fees for checked baggage, which began in 2008 with American Airlines, and has since become standard practice...

A separate study of 1,012 U.S. adults examined the public's reaction to three pricing models: the current system (a standard fare with a luggage limit), a 'weight threshold' model (extra charges for passengers over 160 pounds) and a 'body weight' model (pricing based on individual weight).

Lighter passengers favored weight-based fees, while heavier passengers preferred the current system — though nearly half of the heavier respondents were open to change.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/travel/news/airlines-could-soon-charge-overweight-passengers-more-for-tickets/ar-AA1zxjEv

[surfered]

1. Well, if they put a scale at the Gate, my wife isn't boarding.

[hlthe2b]

13. Can you imagine the vitriol if they had employees deciding based on "eyeballing?" No way this is going to work...

[LeftInTX]

52. LOL!

Hubby won't board.

I'm on the lighter side.

[Cinjanik]

2. Airlines May Charge for over 160 lbs

I weigh 82 lbs. Do I get a discount for being under 100 lbs?

[karynnj]

5. ... Can couples pool their 160 pounds?

My husband and I are both below, but know couples where combined weight is less than 320, but one is above 160.

[Rebl2]

24. I weigh

about the same as you and was wondering the same thing.

[Polybius]

41. 82 pounds?

How tall are you if I may ask?

[Hekate]

45. Highly unlikely

[Wonder Why]

3. And if you weigh less, will they charge you less? Not a chance!

[spooky3]

6. Actually that might be a way to get the public to accept it.

Set a standard fare, then if you volunteer to be weighed and weigh less than a certain amount, you get a discount.

But they would likely have to make the cutoff of the standard fare higher than 160. Per the web, median adult American woman weighs at least 167, and men weigh more.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

54. Probably not, but you should at least be able to donate your pounds under 160 to heavy peeps like travel miles.

[allegorical oracle]

4. Then we taxpayers must be paying thru the nose for TSF's frequent AF-1 flights.

[NutmegYankee]

7. Given that men virtually all weigh more than that, I doubt this will succeed.

[underpants]

8. 160? I weighed that much when I was 16

and I’m not fat or wasn’t then. I just weigh more than I look. My daughter inherited that from me.

There’s a weight limit to be able to carry (including receiving) the ball in football. In the 8th grade they came to weigh us. I was a tight end but I was over the weight. My coaches and the league people couldn’t believe it. How? I ended up running for the rest of the practice and ended up in my skivvies barefooted being weighed in in the school parking lot. It was the best stable flat ground they could find.

[Blue Full Moon]

9. Don't fly at all is the answer.

Musk put his blowing up rockets people in the FAA. Don't think they can be trusted.

[MurrayDelph]

40. Unless I can't get there any other way, I already don't

I live in northern Oregon. The last five times I went to Orlando, last year's trip to Montreal to see the eclipse, and literally dozens of trips to Los Angeles were by car.

[BootinUp]

10. Dumb. Won't last. Nt

[ProfessorGAC]

46. Seems It Would Be...

...a logistical nightmare.
Where is weight being confirmed? Can't be baggage check because half of fliers don't check a bag.
TSA? Those lines are long enough now, and I doubt TSA would want that added responsibility.
At the gate? Slows tge boarding process and excess gate time is already considered a negative by the industry. It would slow boarding times, and the number of late flights increase, leading to FAA fines.
I honestly don't know how the manage it.
The honor system? I weigh 168#. I'm not paying extra for 5% excess weight, so I'd just lie. So much for the honor system.

[hlthe2b]

11. Well, given that may give women an advantage (disproportionately), I'd guess they will

find a way to conclude women should have to pay MORE... MAGATs and their DEI and all that.

[MineralMan]

12. Well, I'm around 6' tall.

I haven't weighed under 160 lb. since I was a skinny dweeb in high school. I don't know many men of that height who weigh less than that. So, that's an interesting number, I think.

[hlthe2b]

14. Not to worry... when RFK JR bans all the semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and GLP-1 antagonists (Mounjaro)

for weight-loss purposes, you'll have tremendous company--even among women. Quite the fury, I'd imagine...

[Bettie]

26. My youngest son is

a skinny kid, but at 16, he's at 140....and I have trouble finding pants that are small enough in the waist but with long enough legs. ETA: He just passed by, I asked him how much he weighs these days and it's 155, since the last growth spurt.

My oldest is 6'6"....he's WAY over 160.

I expect it's a way for them to shoehorn more seats into the planes.

[Shrek]

15. UPS and FedEx charge by weight

It doesn't seem that unreasonable for airlines to do the same.

[choie]

42. That's discrimination

We are not freight nor packages.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

51. +1

[Hekate]

47. Do you have a handle attached to your back? Are you tied up with string? Do you travel by FedEx?

Can you withstand being thrown down to the tarmac?

Why would you even consider any of the airlines’ ideas to be reasonable for a human being?

[indigovalley]

16. This is just discrimination

Men and people who just are genetically larger/taller (which can't be changed) will have to pay more on factors beyond their control. I am obese and find this discriminatory. I understand about costs of flying and fuel. Why not just tack an extra $5.00 on baggage or tickets to make up extra money? Spread the cost out over everyone and don't single people out on a body characteristic.

[gab13by13]

17. Have at it, but charge people who are "overweight."

I weigh 172 which is right where I should be.

What about people who weigh 150 but are overweight?

