Comments on: Should Airlines Charge People by the Pound? http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/should-airlines-charge-people-by-the-pound/ SoLoMo and Green Living Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Max Gladwell http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/should-airlines-charge-people-by-the-pound/comment-page-1/#comment-312 Max Gladwell Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:04:14 +0000 http://www.maxgladwell.com/?p=348#comment-312 As insensitive or politically incorrect as it may sound, it just makes sense. How does UPS charge for shipping a package? By weight. It costs more to ship a 50-pound package than a 10-pound package. No one has a problem with that because it makes sense. I'm sure we can come up with a way that doesn't embarrass people, but these are legitimate costs. As insensitive or politically incorrect as it may sound, it just makes sense. How does UPS charge for shipping a package? By weight. It costs more to ship a 50-pound package than a 10-pound package. No one has a problem with that because it makes sense. I’m sure we can come up with a way that doesn’t embarrass people, but these are legitimate costs.

]]> By: marguerite manteau-rao http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/should-airlines-charge-people-by-the-pound/comment-page-1/#comment-310 marguerite manteau-rao Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:00:07 +0000 http://www.maxgladwell.com/?p=348#comment-310 At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I say yes, airline passengers should be charged by the pound. Why should I bear the external cost of someone else's oversize body expanding past the armrest? There is also the issue of the burden placed on society as a whole, in terms of sky rocketing health care costs, unfair use of food resources, over-reliance on 'lazy', gas hungry mode of transportations, and resulting increased carbon emissions. Not that I don't empathize with the plight of overweight folks. It ain't easy getting out of the obesity cycle, within our current cultural context. While I am at it, I would also emphasize another way of being more efficient with our food use: http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/americans-waste-one-quarter-of-their-food/ At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I say yes, airline passengers should be charged by the pound. Why should I bear the external cost of someone else’s oversize body expanding past the armrest? There is also the issue of the burden placed on society as a whole, in terms of sky rocketing health care costs, unfair use of food resources, over-reliance on ‘lazy’, gas hungry mode of transportations, and resulting increased carbon emissions.

Not that I don’t empathize with the plight of overweight folks. It ain’t easy getting out of the obesity cycle, within our current cultural context.

While I am at it, I would also emphasize another way of being more efficient with our food use:

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/americans-waste-one-quarter-of-their-food/

]]> By: Tonight's Word: U.S. Airweighs | Max Gladwell http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/should-airlines-charge-people-by-the-pound/comment-page-1/#comment-302 Tonight's Word: U.S. Airweighs | Max Gladwell Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:44:37 +0000 http://www.maxgladwell.com/?p=348#comment-302 [...] of Social MediaGreen & Clean Mom on Be a Beacon: The First Principle of Social MediaErin on Should Airlines Charge People by the Pound?The Wiki Philosophy of Jimmy Wales | Max Gladwell on Wikia Search Has the Results You WantLynn from [...] [...] of Social MediaGreen & Clean Mom on Be a Beacon: The First Principle of Social MediaErin on Should Airlines Charge People by the Pound?The Wiki Philosophy of Jimmy Wales | Max Gladwell on Wikia Search Has the Results You WantLynn from [...]

]]> By: Erin http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/should-airlines-charge-people-by-the-pound/comment-page-1/#comment-299 Erin Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:07:38 +0000 http://www.maxgladwell.com/?p=348#comment-299 Those who are overweight absolutely should pay a surcharge. Airplane fuel consumption is directly tied to the aircraft's total gross weight. Why should I, who weighs 125 pounds at 5'9" and causes less drag, pay the same amount as someone the same height who weighs 200 or 250 pounds? To keep things simple, charging only those who need a seatbelt extender seems reasonable -- even though it probably would let many who are overweight off the hook. As an alternative, the airlines could set total weight limits: the person plus his/her bags. Anyone over the limit pays extra; the number of bags per person would be restricted only according to how it impacts the total weight figure. Those who are overweight absolutely should pay a surcharge. Airplane fuel consumption is directly tied to the aircraft’s total gross weight. Why should I, who weighs 125 pounds at 5’9″ and causes less drag, pay the same amount as someone the same height who weighs 200 or 250 pounds? To keep things simple, charging only those who need a seatbelt extender seems reasonable — even though it probably would let many who are overweight off the hook. As an alternative, the airlines could set total weight limits: the person plus his/her bags. Anyone over the limit pays extra; the number of bags per person would be restricted only according to how it impacts the total weight figure.

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