1. A weightyissue - an extra charge for fat airline passengers?
Russell Grenning
Earlierthisyearat a ceremonyinHamburg,Germany,the designersof awiderairline seatforfat
passengerswasthe winnerinthe “CrystalCabin Awards”inthe “PassengerComfortHardware”
category – and itcouldnot have been timelier.
The self-proclaimed“Cabin Oscars”awardwasfor a seatdesignthatusedwastedspace at the rear
of the aircraftcabin where the fuselagenarrowsandwhichisone-and-a-half timesthe width of a
normal seat.
In recentyearsandwithmore and more passengersfallingintothe “obese”category,airlineshave
beenstrugglingwiththe problem.Withfuel typically anairline’sgreatestexpense,carriershave
gone to great lengthstoreduce the total weightof aircraftloads.
In 2013, Samoa Airbecame the firstairline inthe worldtoimplement “pay asyou weigh”withthe
Chief Executive,ChrisLangton,describingitas “the fairest way of travelling” andadding, “There are
no extra feesin terms of excessbaggageoranything –it is justthat a kilo is a kilo is a kilo.”
Passengerswhobookonlineare weighedatthe airportbefore boardingtheirplane justtomake
sure that theyhaven’tbeenfibbing.WithSamoansregularlylistedamongthe worldsmostobese,it
was a brave – evencontroversial –move butsince there isno competitionitwasacase of like itor
lumpit.Samoa Airfliesrathersmall aircraftbetweenthe islands.
Onlyrecently,aBrisbane mantookEtihadAirwaystocourt sayingthat he was forcedto twistand
contort hisbodyfor longperiodsduringaflightbetweenSydneyandDubai because a “grossly
overweight”passengerwasspillingintohisseat,wascoughingfrequentlyandhadfluidcomingfrom
hismouth.
Etihadunsuccessfullytriedtohave the claimdismissedandthe judge said,inherpublishedreasons,
that she wasn’tconvincedthe claimanthadnochance of winning.The case will gobackto court in
December.
Recently,aformerChief EconomistwithQantasTonyWebber –whospentsevenyearsinthat role –
saidthat overweightpassengersshouldpayasurcharge while skinnypeople shouldgetadiscount
on theirticketprice,aswell asfat people withoutluggage.
“When thepassengersweigh more,orwhere there is extra weighton the aircraft,thatgenerates
morefuel burn and higherfuel costs.You’d haveto workoutthe totalweight of the baggageand the
person and then havea critical weight,say 90 kilos or 100 kilos,abovewhich you’d imposea
surcharge,”Mr Webbersaid,
But, he says,while he waswithQantas,the airline gave “almostno consideration”tohisproposal
which,he admits,couldbe humiliatingforsome overweightpassengers. “Forsomepeople,itwould
be humiliating,awfuland thatclearly would havesomeimpacton thebrand of the airline,” he said.

2. Some 60% of Australiansare overweightaccordingtothe AustralianMedical Association and
accordingto researchersat Melbourne’sMonashUniversity, more thanfive millionAustraliansare
obese.
Qantas andVirginhave whattheycall a “comfortseat” arrangementwhichallowspassengersto
bookthe seat nexttotheirsso thata passengerscouldraise the armrest.Qantassomewhatcoyly
saysthis ideaisaimedat “customersof size” althoughanybodycanbooka “comfortseat”.
A comfortseatcosts slightlylessthanthe normal seatbecause neitherairline hastolevythe taxes
and othersurchargersapplicable toanormal seat andyou will earnfrequentflyerpointsfor it.
Despite sayingthatithas nointentionof introducingasurcharge forfat passengers,inone
documentedcase twoyearsago, an overweightpassengerwasleftbehindatTownsville by
QantasLink aftera complaintbyanotherpassenger.
“I goton board and headed formy seatbutI saw thisguy in theseat next to me and honestly
thought,howwillI physically fit next to him? I havesatnext to plenty of fatguyson planeswho work
in the mines,but thisguy wasan exception,” the complainingpassengersaid.
“I felt really sorry forhim butI do wantto pointout thisis a common problemthatlocalairlines
refuseto addressand leaveotherpassengersto handle,” he said.
In the USA, some airlinesforce overweightpassengerstopayfor twoseatsif theyare unable to
buckle theirseatbeltswithoutthe use of a seatbeltextenderwhile alegal battle inCanadaforced
airlinestogive anadditional adjacentfreeseattothose whocouldn’tfitintoone seat.
Accordingto the QueenslandCouncil forCivil LibertiesPresidentMichael Cope,airlinesneedto
addressthe issue.
“The bottomline is thatplaneswere built in an era when peoplewere not asoverweightaswe all
tend to be now.Itis a grey area of discrimination and in somecases airlines could be in breach,” he
said.