Air carriers looking at ‘weighty’ issues
Overweight American airline passengers are no threat to safety but obesity is becoming a problem for cost-conscious carriers.
“A little extra weight means a little extra cost for the airline,” said 6News.WLNS.com.
With Americans steadily getting heavier, airlines have to carry more weight. That’s no problem for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which factors it into its calculations.
But airlines are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs to carry the added bulk.
“The average weight of all Americans has gone up by about 10 pounds over the past decade, so the cost of fuel has gone up,” said Dr. Andrew Dannenberg with the Centers for Disease Control. He said the problem is not so much large people flying as it is the average weight of all fliers that has increased.
Some airlines such as Southwest are now requiring what they call “customers of size” to pay for two seats instead of one.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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