Charging flight passengers by their weight is a good idea; its time definitely has come

It may not be possible to install a weighing machine at a train coach door so a passenger boarding can be weighed, his fare increased and the difference collected on the spot before s/he is allowed to enter. Ditto for a taxi that you hail with a wave of hand or click of mouse. But airplanes pose no such problems. Airlines put in place elaborate paraphernalia at their airport counters. Installing, therefore, a machine to weigh passengers in addition to the existing one for baggage should be no big deal. The resultant excess fare can be paid on the spot. Of course, there could be a small refund too if the passenger has in the interregnum between booking and travel date sweated it out and shed flab. [caption id=“attachment_2197000” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image: Reuters[/caption] The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is seized of applications made by a clutch of domestic airlines wanting to charge for the check in baggage. As it is, 15 kg of check in baggage per passenger is free. The airlines’ move is reasonable and logical given the fact fuel expense is semi-variable with a distinctive tilt in favour of variability. The leniency towards cabin baggage may have something to do with the realization that perhaps every passenger carries to his seat the same weight which always may not be true. But more on this later. Two years ago, the relatively unknown Samoa Airlines caused turbulence by charging even passengers by their weights. Its logic was unexceptionable - bulk of airline’s expenditure varied with weight be it of passengers or freight. Samoa a small island in Polynesia has the distinction of having gigantic people, may be due to genetic factors peculiar to them. Samoa Airline’s profitability was weighed down by the obesity of its people. Hence the move. It is a trifle curious that other airlines across the globe have not followed suit. The softening of international oil prices last year may have lulled them for a while but when the oil prices soar again as indeed they have started to, they may have to seriously think in terms of differential airfare, this time around on the basis of weight. Lest there is confusion, it must be pointed out that even under the fare on the basis of weight regime, fares will not be per kilogram or per pound, period. On the contrary, the usual factors like distance, season, fixed cost, competition etc will go into it with weight only playing a supplemental role by way of penalising an obese person. To wit, if two persons book at the same time for the same flight, the difference in their respective fares would be accounted for by their respective weights. Be that as it may, to be sure, differential fares exist even today but they are of the early bird variety - the earlier you book, cheaper the fare. With 360 days advance bookings, leisure travellers who know their date of travel like Christmas-eve travel book well in advance and save a lot on fare. But now they may be in for a shock should weight as a factor kick in and they have bloated in the long interval between booking and travel. As it is, it is common for air travellers to weigh their luggage after they have finally packed by hefting them to the nearest weighing machine or if they are seasoned and regular travellers by weighing them in the comfort of their homes on a rough and ready hand-held weighing machine. But should weight become a factor in passenger fare fixation, they may have to weigh themselves too. It need not, however, be all gloom and doom for passengers tending to put on weight. If they are thrifty, they may go for long workouts and even turn anorexic if only to have the last laugh before emplaning. Indeed the strategy could backfire for the airline industry if passengers as a class start exercising with an eye on retrospective weight discount, as it were. But then exercising is not going to achieve much for the business traveller living off his suitcase both in his hotel room as well as in his home. Children may be the toast of parsimonious parents especially if they happen to be thin. Of course, roly-poly siblings may have to either stay back home or willy-nilly swallow the admonition of their parents. Coming back to airline economics, fare by weight is not a bad idea and its time definitely has come. It is rational but potentially explosive if irate passengers throw tantrums at the counter. They may not wear heavy clothing if it has the effect of adding to their weight but may have to take the additional fare in stride if the destination they are heading for demands such clothing because whether you put it on your person or inside the check in bag is hardly going to make any difference at the end of the day. And by the way, airlines should not make distinction between cabin and check-in baggage when they are not making any distinction between lifeless luggage and throbbing-with-life human beings. There may be delays in airport on two counts - the inevitable delay caused by weighing of passengers and the not-so-inevitable delay caused by people tending to throw their weights around like portly politicians and snooty celebrities throwing tantrums. But even these potentially bad guys may behave if the tabs are in any case going to be picked up by the parties or organization they belong to.