Pay by Weight

Airline to charge overweight passengers more

Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to implement "pay as you weigh" flights, meaning overweight passengers pay more for their seats.

"This is the fairest way of travelling," chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, told ABC Radio. "There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo."

Like many Pacific island nations, Samoa has a serious obesity problem and is often included in the top 10 countries for obesity levels. As such, Mr Langton believes his airline's new payment policy will also help promote health and obesity awareness.

"When you get into the Pacific, standard weight is substantially higher [than south-east Asia]," he said. "That's a health issue in some areas. [This payment system] has raised the awareness of weight."

Under the new system, Samoa Air passengers must type in their weight and the weight of their baggage into the online booking section of the airline's website. The rates vary depending on the distance flown: from $1 per kilogram on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel between Samoa and American Samoa. Passengers are then weighed again on scales at the airport, to check that they weren't fibbing online.

Samoa Air operates BN2A Islander and Cessna 172 aircraft.

Mr Langton said he believed it to be a system of the future, and added that "the standard width and pitch of seats are changing as people are getting a bit bigger, wider and taller than they were 40 to 50 years ago".
He also pointed out that families travelling with small children could end up paying far less with the pay-by-weight scheme.

"A family of maybe two adults and a couple of mid-sized kids ... can travel at considerably less than what they were being charged before," he said.

Public relations and marketing representative for Samoa Tourism, Peter Sereno, said he believed that the policy would also help with safety standards.

"When you're only fitting eight to 12 people in these aircraft and you've got some bigger Samoans getting on, you do need to weigh them and distribute that weight evenly throughout the aircraft, to make sure everyone's safe," he said. "At the end of the day, I don't care who they're weighing or how they're weighing them as long as it's safe."

Norwegian economist Bharat P. Bhatta proposed in a recent journal article that by implementing pay-per-kilo policies, carriers could also recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry larger people.

Some airlines in the United States already force obese passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to pay for two seats, but this is the first time a per-kilo rate has been used by an airline.

I've been saying this for years, ever since I was wedged in beside a fat couple on a 11hr transatlantic flight. Your total weight should be the sum of you and your bags, if the combined weight is less than a predefined amount, you pay less, if it's more, you pay more.

Why a predetermined amount? Why not just meter it out? Hilarious though its samoa air...

Just seems like one more hassle of air travel. But why limit it there? Surely heavier people on a bus would make the engine work harder. Why not add it to any form of mass transit? I mean ur already getting fingered by the TSA anyway, why not just ship ppl around in cattle cars and put tags on their ears lol

Pun wrote:Why a predetermined amount? Why not just meter it out? Hilarious though its samoa air...

Well, I was just saying you have to have some predetermined combined weight that is defined as "normal". You cocould ahve it metered on a sliding scale, where say a 60kg person pays half of what a 120kg person pays, but either way you have to have some "baseline" of what is average/normal to base your prices on.

And why not Samoa? Samoa is the 6th most obese nation on the planet, 83% of its population were obese in 2008. And when they do obese they don't mess around, have seen samoans around that could easily take up sumo wrestling as a hobby. And as it says in that article, a lot of their planes are those little 12-seater puddle-jumpers, so a couple of obese guys on one of those is going to affect the balance/fuel consumption a helluva lot more than if they were on a 747.....

Just one more reason for me to NOT fly.

Miles1 wrote:

Pun wrote:Why a predetermined amount? Why not just meter it out? Hilarious though its samoa air...

Well, I was just saying you have to have some predetermined combined weight that is defined as "normal". You cocould ahve it metered on a sliding scale, where say a 60kg person pays half of what a 120kg person pays, but either way you have to have some "baseline" of what is average/normal to base your prices on.

And why not Samoa? Samoa is the 6th most obese nation on the planet, 83% of its population were obese in 2008. And when they do obese they don't mess around, have seen samoans around that could easily take up sumo wrestling as a hobby. And as it says in that article, a lot of their planes are those little 12-seater puddle-jumpers, so a couple of obese guys on one of those is going to affect the balance/fuel consumption a helluva lot more than if they were on a 747.....

thats why its funny lol.

