Should airlines charge you by your weight?

by Grant Martin on

With all of the cutbacks and extra fees in the airline industry over the past few months, it’s difficult not to think about weight on an aircraft per passenger. That’s why airlines unilaterally increased baggage fees earlier this year — more weight requires more fuel which is makes the flight more expensive to operate. If you can encourage passengers to pack lighter or less, the carrier will save money.

But what if airlines charged by not only the weight of the luggage but also by the weight of the passenger? One analyst consulted by the popular world and economics website Bloomberg has ventured into the uncharted territory of charging by passenger weight. Robert Mann, aviation consultant at R.W. Mann & Co suggests that it’s the “next logical step”, given that airlines are basically treating passengers and their luggage alike as freight.

So you would step up to the ticket counter, weigh your checked luggage, send it away then weigh yourself and your carry on to determine your ticket price. You and your luggage weigh 200 lbs? Your ticket is 200$. You and your luggage weigh 300? 300$.

Admittedly, the article speaks with another aviation consultant, David Swierenga, who points out how unrealistic the idea is — and since Bloomberg is a careful media source I imagine they didn’t elaborate on purpose.

Why would this idea never work? America is overweight. We would FLIP OUT if a policy like this was ever adopted, the airline in question would get the pants sued off of it and the carrier would be dead before it even started. It’s not too hard to portray “charging by weight” as “discrimination against overweight people”.

Airlines will just have to keep coming up with other crafty ideas to make profit until jet fuel returns to normal. Stay tuned for the next ridiculous fees that they come up with.

Naomi Campbell faces five charges for her bad airport behavior

by Anna Brones on

Remember the Naomi Campbell incident back in early April? If you need your memory refreshed, Campbell was arrested after causing a scene over misplaced luggage in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Now Campbell is being faced with five different charges in connection with the alleged assault of a police officer who was called in to deal with her melt down, reports The Guardian.

Not that I am a fan of celebrity gossip, but I think we can use this as a good reminder of what airplane-induced stress can bring to you if it goes too far. Campbell is being charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of using threatening and abusive words towards the cabin crew.

I am sure that Campbell will be able to scrounge up some cash to pay for a good lawyer, but keep all this in mind next time you want to lose your cool over luggage. Refrain from attacking people and wait for your misplaced luggage in a timely manner, then you won’t find yourself having to appear in front of a court with a good defensive argument for your crazy behavior.

American Airlines to charge for FIRST checked bag

by Grant Martin on

Ouch. AMR corp just announced that they’re going to start charging for the first checked bag on all of their American Airlines and American Eagle flights, effective for tickets purchased on or after June 15.

And so ends the era of free checked baggage on airlines. I wonder how long it will be before the other major airlines follow suit?

I can already see the ruckus of carry-on baggage now. Right after the liquids ban, I remember getting on aircraft and seeing nearly empty overhead compartments — everyone wanted to check their luggage so that they could bring their 10 oz toothpaste with them. Things gradually returned to normal loads as people have adapted to the 100ml rule.

Now, since nobody wants to pay an extra 15$, everyone is going to want to bring their luggage aboard, overhead compartments are going to jam up, people with giant luggage are going to clog up space and passengers are going to get testy.

Of course the new rule doesn’t apply to elites, but as several people on the underground pointed out, it really affects everyone on the aircraft. If the overhead compartments are full and the flight spends an extra 15 minutes on the ground sorting out luggage issues and appeasing passengers, the entire plane is late, right?

Madrid airport luggage handlers smuggle 17 kilos of cocaine into Spain

by Abha Malpani on

4 luggage handlers at Madrid Barajas Airport have been arrested for smuggling cocaine into Spain by taking advantage of their position and access to luggage that is unloaded off air crafts.

A bag with over 17 kilograms(!) of cocaine was loaded onto the plane from an unspecified destination. The “loaders” then contacted their friends who worked at Barajas with identification details of the bag that had the drug. Once the bag arrived at Barajas, the luggage handlers picked it up and sent it to the person responsible for delivering missing luggage to its owners (who was also part of the scheme) — this is how they had planned to get it out of the airport. Sounds too easy to be possible, eh?

It seems like this wasn’t the first time it has happened, but the first time they’ve been caught. It is unclear at what stage they got caught, and how.

Spain has a serious cocaine problem: 3% of adults in the country consume cocaine (even more than the US), making Spain the largest consumer in Europe.

Spain is very lax in many aspects: it’s rules are not applied stringently, especially at the airports the controls are quite loose, nobody seems to be really bothered. For example: I have American friends living here for years without papers, sin problema. Once, one of them got questioned on her overstay when she re-entered Spain from the US. She told them she had fallen in love, that’s why she didn’t go back when she should have. Apparently, the officer smiled and let her back into the country! It could have been her lucky day, but I still don’t think that’s acceptable.

Another example: smoking marijuana in public is illegal here (you can grow and smoke it at home!), yet every one does it — I don’t know anyone who has been caught.

In my opinion, no matter what soup you are in, if you look innocent, behave with the authorities, and are a little smart, you’ll probably get away with it in Spain. So it doesn’t surprise me that even authorities take advantage of this chilled attitude. I am glad they got caught. Hopefully this will make Barajas re-evaluate their procedures and tighten controls!

Next week: batteries banned from checked luggage

by Justin Glow on

Attention gadget-packing travelers: starting January 1, 2008, you will no longer be able to pack “loose lithium batteries” in your checked luggage, says the Department of Transportation. By loose, they mean either A) not attached to an electronic device in your checked luggage, or B) not in a zipped plastic baggy in your carry-on.

“Common consumer electronics such as travel cameras, cell phones, and most laptop computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage,” reads the report. “However, the rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries, such as laptop and professional audio/video/camera equipment lithium batteries in carry-on baggage.” Spare is the key word there.

For once, as Chris Elliott notes, this new regulation isn’t due to a terrorism threat. Instead, the ban is a safety precaution, as “lithium batteries are considered hazardous materials because they can overheat and ignite in certain conditions.”

In case the light-on-details report is unclear, this means that you can still bring your digital cameras and laptops on-board in your carry-on, but loose batteries — such as an extra one for your laptop or camera — must be limited to two, and placed in a plastic baggy if carried on. What isn’t clear is how the TSA will determine whether or not your audio, video, or camera equipment is “professional.” And if it’s not professional, is there still a limit on how many batteries you can bring on board?