...Now here is an issue, maybe if Airline base fares on your weight, it will encourage Fat Asses (like myself at about 190 or so) to lose some of this bulk! Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA Fan of other incentive other than my wife's nagging to lose weight! --- lafrance@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > Big thorn in UAL's side: fat fliers > Bulky passengers weigh down planes, push up fuel > costs = > > > > (AP) =97 Heavy suitcases aren't the only things > weighing down airplanes = > and requiring them to burn more fuel, pushing up the > cost of flights. A n= > ew government study reveals that airlines > increasingly have to worry more= > about the weight of their passengers. = > > America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom > lines of airline comp= > anies as the extra pounds on passengers are causing > a drag on planes. Hea= > vier fliers have created heftier fuel costs, > according to the government = > study. = > > > = > > continued below > > Advertisement = > > > = > > = > > > > = > > Fuel is the second largest expense UAL Corp.=92s > United Airlines faces, b= > ehind labor costs. Rising oil prices, which topped > $55 per barrel of crud= > e oil recently, will cause United=92s fuel costs to > rise by about $150 mi= > llion for the second half of 2004, bringing its > total fuel costs $1.2 bil= > lion over budget for the year. The Elk Grove > Township-based carrier antic= > ipates that its 2005 fuel expenses will be $475 > million higher than previ= > ously estimated, according to a filing with a U.S. > Bankruptcy Court in Ch= > icago last month (ChicagoBusiness.com,. Oct. 27). = > > Larger loads > > Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans > increased by 10 pounds= > , according to the Centers for Disease Control and > Prevention. The extra = > weight caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn > 350 million more gal= > lons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the additional > weight of Americans, th= > e federal agency estimated in a recent issue of the > American Journal of P= > reventive Medicine. = > > > "The obesity epidemic has unexpected consequences > beyond direct health ef= > fects," said Dr. Deron Burton of the CDC. "Our goal > was to highlight one = > area that had not been looked at before." = > > > The extra fuel burned also had an environmental > impact, as an estimated 3= > =2E8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide were > released into the air, acc= > ording to the study. = > > > The agency said its calculations are rough > estimates, issued to highlight= > previously undocumented consequences of the ongoing > obesity epidemic. = > > > The estimates were calculated by determining how > much fuel the 10 extra p= > ounds of weight per passenger represented in > Department of Transportation= > airline statistics, Burton said. = > > > Obesity is a life-or-death struggle in the United > States, the underlying = > cause of 400,000 deaths in 2000, a 33 percent jump > from 1990. If current = > trends persist, it will become the nation's No. 1 > cause of preventable de= > ath, the CDC said earlier this year. = > > > More than half =97 56 percent =97 of U.S. adults > were overweight or obese= > in the early 1990s, according to a CDC survey. That > rose to 65 percent i= > n a similar survey done from 1999 to 2002. = > > > Although the Air Transport Association of America > has not yet validated t= > he CDC data, spokesman Jack Evans said the health > agency's appraisal "doe= > s not sound out of the realm of reality." = > > > With most airlines reporting losses blamed partly on > record-high fuel cos= > ts, everything on an airplane is now a weighty > issue. Airlines are doing = > everything they can to lighten the load on all > aircraft, from wide-body j= > ets to turboprops. Bulky magazines have gone out the > door. Metal forks an= > d spoons have been replaced with plastic. Large > carry-ons are being scrut= > inized and even heavy materials that used to make up > airplane seats are b= > eing replaced with plastic and other lightweight > materials. = > > > "We're dealing in a world of small numbers =97 even > though it has a very = > incremental impact" to reduce a 60- to 120-ton > aircraft's weight by bumpi= > ng off a few magazines, Evans said. "When you > consider airlines are flyin= > g millions of miles, it adds up over time." = > > > Although passenger bulk has been an issue in the > past =97 Dallas-based So= > uthwest Airlines requires large people to buy a > second seat for passenger= > safety and comfort =97 Evans says it's not likely > airlines will scrutini= > ze how much passengers weigh in the future. Instead, > they are trying to d= > o a better job of estimating passenger weight in > figuring out how much fu= > el they need for a flight. = > > > Seattle-based Alaska Airlines now calculates the > weight of children on fl= > ights, instead of using adult-weight formulas for > all passengers, Evans s= > aid. = > > > "Just like we don't control the costs of our fuel, > we don't control the w= > eights of our passengers," he said. "Passengers gain > weight, but airlines= > are the ones that go on a diet. It's part of the > conundrum we face right= > now." = > > > > > > Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights > reserved. This material may n= > ot be published, broadcast or redistributed. > > Previous Story | = > > > > Roger > EWROPS > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com