Ethical issues regarding the charging of overweight people on airplanes. The "pay-by-weight" policy (PDF)

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Health - Public Health, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: Debates over ethical issues do not seem to end anytime soon. Over the past half century, ethical issues have been emerging in the global society, especially the industrialized world. For instance, the debate over the decriminalization of abortion and euthanasia has lingered around for quite too long without a consensus decision. On the other hand, the issue of gay marriages that emerge in 1970s remained surrounded by immense controversy until a few months ago when the US Supreme Court brought the issue to rest through upholding gay rights.

Surprisingly, the termination of gay marriages debate did not seem to change the course of ethical phenomena among the global society. Recently, a new ethical issue emerged: the pay-as-you-weigh policy. This policy requires obese people to pay extra charge in the airlines. In retrospect, obesity is considered as an ethical issue and it has emerged to be a controversial subject. It is an ethical issue because it causes adverse consequences to obese individuals, as well as, the society.

However, these factors do not seem to be part of the justification for the introduction of pay-as-you-weigh pricing in the aviation industry. Instead, the core argument by airline administrators and economists is that flying obese people increases fuel costs; thus, the so-called "fat-taxes" will address the issue of financial costs. Contrary to this perspective held within the aviation industry, environmentalists view obesity as an issue that has environmental cost.

The increased fuel consumption by airplanes is believed to exacerbate climate change, primarily global warming due to increased greenhouse gas emissions. From these perspectives, it is apparent that obesity is a controversial issue. Therefore, this research will provide a comprehensive overview of the ethical issue of charging overweight people on airlines.