When u go to a football game, should there be a baseline width that if u exceed you have to pay more? I mean fat ppl are such an inconvenience for those around them when theyre spilling out of their seat, so i think we shud publicly shun and ridicule them as much as possible.

Pun wrote:When u go to a football game, should there be a baseline width that if u exceed you have to pay more? I mean fat ppl are such an inconvenience for those around them when theyre spilling out of their seat, so i think we shud publicly shun and ridicule them as much as possible.

Why??? I really don't think you're ready for that shitstorm. You're gonna get told "it ain't my fault", "it's totally natural", I was born this way", "government needs to help", "we are the new downtrodden and oppressed"......you know.......that crap

Marconius wrote:

Why??? I really don't think you're ready for that shitstorm. You're gonna get told "it ain't my fault", "it's totally natural", I was born this way", "government needs to help", "we are the new downtrodden and oppressed"......you know.......that crap

So this is the start of the new civil rights debate, "fat rights"? "What do we want? Cheesecake! When do we want it? Now!"

The gays have a rainbow flag, what are the "super-nourished" going to use?

As for "I was born this way", if someone was born weighing 300lbs, I really feel sorry for the mother... :-P

Maybe our new 'Nanny State' will give us free lipo suctions?

This is a little off topic. But can anyone tell me the health benefits to whole grain, becuz i see everything is mafe with whole grain now, and i wonder if were all healthier? Same with trans fats. Are we healthier now that transfats arent cool?

Ps i was using a fair amount of sarcasm in my last post. As someones who has lost triple digits, i can tell you that feeling like a social outcast or freak is not an effective means of getting ppl to lose weight, and if anything can discourage it.

Absolutely! I eat mostly whole grain and whole wheat whenever I can. Light bread and/or rice breaks down in the body much quicker than whole grain. It turns to sugar and that produces insulin. You can have sugar crashes and worse things happen to you. When the pancreas produces so much sugar, it makes ya hungry, and thus you tend to overeat and look for things sugary. Thats why diet sodas arent as good for us as advertised.

Whole grain reduces the risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It lowers LDL and triglyceride levels. It also helps prevent hypertension and obesity and can prevent some types of cancer.

Though I'm still big, it has helped me avoid sugar crashes (which can be terrifying) as well as lower my blood pressure and cholestoral.

I normally eat whole wheat bread as well as brown rice if I can.

Here's a good place to learn more.

Also a link to learning more about trans fats.

Trans fats foods taste wonderful! But they travel through your digestive system to your arteries, where they turn to sludge. They raise LDL "bad" cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. But also trans fats lower HDL "good" cholesterol. A double whammy.

So when i see whole grain on sugary cereal...

And stuff always says, "Now with MORE WHOLE GRAIN than any other ingredient" in small print. What duz that mean exactly? Probably not much, idk.

Plus ive noticed that now that trans fats are out, it makes me shit anytime i eat fast food lol. So instead of winding up in. Your arteries it winds up in your toilet? Lol. Basically how ally and sensa works i think. Just makes all the fat get shit out nice and sticky like lol.

Personally i use white flour (as my fore-bearers) and make white rice, though rarely. Usually get get all my starches from potatoes or noodles (white flour ones lol) and i rarely eat bread itself but when i do i want "lightnin bread" lol.

Since this is the fat thread heres a deliciously fattening recipe. Take an italian loaf and dice it from the top into abt 1.5 inch squares, leaving only the bottom crust attached. Then brush in mixture of melted butter, parm cheese and italian seasoning into cuts, then place pepperoni slices and motz or italian cheese into all of them, and cook on 375 until it looks done. Prob 15 mins or so, dip pieces in marinara sauce. Good for a gang

Or sub marg for olive oil, get lowfat cheese and skip the pep and sauce if ur a puss, but i have this curse-gift of taking any recipe or dish and just pushing it over the top of deliciousness. U can ask my wife she'll tell me a t something and ill say yeah but it be better with this instead of this and this on top, and she'll go oh-my-god that sounds delicious!

