What! Fat Tax?

Should airlines charge obese passengers a ‘fat tax’?

I was intrigued by the announcement from Ryanair last week that it was considering imposing a ‘fat tax’ on passengers who exceeded certain limits on weight and/or waist size. I think there is a very good reason why they are talking about this and not actually doing it and that is because the legal and moral headaches would cost them a lot of time and money. Despite this, as Britain’s obesity epidemic takes hold there may be a chance that all airlines will set some size or weight limits in the future, once they have explored the law and tested customer attitudes. This is still some way off though.

I know that many airlines in the US tackle this problem by requiring obese passengers to buy two economy seats but give them a refund for one seat if the plane is not full.
The interesting aspect of the Ryanair story is that it wasn’t just about a penny-pinching firm being mean, the idea came from the airline’s passengers. An online poll found that one in three, or 30,000 people favoured charging excess weight fees for very large passengers. Those for it say that apart from the discomfort for large passengers and those around them, there are safety implications.
“People who are obese need help to enable them to make healthy lifestyle changes like modifying their diet and increasing their fitness levels,” said a British Medical Association spokesman in response to the Ryanair announcement. What they don’t need is to be penalised and discriminated against.” The chairman of the National Obesity Forum, Dr David Haslam, said: “They cannot put an extra charge on being overweight or obese. It is discriminatory and will not happen.”

The proposed Ryanair fat tax would apply to every kg over 130kg/20 stone for men and 100kg/15 stone for women; every waist inch over 45 inches for men and 40 inches for women; every point in excess of 40 points on the Body Mass Index (+30 points is obese); or for a second seat if a passenger’s waist touches both armrests.

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: “In all cases we’ve limits at very high levels so that a fat tax will only apply to those really large passengers who invade the space of the passengers sitting beside them. These charges, if introduced, might also act as an incentive to some of our very large passengers to lose a little weight and hopefully feel a little lighter and healthier. The revenues from any such fat tax will be used to lower the airfares for all Ryanair passengers yet further.”

Ryanair is already considering a £1 charge for passengers to use the on-board loos, something which I believe will never be allowed legally and which was designed to get them some newspaper headlines. Other suggestions in their customer poll included a charge for allowing smoking in the loo or a fee for special loo paper featuring the face of controversial Ryanair boss Tony O’Leary. Need I say more?
Your money or your life…. But the airline industry is not the only one facing the obesity issue. Last year, insurance firms announced that life insurance policies would cost up to 50% more for obese applicants. Britain’s biggest life insurer, Legal & General, confirmed that 13% of new applicants face paying the higher premiums, which apply to anyone with a body mass index of 30 or higher, the point at which people are declared medically obese. At Norwich Union, the second largest life insurer, premiums start rising once the BMI hits 35. Friends Provident, the third largest insurer, begins “loading” premiums when the BMI is over 33. This is in line with higher premiums for those who smoke or have previous or existing medical conditions. In one recent case, a 37-year-old man told his insurer he was 6ft and weighed 16 stone. Just five months later, he died from a blood clot – but the claim was rejected after discovering he was actually 5ft 9in and 21 stone. If it had know the truth, the insurer said it would have increased his premium by 275%.