Southwest Airlines Targets Fat People

Heavy duty participants in the National Strategic Fat Preserve, be warned, if you fly Southwest Airlines and if you appear unable to fit in a seat with the armrests down, you will likely be told that you need to buy an extra ticket if you want to fly.

Some people seem to think this is some form of discrimination.

What I think is I find airplane seats uncomfortable enough. I'd be miserable stuck next to someone for 4 hours who was oozing into my space, who made it difficult to get to the aisle en route to the restroom facility.

Why should a little person like me, a mere 172 pounds of me, pay the same as a person weighing 400 pounds? It takes way less airplane fuel to haul me 4000 miles than it takes to haul a 400 pounder. Why should I subsidize the airfare of a hugely obese person? How is it fair for a hugely obese person to fly for the same price as me?

I'm thinking the only fair thing would be to make all airfares based on poundage. Your personal weight plus whatever luggage you're dragging with you times a fixed amount per pound per mile.

For instance, if Southwest Airlines charged .0005087 per pound per mile, at 172 pounds, flying a roundtrip of 4000 miles it would cost me about $350. While the 400 pounder would pay $813.92.

Doesn't it makes good sense that your airfare be based on your share of the fuel consumed to haul your heft through the sky? And what a great incentive for some of our biggest fat banks to start drawing down on the National Strategic Fat Preserve.