I would be okay with this only if they also gave me appropriate seating for my height. Being tall has had some benefits, but I'm constantly annoyed by the consequences.

This would be great but how on earth would we get people to comply? We can't even get people to wear masks in stores right now without throwing a tantrum. People would like lie like crazy regarding their weight. Heck, my driver license is 25lbs lower than I currently am.

I guess you could alleviate the embarrassment factor by making it a total passenger + baggage max so people could weigh themselves AND their carryons at home before they arrive to confirm and offset anything.

Interesting idea though!

On tiny planes, like the ones that go between islands in the Pacific, they weigh everyone (with hand baggage) when checking in. This is in order to load the plane evenly.

Absolutely. They don't have baggage scales there, they have bathroom scales.

the same way they enforce baggage requirements. When money's involved, the enforcement will happen.

Maybe you buy "x kg plus or minus 5 kg" and they weigh you and penalize/refund if it's changed since buying the ticket.

> refund

Ha, good one.

Not sure why you're getting the downvotes. If I pay for a 25kg bag instead of 20kg, and I don't use the extra, I definitely do not get a refund.

Interesting ... weighting yourself could be optional. And if you are below some mark/average, you'd receive a discount voucher for future flight. As a result, this airliner would be attracting lighter/leaner customers, which would save fuel costs.

Passengers are weighed in Samoa.

I think it should be. It is an industry where the weight of the goods is very closely tied to the cost, which isn’t really the case for car or train travel (obviously weight is a factor but 30 lbs plus or minus isn’t changing the cost to get you there by 10-20%). They already weigh your bags and charge you based on that (usually $30 for anything under 50 lbs and something like $70 for over 5o lbs).

I think the backlash to them charging extra if you and your total bags comes in “overweight” would be too high to work. Even if people weren’t offended, you wouldn’t really be able to have a good idea how much extra you’d be hit with until you were at the gate. But if they did some sort of discount refund or maybe a voucher for future flights, that might work. Start weighing the checked bags and noting the exact weight (instead of just over-under 50 lbs) and then stepping on a scale with your carryon luggage (with no outward display) and totaling them. If you are under the average, you get a voucher credited to your account on a sliding scale by how much you are under. If you are over the average or you choose not to be weighed, nothing changes and you have only paid the full fare like normal.

I lost 40 kg at some point - then you see what they charge for baggage (yes, yes, baggage handling has costs) and think you should get a discount

The reason they don't want you to take much baggage is that the airlines are major freight carriers. Your baggage is competing for space with parcels.

Many airlines already require obese passengers to pay for two seats.

This would obviously be socially unacceptable, but airlines do already charge for weight in other ways – baggage weight, large item surcharges, hand luggage charges, etc.

And overflowing into a neighbor's seat is somehow socially acceptable. Go figure.