[Daveigh]

18. Airlines nickel-and-dime passengers for heavy bags

So I can’t say I’m surprised by this development. I think most people who travel regularly saw this coming.

The baggage fee system has become a cash cow for airlines. If a bag exceeds a certain weight (usually 50 lbs), the passenger pays an overweight fee (ranging from $50 to $200). A bag between 51-70 lbs, for example, might cost $100 extra on American Airlines.

Bottom line: Fuel costs rise with total weight—passengers, cargo, and bags all contribute. And airlines bake that cost into ticket prices rather than singling out heavier people.

It’s a touchy subject. People deserve to be treated with respect, but businesses have to make tough decisions. I’m very interested to see where this goes and will be watching the ensuing discussion(s).

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

19. Can't weight for Trump to weigh in on this one!

[flvegan]

20. To "reduce fuel consumption and emissions" Um...

how does charging more for passengers do that, exactly? By pricing them out of flying altogether? What does that pricing structure look like? Is it $x extra per pound over 160? Is it a range, like 160-175 is a certain amount and 175.1-190 is another and so on? I mean, if it's like $5 total extra, then okay. Most passengers might grumble, but it's not a bunch of money. If it's the price of another whole ticket if one is over some arbitrary number like 200 pounds, that seems egregious. Once again, crack reporting by the Dailymail with zero actual information.

And good luck with that in America!

[Emile]

21. Fat shaming!

[JoseBalow]

50. DU never disappoints

[Aristus]

22. I don't plan on flying again until they get those incompetent racist dudebros out of the FAA.

n/t

[Conjuay]

23. That's fine.

With their recent track record, I'll just sit here eating Twinkies and hoping a plane doesn't fall through my roof.

[JCMach1]

25. Then put seats that accommodate the actual size of human beings

Yes, some of us are built like linebackers... And other shapes.

I still complain about the new AA configuration after recent international flights.

[markpkessinger]

27. I doubt this will stand . . .

. . . too many Trumpers would be affected!

[newdeal2]

32. I would join them in this instance

Complete bs to line the pockets of airline companies.

[walkingman]

28. Gender discrimination - not many men weigh less than 160.

So now you'll have to get to the gate 2 hr in advance, pay for your baggage, and your weight and worry about crashing these days.

No Thanks!!

[Hope22]

29. I certainly wouldn't trust a passenger declaration of weight to determine weights and balance.

Let’s get real, they are going to raise the fare and charge everyone to more that cover the cost of total weight. It’s all about the money.

[unblock]

30. Why not just give us all sleeping pills and put us on a conveyor belt to the cargo hold?

Apparently the only difference between passengers and cargo is that the cargo doesn't complain as much.

[milestogo]

31. The seats are already on the small side and the leg room aint great.

So they want to make everything smaller?

[AnnaLee]

33. So petite women will be in vogue for jobs requiring travel

Just a chuckle folks. The ultimate DEI is a financial requirement highly related to jobs. (I guess white male Trump voters will need to be exempt from weight requirements by EO.)

[Emile]

34. Michigan is the only state that has passed a law explicitly prohibiting weight-based discrimination.

[dem4decades]

35. I already pay extra for my legroom, now weight? I breathe the oxygen too,

Should I pay for that too?

[Pisces]

36. If they give you a bigger seat with more leg room, charge away

[Diraven]

37. The average American adult weighs 185 pounds

This is just a money grab. Something like 75% of passengers would end up paying this extra fee.

[BannonsLiver]

48. Maybe in 1965

[SheltieLover]

38. Only if you choose to get on a plane. I opted out when fELON took over.

[CrispyQ]

39. So the airlines are going to weigh us but the doctor's office won't.

I recently read that many medical offices no longer weigh patients because it makes too many patients uncomfortable. I wasn't weighed the last two times I went in. Most scales are in a public area but I've never had a nurse say my weight out loud.

[SharonClark]

55. I've been to urgent care three times in the last

3 weeks and they weighed me every time.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

43. I'd venture to guess most men weigh more than that.

Last time I weighed 160 was 45 years ago.

[muriel_volestrangler]

44. Can someone check these calculations?

737-800: burns 4.88 US gal (18.5 L) per seat per hour, which, at the current North America price of $2.35/gallon is about $11.50 per seat per hour. It weighs 91,300 lb when empty, so that's 507 lb per seat; if they start at 160 lb/passenger, then each extra lb of passenger increases the weight by 1/667 = 0.15%. So that should be 1.7 cents extra per lb per hour of travel. For a 4 hours flight, call it 7 cents per lb; if you weigh 210 lb, they could say it costs them $3.50 more.

I can see why they are so desperate to recoup that massive expense.

[JoseBalow]

49. Coincidentally, they're offering free peanuts again

[doc03]

53. What will they do weigh you on the lugage scale? They could get maore passengers on

if we were standing.

[haele]

56. With clothes on, or without? What about body mass?

I sat next to a guy who was a bantam weight fighter a couple years back, when they first decided seats should be 18 inches wide.
Little fireplug of a guy, probably 170 lbs or so sitting in the middle. Below the waist, he fit fine, plenty of room for him.
But his shoulders couldn't fit in the seat space. He ended up over the armrest on both sides. Right about breast level on me.

[Meowmee]

57. It's discriminatory

And how would it be done anyway. Scales used to weigh people are also frequently inaccurate and variable.

[pnwest]

58. LOL, how is charging me more going to reduce fuel consumption?

If they charge me more, they better give me two seats.