The days of being forced to share your airline seat with the overweight person sitting next to you may soon be coming to an end.
Samoa Air, a regional airline connecting American Samoa with other islands in the South Pacific, announced today that it will begin charging passengers by their weight – not per person.
“We at Samoa Air are keeping airfares fair, by charging our passengers only for what they weigh,” a statement on the airline’s website reads. “You are the master of your Air’fair’, you decide how much (or little) your ticket will cost. No more exorbitant excess baggage [fees], or being charged for baggage you may not carry. Your weight plus your baggage items, is what you pay for. Simple.”
The airline determines a passenger’s ticket price by asking them to estimate the weight of themselves and the luggage they plan to bring aboard with them when booking their ticket online. The final price of the ticket is then confirmed when the passenger arrives at the airport for their flight.
Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton said the company changed its pricing policy because of the planes it operates, not as a general health statement.
“Airlines don’t run on seats, they run on weight, and particularly the smaller the aircraft you are in the less variance you can accept in terms of the difference in weight between passengers,” Langton told ABC radio.
Obesity is, however, a major problem in Samoa, where nearly the entire population – 93 percent – is considered to be overweight.
While it may be the most drastic step toward dealing with overweight passengers, other airlines do have restrictions in place for those with larger girths. Air France makes customers with “high body mass” pay for two seats, granting them a 25 percent discount on the second seat, while low-budget airline Jet Blue requires overweight people to buy a second seat.
