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The holidays are in full swing and people are shopping, wrapping and packing to visit loved ones. Along with the extra fees for checked baggage and seat upgrades, some airlines are also considering weight-based pricing. A recent study out of the 91制片厂 looked at how people felt about weighing their baggage and themselves to help reduce emissions and found while over half of travelers are not keen about hopping on the scale, some would be open to the idea 鈥� especially if it aligns with their own interests in the environment.

鈥淲e wanted to explore how air travel could be made more sustainable, especially considering the weight we carry 鈥� both personal weight and baggage that often travels back and forth,鈥� said Markus Schuckert, professor of hospitality management. 鈥淲e wondered if reducing weight overall could contribute to more eco-friendly air travel and began questioning whether passengers might accept pricing that reflects this.鈥�

In their study, recently published in the journal of , researchers surveyed over 1,000 U.S. air travelers to gauge their view on three potential fare policies that provided a more sustainable flying option. The heavier the aircraft, the more jet fuel it burns and the more carbon emissions are produced so they devised a tier approach 鈥� a standard policy where all passengers pay a uniform price; a threshold policy where passengers exceeding a certain weight pay additional fees; and a unit-of-body-weight policy where each passenger鈥檚 airfare is based on their combined body and baggage weight.

The standard policy was the most accepted approach across all demographics, with more than half of respondents rating it as the most ethical option. Nearly 60% of participants voiced concerns about weight-based policies, citing potential fairness issues and the risk of discrimination, especially around factors like nutrition, income and accessibility which often influence body weight.

Those who were more in favor of weight-based policies tended to be younger with those ages 18-35 accepting weight-based pricing almost 20 percentage points more than travelers who were 66 and older. Additionally, travelers with higher incomes or frequent flyer status were 25% more likely to support weight-based policies than those in lower income brackets or who didn鈥檛 travel as much.

The idea of weight-based pricing touches on some key concerns for airlines 鈥� specifically, the balance between environmental impact and customer privacy. This concept can be polarizing and has yet to gain traction with most airlines due to ethical concerns.

Researchers say the study isn鈥檛 meant to be an endorsement of such policies, it just makes sense from a research perspective to investigate whether the idea offers a pathway to reduce emissions for a more sustainable air travel 鈥� and if passengers would accept these changes.

鈥淭his topic has been widely discussed for decades, but there鈥檚 surprisingly little research on it,鈥� said Schuckert. 鈥淪ome airlines have tried or considered weight-based policies, but the main roadblock remains ethical concerns, which make it difficult to even discuss. But if we aim to make air travel more sustainable, we should have an open discussion. That鈥檚 really the point of research 鈥� to put everything on the table for consideration.鈥�

Researchers say future studies could look at alternative ways to incentivize lighter travel or new approaches to sustainability that avoid discrimination and support both environmental and social responsibility.

Co- authors include Lorenzo听Masiero and Judit听Zoltan, both from the University of Bologna, Italy; Denis听Tolkach, James Cook University, Australia; Stephen听Pratt, University of Central Florida; Matias Thuen听J酶rgensen, Roskilde University, Denmark;听and Kaye听Chon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

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