Airline defends policy to charge passengers by weight

Samoa Air has defended its new policy to charge passengers according to their weight.

The national carrier of Samoa, which serves Samoa and the Cook Islands, has introduced a 'pay for what you weigh' system.

On the website, it says: "Booking a flight with us is as easy as inputting your approximate weight into our online booking engine (don't worry, we will weigh you again at the airport) - you then can prepay your 'guesstimate', guaranteeing you that much weight is allocated to you for that flight.

It adds: "We at Samoa Air are keeping airfares fair, by charging our passengers only for what they weigh. Your weight plus your baggage items, is what you pay for. Simple."

Samoa Air boss, Chris Langton, told Australia's ABC Radio that it was 'the fairest way of travelling'.

Rather than pay for a seat, passengers pay a fixed price per kilogram, which varies depending on the route length, for the combined weight of themselves and their baggage.

"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," Mr Langton told ABC radio.

"Anyone who travels at times has felt they have been paying for half of the passenger next to them."

Under the new model, Mr Langton described how some families with children were now paying cheaper fares.

"There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything - it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo," he said.

Mr Langton said he believed that charging by weight was 'the concept of the future'.

"People generally are bigger, wider and taller than they were 50 years ago," he said. "The industry will start looking at this."

Ryanair suggested the idea of a 'fat tax' on passengers in 2009 following a poll saying a third of passengers supported it. 

But the idea was dropped as the no frills airline said there was 'no way to collect it without disrupting its 25 minute turnarounds and its online check-in process'.

A few weeks ago I posted a blog on obese passenger should pay extra tax, I mentioned that only the people who are overweight should pay extra as they are making it uncomfortable to the people next to them which I've experienced myself before. Though Samoa Air has introduced a 'pay what you weigh system' where you book a light online adding your approximate weight and you then get weighed at the airport to make sure its accurate.They believe this is a more fair way of travelling as airlines run on weight not seats. This would also make it cheaper for families with children. After reading this article it makes a great point but I think checking peoples weight is too personal. I still think they should charge people extra who are overweight, instead of a pay as you weigh. I'm also wondering how this would work with return flights because people who go on holiday usually put on a bit more weight so they are more heavier on the way back. What do you guys think of this?