{"id":21206,"date":"2013-07-18T05:56:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T03:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-african-retirees-want-airfares-based-on-weight\/"},"modified":"2013-07-18T05:56:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T03:56:16","slug":"south-african-retirees-want-airfares-based-on-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-african-retirees-want-airfares-based-on-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"South African Retirees want Airfares based on Weight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Study by South Africa Travel Online reveals attitude towards basing airfares on passenger weight.<\/p>\n

According to the survey a majority of South Africans aged over 60 think it\u2019s acceptable to base airfares on passenger weight, but most South Africans younger than 60 think it\u2019s unacceptable.<\/p>\n

17 July 2013, Cape Town \u2014 GoAir in India was recently in the news for saying that they\u2019re only hiring thin, female flight attendants, in a bid to save money on fuel (they didn\u2019t mention whether they\u2019d only hire thin female pilots too!). This follows on from last year when Samoa Air became the first airline in the world to charge airfares according to weight (about R10\/kilogram).<\/p>\n

The most surprising discovery was the difference of opinion between those over and those under 60 years old. While 53% of South Africans older than 60 believe it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to weigh-in like a boxer before a flight and be charged accordingly, 64% of younger folk say it\u2019s unacceptable. So, who is right \u2013 the youngsters or the retirees?<\/p>\n

On an overall basis, 61% of the 2334 South Africans who participated are against having airfares based on weight. Most of those against a weigh-in reasoned that it would be discriminatory, against the Constitution, that some people have medical conditions whereby they cannot control their weight, and that it would be just plain embarassing. \u201cNo way should overweight people be charged extra for their tickets. This is immoral.\u201d was a typical response.<\/p>\n

The SouthAfrica.TO survey demonstrates that here is a substantial minority (39%) who are for airfares based on passenger weight, with reasons varying from it making economic sense (since fuel costs depend on weight) to it encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles (there were even a few who were concerned that heavy people would interfere with the aircraft\u2019s avionics!). Certainly there\u2019s enough of a minority to make up a market for any airline gutsy enough to implement airfares based on weight. But judging by some of the feedback received, the airline would need to brace itself for a spate of criticism court action. As Gerry mentioned \u201cAny airline trying to enforce such a rule, is in for some serious trouble and will most certainly be facing a lot of grumpy overweights in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a lot of feeback from participants who felt that airlines need to do something about passengers who \u201cpeel over\u201d into the seat next to them, particularly on the long-haul flights: \u201cIs it fair for an \u2018average\u2019 person to be sandwiched in on overseas flights, due to the person next to you over-filling their seat? Harsh but a reality.\u201d said Maria.<\/p>\n

Many surveyed felt that there should be a weigh-in which included luggage and the passenger: \u201cI have always maintained that luggage and the person should stand on the scale at check in. Why should a person weighing say 60kg not be allowed more luggage than that of one weighing 130kg\u201d said a participant.<\/p>\n

A large portion of those who thought it acceptable to base airfares on weight felt there should be a threshold below which passengers wouldn\u2019t be penalised, with 90kg being a popular level mentioned (Ed: Uh oh, I\u2019m in trouble\u20264kg over the minimum!).<\/p>\n

SouthAfrica.TO suggest that the older folk who are keen on airfares based on weight are likely to find allies amongst the very young. Most participants focussed on the plight of heavier people, however the major beneficiaries of a weigh-in would be children (who didn\u2019t participate in our survey). Currently children have to pay the same as adults, meaning that children are effectively cross-subsidising adults. If airlines charged airfares based on their true cost (i.e. determined by weight), it would be cheaper for families with small children to fly.<\/p>\n

South Africa Travel Online analysts pointed out that life Assurers have no qualms about discriminating between people \u2013 females are charged more to purchase annuities because they are expected to live longer, and if you\u2019ve got a pre-existing medical issue that\u2019s your tough luck, you\u2019re going to pay more for your life assurance. Should we apply different moral standards to the airline industry?<\/p>\n

URL<\/strong>: http:\/\/www.southafrica.to\/transport\/Airlines\/weight\/flight-weight.php<\/a>
Twitter<\/strong>: https:\/\/twitter.com\/southafricaTO<\/a>
Facebook<\/strong>: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SouthAfricaTO<\/a>
YouTube<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Author: Rob Baker<\/strong> from South Africa Travel Online<\/a>. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

No of Images Uploaded: Two<\/strong><\/p>\n

To gain access to Two<\/em> image\/s please Like, Tweet or +1 this article:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Images:<\/strong>
\"child-adult-flight\"
\nChildren cross-subsidise adults on flights Photographer: South Africa Travel Online\"south_africa\"
\nSouth Africa Travel Online logo Photographer: South Africa Travel Online<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Study by South Africa Travel Online reveals attitude towards basing airfares on passenger weight. According to the survey a majority of South Africans aged over 60 think it\u2019s acceptable to base airfares on passenger weight, but most South Africans younger than 60 think it\u2019s unacceptable. 17 July 2013, Cape Town \u2014 GoAir in India was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[3257,1452],"class_list":{"0":"post-21206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mypr","8":"tag-public-relations","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}