To think travellers should be weighed WITH their luggage when travelling.

[Bakergram]

I'm prepared for backlash.

I was charged excess for my hand luggage as it was over a certain weight- that's absolutely fine. The combined total weight for myself and my cabin baggage was approx 69 kg. My friend wasn't charged because their luggage wasn't overweight yet the combined total for them and their luggage was over 90kg. My friend joked about how unfair it was.

Surely it would be fairer to use the combined weigh of traveller and cabin luggage to determine and excess fees due?

Of course it is discriminatory - you are charging more for the same services largely based on protected characteristics such as sex, race and pregnancy.

Imagine being this much of a bitch and pretending you have friends.

Those poor tall, well-built people able to pack 1 pair of socks and toothbrush, because otherwise they exceed weight limit...

I think adopting this policy would be a surefire way for an airline to go bust

As I said “ or they could be exempt”

Harsh.

If taller bigger people pay more they should get better seats. To the people saying it would discourage obesity- you do know that for every inch of height it’s normal to weigh 5 lbs more? Are tall people supposed to shrink? A 5’9 person would on average weigh 35 lbs more than a 5’2 person.

Why should they get better seats if they are only paying the same per-kilo fare as anyone else?

Of course it is discriminatory - you are charging more for the same services largely based on protected characteristics such as sex, race and pregnancy

Pregnant women are not obese. If they are obese, they were obese before the pregnancy, not because of it.

I imagine there could be allowances made so weight had to be in proportion to height. If you are tall you can already book a seat with more leg room though.

I can see the OP's point, there is nothing more annoying than being on a plane (or train) next to someone who spreads out over your seat. Hence why when I am on a train I will try to sit next to a slim female, followed by a slim male, and if neither are available I will remain standing, but that isn't an option on a plane.

It's not discriminatory if everyone is charged the same per kilo.

The reason for the weight is irrelevant. It's not a value judgment.

What about disproportionate weight to height due to a physical or mental illness? What about people with conditions like Prader-Willi who may be heavier?

Are you going to require people to produce a diagnosis before they can board?

Producing medical exception isn’t hard. I travel with needles and medication in hand luggage. I have a hospital issue letter. I produce it at security. It’s printed off once a year so the date stays relevant. No big deal.

So now people with medical conditions have to be carved out, people with disabilities, pregnant women.

In addition to simply go by weight discriminates by sex against men and by race against white Europeans who are the tallest nationalities (and majority white countries).

It would cost more to administer than it would save and expose the airlines to potential discrimination claims on multiple fronts.

I know a lot of tall, very curvey African women who wouldn't let this stand without a protest 🤣. They've got no chance of ever having the luggage allowance of the Japanese women who we work with.
We shouldn't be tying ourselves in knots worrying about airline profits. Bag handlers, yes.

It is an objective measurement. It doesn't discriminate.

That's not how discimrinaton laws work.

You can't put a policy into place which will disproportionately affect groups of people with protected characteristics and then say 'well it was an objective measurement'.

It doesn't disproportionately affect anyone. People exist in a wide range of sizes across every characteristic you cited.

I didn't cite any characteristics, but you are wrong nonetheless.

Men are on average heavier than women so on average men will pay more.

White Northern Europeans are on average taller than South Asians so on average white Northern Europeans will pay more.

A pregnant woman is more likely to have a disproportional weight to height compared to when she is not pregnant therefore you would be charging her more because she is pregnant.

Certain medical conditions and medications lead to weight gain so you would be charging people more because of a medical condition that may be classed as a disability.

No airline would be willing to do the above because it is a court case waiting to happen.

The first 2 would probably fall into indirect discrimination as it puts classes of people at a disadvantage linked to their protected characteristics.

19Indirect discrimination

(1)A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice which is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B's.

(2)For the purposes of subsection (1), a provision, criterion or practice is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B's if—

(a)A applies, or would apply, it to persons with whom B does not share the characteristic,

(b)it puts, or would put, persons with whom B shares the characteristic at a particular disadvantage when compared with persons with whom B does not share it,

(c)it puts, or would put, B at that disadvantage, and

(d)A cannot show it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

"On average " doesn't mean any particular individual is suffering "discrimination."

Paying for what we consume individually is normal.

You don't walk in the door of a restaurant planning to eat a burger but agreeing to be charged the same as someone buying chateaubriand.

Those who contribute more to the weight of the aircraft (for whatever reason; the laws of physics don't care) should pay more.

So do the thin people get smaller seats and the bigger people get bigger seats?

You really don’t understand how the legislation works do you. There is both direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. You are talking about direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination means you can’t set a rule or practice that is more likely to disadvantage a particular group that has a protected characteristic over those who don’t have that protected characteristic.
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/what-direct-and-indirect-discrimination

Why stop at airplanes? Buses, taxis, trains, boats... How do they pay for the extra fuel consumed? Do you not mind paying for somebody's extra luggage then? Could it just be that the difference in fuel is negligible. That it's actually a way of making sure people aren't going to bring stupidly heavy bags that can't be easily picked up by anyone else or cause an injury in an emergency? Or could it be that it's an easy way to make some extra money?

I'm curious at how people think planes are fueled. Do you think the captain gets together with the check in staff and they do some quick sums before filling up?

Do you think if there were no overweight people you'd be allowed heavier luggage?

Imagine the queue for the toilet before check-in 🙄

Do you think the captain gets together with the check in staff and they do some quick sums before filling up?

That is what they do.