And i rly think red wine vinegarette should be a staple in every kitchen

*Drool* That recipe sounds great! (You arent helping me stay on my diet, ya know).

I occasionally still like white rice and still use white flour from time to time. A little wont kill ya (for while anyway). Way back long time ago millers ground flour and it was unrefined and unbleached. Iow...it was pretty much whole grain flour and/or rice. I think when we began processing food for the modern age, thats when we really began to see health problems.

In coloniel days we didnt have cold cuts (SPAM, potted meat, etc). You wanted a ham sandwich? You sliced a hunk of ham and ate it with bread. No highly processed spam or potted meat that was filled with cow lips and chicken toes and whatever else they toss in. Lol!

I tellya, my 2 biggest probles health-wise are lack of enough exercise (my feet hurt to walk) and I dearly love mayo. I'm pretty good about not eating refined processed foods and/or fried foods and stuff with gooey cheese on it. I rarely cook with anything other than olive oil. I dont deep fry anything anymore. I eat no sugar or salt and that has done wonders for my blood pressure. (I do use a sugar and salt substitute).

Also 2 things that have helped me are I now sprinkle ground flax on some things...like soup or oatmeal. Its virtually tasteless but serves as a nice thickening agent and is good for your heart. Also I sprinkle wheat germ on stuff from time to time.

Flax is high in fiber, is good for the prostrate, good for your blood pressure and cholesterol. Flax may also lessen the severity of diabetes by stabilizing blood-sugar levels

Wheat germ can be added to protein shakes, casseroles, muffins, pancakes, cereals, yogurt, smoothies, cookies, and other goods

Personally I believe much of our foods and dairy products are loaded with hormones, nitrites and other preservatives and that junk is killing us. But for some reason it is waaay more expensive to buy organic. So if you have some land, you could raise your own garden and livestock. Big undertaking though.

I have the land as I live on a farm, but my health is not great. I have physical problems that make it hard to do that sort of work likeI used to.

Oh its definitely the modern shit they put in stuff. Ppl used to eat lard and rel butter all the time, but the. Again ppl didnt live as long either, so i dunno.

Dennis324 wrote:Personally I believe much of our foods and dairy products are loaded with hormones, nitrites and other preservatives and that junk is killing us. But for some reason it is waaay more expensive to buy organic. So if you have some land, you could raise your own garden and livestock. Big undertaking though.

I have the land as I live on a farm, but my health is not great. I have physical problems that make it hard to do that sort of work likeI used to.

If I had the room, I'd love to plant a vegetable garden. One of my favorite foods at the moment if bbq squash. Cut it into spears, wipe a little olive oil on it (so seasoning sticks and the grill doesn't), add a little garlic salt, pepper, and tarragon/oregano/etc, and grill. I also love to make fresh vegetable stir-frys (can be done with minimal oil and sauce). One of these days, when I have enough room, I'll plant a garden. The only problem is that my wife hates cooked vegetables (funny thing, I'm fat and she weighs ~120). If I get the job I applied for in Alaska I'll probably have to do this (I hear fresh veggies are hard to come by and expensive up there). I couldn't do the live stock thing, I'm a pansy when it comes to killing animals (hence when I fish its almost always catch and release).

Bryant wrote: I couldn't do the live stock thing, I'm a pansy when it comes to killing animals (hence when I fish its almost always catch and release).

Me too really. I dont hunt because of tht, but I will keep and eat my fish. (I know...I'm a hypocrite).

Im not squeamish at all about stuff like that, but damn its too much hard work! I like my meat wrapped with a little tampon thing underneath to soak up all the juices....eh? A little double entandre there, eh? But seriously (:-|