Not really "on-topic" and probably won't last long here but couldn't resist this one from today's E-Travel Blackboard.
I just have a visual image in my mind of all the "bubble-gutted yobbos in their bintang singlets" struggling with their very-full "Bali Bags" cringing in horror as they step on the scales at Ngurah Rai to be told what they will pay to get back home to Oz - especially when they compare this with a "trim, taut 75Kg passenger" with 4Kgs of Hand Luggage ahead of them - and having seen what they needed to pay for the flight.
Just some light-hearted Friday morning reading for you. Enjoy!!
Why aren't airlines charging by the pound?
16/04/2010
With airlines all over the world continuing to look for new ways to cover their costs, it appears to me that the solution is simple - I think airlines should charge passengers by the pound! Having espoused this theory for some time, I was delighted this week to find and article in the USA that was generated as a result of the announcement by Spirit Airlines charging for carry-on bags.
With charges for meals, checked luggage, exit-row seats, blankets, pillows... and Ryanair charging a pound to use the toilet, Sen. Charles Schumer in the USA has attempted to head off Spirit's charges at the pass or the gate by introducing legislation to ban the carry-on fee. But at the end of the day the weight of passengers and their bags is not currently taken into account or at least assessed accurately by airlines.
If you think about it flying and the profitability of airlines is all about weight, because the aircraft consumes fuel and the amount of fuel consumed is determined by weight. The profit therefore is determined by how much they charge for each pound or kilo they are flying!
What's crazy about the current airline business model is that the only variable that airlines appear to have very little control over and are trying to take more control over, is weight. So how about stopping messing about and simply charging for flying by weight.
If you send a parcel from A to B by air you are charged by weight - so what's wrong with doing the same thing with passengers?
Airlines operating small aircraft ask you to get on the scales with your bags and nobody ever objects. So why not do the same with larger aircraft and the reach the logical conclusion that you should be charged for your bit of the aircraft's load by weight?
Imagine check in for an international flight with a pad that you step on with your cases, which determines how much you are charged for the flight - seems very fair to me!
Just because we have always done things one way, does not mean that things should not change!
A great side benefit would also be that passengers would think much more carefully about what they pack and also might even think about getting more exercise and trimming off a few kilos or pounds!