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APIA PARK, Samoa — A controversial policy from a small Pacific airline that charges passengers according to their weight is causing a stir around the world Tuesday.
Samoa Air, which offers flights within Samoa as well as to some other Pacific Island nations, started the policy in January, citing concerns about both passenger size and plane size.
"Airlines don't run on seats, they run on weight, and particularly the smaller the aircraft you are in the less variance you can accept in terms of the difference in weight between passengers," CEO Chris Langton told an Australian radio station.
Langton said that "people generally are becoming much more weight conscious. That's a health issue in some areas. Samoa and some other Pacific nations are among the highest areas in the world for obesity, according to some sources.
The policy works like this, according to the Samoa Air website:
"Step 1. Select 'book online', and choose your flight
Step 2. Enter your details, including your estimated weight(s) of passengers and baggage
Step 3. Your airfare is then calculated using your weight.
Step 4. You travel happy, knowing full well that you are only paying for exactly what you weigh ... nothing more."
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That would mean a 240-pound person would pay roughly $450 for the most expensive route, but only about $100 for the cheapest.
Langton said that the entire airline industry would be looking at this model.
"There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future because anybody who travels has traveled at times when they feel like they have been paying for half of the passenger next to them," he said. "People are generally a little bit bigger, wider and taller than they were 40-50 years ago."
