Survey Reveals People Like Airline ‘Fat’ Tax

A recent survey shows that more than three-quarters of passengers feel that overweight passengers should be penalised with a ‘fat tax’. Data from a travel comparison website indicates that the new tax, which was put into effect at Air France last week, is increasing in popularity.

Air France, last week, began charging its larger passengers for a second seat if their size prohibits them from sitting in one seat. The airline stated that the new system, which affords a 25 percent discount on the second seat, will allow these obese passengers to receive a full refund if their flight is not completely full upon arrival at their destination.

Out of 550 people polled on the survey, less than a quarter of them disagreed with the new policy, especially when the second seat was given at a discounted rate. Some even suggested that the extra fee be calculated according to the person’s weight and amount of baggage.

Ryanair pushed the idea last year, when the airline considered charging obese passengers for a second seat after over 30,000 of the airline’s passengers voted in favour of the move on an online survey. The move by Air France comes out of an incident last year in which the airline was ordered to pay £5,000 to a passenger weighing 27 stone who had had his waist measured while at airport check-in and was told to purchase a second seat onboard his already booked flight.

The ‘fat tax’, despite obviously popular with other passengers, will still be a sensitive issue for airlines to deal with, as they will not want to alienate any of their heavier clientele. Some argue that the responsibility lies with the airlines to resize their standard seat sizes to accommodate all their passengers more effectively.