Passengers to be weighted for a Hawaii - Samoa flight route.

[The Larch]

Why? Because the airline was using way more fuel than expected in the route because the passengers were heavier than expected. In the inmortal words of Jules Winfield:

I wouldn't go so far as to call the brother fat, I mean he got a weight problem. What's the nigger gonna do? He's Samoan.

An American airline wins the right to weigh passengers on its Samoan route

A sensitive issue for an island with one of the highest rates of obesity in the world
(...)
The problem for Hawaiian Airlines began when the carrier discovered it was burning through more fuel than anticipated on its route between Honolulu and the small Pacific island territory of American Samoa, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The airline ruled out explanations like strong winds and decided to conduct a voluntary survey among its passengers on the route. The results were clear: passengers and their carry-on luggage were, on average, 30 pounds (14 kilograms) heavier than expected.

So Hawaiian Airlines instituted a new policy. People flying between Honolulu and American Samoa would no longer be able to select their seats before arriving at the airport. Instead, they would be assigned seats when they checked in so that the carrier could distribute their weight evenly around the plane.

This is something of a sensitive issue for Samoans, who have among the highest rates of obesity in the world. Some of them felt the airline's move was discriminatory; six complaints have been filed to the U.S. Department of Transportation since September 29th.

Samoans can't be entirely surprised by Hawaiian Airlines' move, since Samoa Air in 2013 became the first airline to charge passengers by weight. (Another commercial airline, Uzbekistan Airways, also began weighing passengers last year, but it does not charge different amounts based on flyers' heft.) Still, the people making the complaints argue that Hawaiian's decision is discriminatory because it applies only to that one route, most of whose passengers are Samoan or of Samoan descent.

The department disagreed, and ruled in favour of the airline. Hawaiian told the Associated Press that it had conducted passenger weight surveys on other flight routes, but had scrapped seat pre-selection only on the American Samoa route because the others showed no evidence of excess weight.

Airline officials see the move as critical for safety. If heavy adults all cluster in one part of the plane, they say, that could pose a hazard in the event of a crash landing. And so they are trying to keep at least one seat open in each row or fill those seats with children.

[Berkut]

ZOMG PROFILING

[DGuller]

Every airline should just charge people by the weight of their body and their luggage (plus some fixed fee).  Enough of this ridiculous dash to overhead compartments when boarding and exiting.

[alfred russel]

I'm sure this was a decision the Department of Transportation did not take lightly.

[derspiess]

I love Samoans, but boy do they love to eat.  The airline was probably left with no choice.

[CountDeMoney]

Airline officials see the move as critical for safety. If heavy adults all cluster in one part of the plane, they say, that could pose a hazard in the event of a crash landing.

Said no NTSB crash investigator ever.

And so they are trying to keep at least one seat open in each row or fill those seats with children.

Because seat cushions aren't enough.

[11B4V]

Racist and fat shaming.

[Josquius]

Every airline should just charge people by the weight of their body and their luggage (plus some fixed fee).  Enough of this ridiculous dash to overhead compartments when boarding and exiting.

Flying is already an unfairly much better experience for the short.  This would just make it even worse for tall people.

Though doing something about people who are grossly overweight seems fair.  That's a bit more controllable than being merely naturally big.

[Admiral Yi]

Flying is already an unfairly much better experience for the short.  This would just make it even worse for tall people.

Though doing something about people who are grossly overweight seems fair.  That's a bit more controllable than being merely naturally big.

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you homo socialisticus.

[Ed Anger]

Every airline should just charge people by the weight of their body and their luggage (plus some fixed fee).  Enough of this ridiculous dash to overhead compartments when boarding and exiting.

How plebian.

[11B4V]

Every airline should just charge people by the weight of their body and their luggage (plus some fixed fee).  Enough of this ridiculous dash to overhead compartments when boarding and exiting.

How plebian.

Motorized scooter weight counts in the total.

[CountDeMoney]

Motorized scooter weight counts in the total.

Ed keeps the scooter's lap tray down.  Gets too fiddly to keep putting it back up.

[MadImmortalMan]

Flying is already an unfairly much better experience for the short.  This would just make it even worse for tall people.

Though doing something about people who are grossly overweight seems fair.  That's a bit more controllable than being merely naturally big.

And the chavs were all kept equal. With hatchet, axe, and saw. 

[garbon]

How will they be weighted?

[The Brain]

How will they be weighted?

1 Samoan = 3 norms