However for the no status / low status passengers although in my opinion there's a baseline revenue target per seat airlines would like to hit and therefore we probably won't see discounts for skinny customers or children, penalizing overweight passengers for an added revenue stream seems entirely realistic. Airlines already hit no status/low status customers with a long lost of contrived fees for everything from picking your seat, slightly better legroom, boarding position and luggage count. Piling on another fee would be profitable and no doubt heartily embraced if it can be disguised as a safety concern.
No, because other factors bring in orders of magnitude more money, which is why airlines cater to business travelers that buy expensive tickets last minute, not leisure travelers, that buy tickets months in advance. Weight (and the cost of fuel to move it) is only one of many factors that contribute to the total cost of airline tickets.
> And people in low economic brackets would try to lose as much weight as possible, probably getting below healthy conditions just so they can travel cheaper.
If we take baggage fees as in indicator of cost, we could assume 50 lbs will cost or save you about $30. And people are going to not only lose weight, but lose so much to be unhealthy to save…60 bucks round trip on a once yearly vacation? If giving people $60 a year to lose weight is real, we have just discovered a way to save billions on healthcare.