Is pricing a plane ticket based on the passenger's weight fair? If you're taking an international flight on Samoa Air today, your fare will be based on your weight, along with that of your luggage. The cost is 93 cents to $1.06 for each kilogram. The average American woman weighs 75.5 kilograms, far from the ideal weight for her average height. Her ticket on Samoa Air, at the $1 a kilogram rate, would cost $75.50. But let's be honest here. Since the average American woman is overweight, the ticket will cost her more. Samoa Air Chief Executive Chris Langton said, "Planes are run by weight and not by seat. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid."He believes other airlines should adopt the policy. It' s not a new idea. I remember a newspaper columnist years ago who put forth the idea that the heavier among us should pay more for their seats on planes, trains and buses. Who hasn' t been squeezed into a middle seat between two plus-sized folks on a flight? It' s happened to me; one time my married seatmates had purposefully chosen their seats to have more space until a sold-out flight put me between them. Not one of my better flying experiences. What if such a policy is adopted by some airlines in the United States? Could such pricing provide a much-needed motivation for Americans to reduce body weight? I hope so. But, as we know, more than one-third of us are obese and another third are overweight. The high probability is that the heavy customers will not suddenly lose weight or stop flying, but will instead choose a different airline, simply moving the supposed problem elsewhere. There's no doubt that the heavier will suffer more discrimination  . Discrimination against the overweight in the United States has increased by 66 percent over the last decade --"and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women,"wrote Yale University researcher Rebecca M. Puhl. Your weight can affect your salary, your chances for employment, how others view you and even, now, your air fares. "If the policy succeeds it may encourage the spread of body discrimination across different industries and the wider culture," said one British editorial writer. He holds that it is companies' duty to provide equipment that meet the needs of their customers. And we'll see how effective it is as a business model. Which best describes the British editorial writer's attitude to Samoa Air's policy?
Optimistic. Defensive. Disapproving. Casual.
Question: Is pricing a plane ticket based on the passenger's weight fair? If you're taking an international flight on Samoa Air today, your fare will be based on your weight, along with that of your luggage. The cost is 93 cents to $1.06 for each kilogram. The average American woman weighs 75.5 kilograms, far from the ideal weight for her average height. Her ticket on Samoa Air, at the $1 a kilogram rate, would cost $75.50. But let's be honest here. Since the average American woman is overweight, the ticket will cost her more. Samoa Air Chief Executive Chris Langton said, "Planes are run by weight and not by seat. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid."He believes other airlines should adopt the policy. It' s not a new idea. I remember a newspaper columnist years ago who put forth the idea that the heavier among us should pay more for their seats on planes, trains and buses. Who hasn' t been squeezed into a middle seat between two plus-sized folks on a flight? It' s happened to me; one time my married seatmates had purposefully chosen their seats to have more space until a sold-out flight put me between them. Not one of my better flying experiences. What if such a policy is adopted by some airlines in the United States? Could such pricing provide a much-needed motivation for Americans to reduce body weight? I hope so. But, as we know, more than one-third of us are obese and another third are overweight. The high probability is that the heavy customers will not suddenly lose weight or stop flying, but will instead choose a different airline, simply moving the supposed problem elsewhere. There's no doubt that the heavier will suffer more discrimination  . Discrimination against the overweight in the United States has increased by 66 percent over the last decade --"and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women,"wrote Yale University researcher Rebecca M. Puhl. Your weight can affect your salary, your chances for employment, how others view you and even, now, your air fares. "If the policy succeeds it may encourage the spread of body discrimination across different industries and the wider culture," said one British editorial writer. He holds that it is companies' duty to provide equipment that meet the needs of their customers. And we'll see how effective it is as a business model. Which best describes the British editorial writer's attitude to Samoa Air's policy?
A. Optimistic.
B. Defensive.
C. Disapproving.
D. Casual.
Answer: