General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Samoa Air has become the world's first airline to implement "pay as you weigh" [View all]A HERETIC I AM
(24,365 posts)"How much they pay has no effect on the flight."
You're right. It doesn't. But how much they weigh most certainly DOES have an effect on the flight.
The airplane doesn't care if it is carrying people or 6 foot long bags of wet sand with sticks in them (which is analogous to a human body). It is all the same to the wing loading and fuel burn. The heavier the airplane, the more fuel it burns getting off the ground and climbing to altitude.
If you want to ship 5000 Lbs of wet sand on an airplane the size of a Brittan Norman, they should be able to charge you a freight rate that makes sense to the airline.
The fact of the matter is, those aircraft are not large jetliners. They are small airplanes with limited lift capability. If carrying 4 large people instead of carrying 6 average people means they lose money, then I am all for them NOT losing money.