Airlines Look At Disturbing Ways To Increase Revenue

As airlines look to increase their profits any way they can, no idea may be too far-fetched... or, potentially demeaning. Among the ideas being bandied about by airline CEOs include elimination of cold drink service onboard flights, and charging passengers based on their weight.

"You listen to the airline CEOs, and nothing is beyond their imagination," Air Transport Association spokesman David Castelveter told Bloomberg. "They have already begun to think exotically. Nothing is not under the microscope."

Castelveter declined to name specific measures certain airlines may be taking... but it's not hard to imagine some extremes carriers may go to. After all, American will soon begin charging for all checked luggage, and US Airways recently eliminated snack service onboard its planes. Delta Air Lines charges $25 if passengers make their flight reservations over the phone.

Even carriers widely recognized for their customer service are considering radical steps. Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng recently said his airline -- which has seen its stock plummet 8.9 percent this year -- is "trying to eliminate unnecessary quantities of extra water" to save weight. That means no more ice cubes to cool your inflight beverage.

"When you hear some people talking about putting showers on their planes, that strikes me as counterintuitive," he added -- a reference to Emirates and Virgin Atlantic, two airlines that have spoken of equipping their Airbus A380s with showers.

Consultant Robert Mann says passengers may soon be greeted at the check-in kiosk with two sets of scales -- one for bags, the other for passengers -- as airlines consider adopting air fares tied to weight.

"If you look at the air-freight business, that's the way they've always done it," he said. "We're getting treated like air freight when we travel by airlines, anyway."

David Swierenga, president of Round Rock, TX-based consulting firm Aeroecon, disagrees. "Laughter aside, the airlines are just in a desperate situation," he said, adding weight-based ticket prices are unrealistic. "The solution lies in capacity cuts," Swierenga added.

That's a step many airlines are already taking, idling older planes to decrease the number of available seats -- which, in turn, increases the value of the seats available. Carriers are exploring a number of other ways to save fuel... from flying slower (several airlines, including Southwest) to washing planes more frequently to decrease wind resistance (Lufthansa) to using lighter dishes and silverware (JAL.)

The idea of weighing passengers, however, is one that keeps surfacing... though it likely poses an number of ethical questions, as well as fair trade issues. One major airline, Southwest, already comes close to asking passengers for their weight, by requiring oversized passengers to purchase a second seat. A number of short-hop carriers -- most flying cabin-class aircraft, usually light twins -- also weigh their passengers, due to safety considerations.

Still, one airline president says his carrier is unlikely to ever ask its passengers to step on a scale.

"That is something that when I was a check-in agent in the early 70s I used to do and it was the most horrific experience, trying to get people to stand on scales," said Tim Clark, president of Dubai-based Emirates. "It's not something that we would do."

FMI: www.airlines.org