Does weighing airline passengers make sense?

Much of this ties into exactly what in said in my "Even an idiot has his day" editorial. Does that small amount of weight add up to create a fuel-wasting money sink for airlines? If one uses simple logic and reason, probably not. My guess is that this is a ploy by airlines to get more money. If you have a 747 at full capacity with 400 passengers who are all 30 pounds overweight, that adds 12,000 pounds of extra weight. That might seem significant, but when the vehicle itself weighs somewhere around 400,000 pounds, that means that the extra weight added amounts to roughly 1/35th at optional takeoff weight and 1/80th at maximum takeoff. A 747 has a maximum takeoff weight of between 780,000 - 970,000 pounds and an optional takeoff weight at 400,000 pounds, plus or minus a few pounds depending on the model.

Of course, you have idiotic shits like Daniel Hamermesh (of freakanomics fame) saying that charging passengers by weight makes perfect sense. Well no shit it makes sense from an economic standpoint, it means more money. Duh! But does the science support it? Not really. Slowing down your airspeed does make sense, as you exponentially use more fuel per second to run engines at higher and higher speeds. But the addition of 1/35th to 1/80th is such an insignificant amount of weight that the difference can only be described as negligible at best. We're talking about pennies on the dollar here, folks. Now, if it was 1/16th to 1/40th (meaning that each passenger is 60 pounds overweight), then that might be a problem, but such a scenario is highly unlikely. You should also keep in mind that these figures are assuming that every single one of the 400 passengers is overweight. Furthermore, what if you are simply tall? I'm 6'3" and I weigh about 190 pounds, which is average for my height. Are you trying to tell me I will have to pay more because I'm taller? Even though it is the airlines that have shrunk the size of the seats to cram more passengers on there in the first place? I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. Especially since none of the tests to find ideal weight are anywhere near correct. (according to several, I should weight 165-170 pounds. at that weight, I would be emaciated)

I've got a much better idea. We take the CEO pay for these airlines and reduce it $40,000 a year. This is on par with what most firefighters and teachers make, let alone pilots. Considering these CEOs can't seem to keep their fucking business afloat without government bailouts, these CEOs should not be able to reap big bucks until they can finally get their business straight.

GORDON GEKKO: "Greed for lack of a better word - is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit."

BILL MOYERS: Gordon Gekko's words were ringing in my ears the other day as Northwest Airlines emerged from bankruptcy.

After 20 months of restructuring the company, CEO Doug Steenland rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange.

DOUG STEENLAND: The best way to secure job security, the best way to secure security of your pensions and the best way to increase standards of living is for the airline to be very successful and profitable."

BILL MOYERS: And if you feather your own nest in the process---more power to you. On top of Steenland's salary, reported at half a million dollars or more last year, he will get a total compensation package of $26.6 million in stock.

That's $5.8 million in stock options and $20.8 million worth of restricted stock that will vest over the next four years. And his official next-of-kin — the company's four Executive Vice Presidents - were offered more than 10 million dollars each, on top of their salaries, if they stay on for four years.

Oh, yes, Gary Wilson, the outgoing chairman — who already has $21 million dollars from stock he cashed in just before the bankruptcy — will get a two million-dollar good-bye gift plus medical and dental insurance for life — that's right — for life.

As for the folks who merely fly the planes, fix the engines, and serve those meals — I mean, snacks — well, they took pay cuts of 20 to 40 percent, as well as curtailed medical benefits, fewer days off and frozen pensions.

JUDITH FISHER, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: When you have veteran employees that have given a lifetime of commitment to service and good employment to this employer. It made me really really angry. Very sick to my stomach when I my pension has been cut and frozen.

BILL MOYERS: No wonder Northwest pilots, flight attendants and machinists were out in protest on the steps of the Minnesota state capitol last week.

To keep the airline aloft, pilots increased their working hours by as much as 20 percent while taking a pay cut of 40 percent.

PROTESTORS: We built these airlines, we built this company. Let's take it back today.

BILL MOYERS: To make ends meet, pilot Ron Hay has to sell his house and move his family back to his wife's hometown in Texas.

RON HAY, NORTHWEST PILOT: Our CEO's $26.6 million is one complete annual payment to our pension fund. Our pension fund could be one more step closer to whole. The $25 million is probably in excess any funds needed to bring us back down to a medical benefit that we wouldn't have to pay anything.
- Source

video of the excerpt above