Airlines now charging FATTIES more!
Obese passengers flying with Air France will have to pay an extra Euro or two just for being slightly overweight. This news comes following the introduction of new rules and will come into effect after 1st April. No this is not a ‘April Fools Day’ Joke!!
In future this man, if flying Air France, would have to pay extra. Thankfully for this photo he is sitting in the middle of the plane. Initially he did have a windo seat but the plane kept going around in circles so he was shifted to the isle seat.
Company spokeswoman Monique Matze told AFP passengers who were unable to squeeze into a single aeroplane seat would have to pay 75 per cent of the cost of a second seat.
Being slightly built I am all for this law and will be flying Air France on my next trip from Tauranga to Christchurch. However, what would be better would be a weight limit per person. By this I mean every person on the plane should be allowed 100kg to take on board.
The system would work like this. If you weigh 80kg you can take 20kg of luggage. If you are built like a racing snake and weigh 60kg you get the luxury of 40kg of luggage. If however, your favourite food is KFC and you weigh 120kg, well you would have to buy ‘Fat Man’s Credits’. These are similar to Carbon Credits and could be purchased prior to flying either through the airline or off other passengers. Buying off other passengers would be my preference and would create a small but profitable business for some people. For instance the young man who was 60kg in the previous paragraph might only have 20kg of luggage. If this was the case he could then sell his other 20kg as Fat Man’s Credits’ to anyone who was slightly overweight.
In light of this new law I am currently writing this blog while running on my treadmill and living on a diet of Special K breakfast cereal. My hope is that before next weekend Air New Zealand will have implemented a similar law and I will be down to 65kg with 15 Fat Man’s Credits ready for sale. Current price is $3.50 per credit.. Any takers???
He’s not just a fattie, he’s a biggie.
The 100kg system makes sense, and all they would have to do is get people to stand on the scales with all their luggage. I’ve always wanted to do that. It wouldn’t be embarrassing for heavy people, as long as they were holding a bag or had a piece of luggage. They could stick “contains heavy books or iron weights” labels on their carry-on so as to fool people as to their true weight.
However, it doesn’t solve the issue in the above picture.
Clearly, they need to allocate TWO seats, and have the middle bar be removable so he could fit in. Also, they would need the ability to remove the two seats in front because he is possibly too bulky to get in the seat anyway. That would then be a four seat ticket, and he should get 4 times the frequent flyer points, not to mention being served 4 meals.
“Would you like the beef, chicken, fish AND vegan meal sir?”
“Yes please. I’ll have the vegan first. I’m on a diet.”
Hey – In for a penny, in for a pound.
You raise some good points Zen. My son is now above 2 years of age and I make sure we get our money worth on any flight by forcing him to get what ever food is on offer!!
This issue is a big one (excuse the pun) and perhaps Air France has jumped the gun. Do they get double the luggage allocation if they pay for two seats?? What happens if the pilot is slightly over weight or even the flight attendants?
Yes, I think it should be 100kg per seat, plus 2 meals and double the frequent flyer points.
The pilot and attendees are paid to be there, so they would presumably have to accept a deduction in salary if they are over the 100kg limit. Maybe that’s too negative, and they should get a bonus for being under 60kg? Who says extreme starvation doesn’t pay?