Overweight Passengers Add to Airlines’ Economic Woes

Everyone has heard about the price of obesity on society in terms of healthcare costs. Now a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine puts a new face on the problems of obesity in America — overweight passengers are adding to the airlines’ fuel costs to carry the additional weight.

American adults gained approximately 10 pounds during the 1990s. The costs for airlines to carry the additional 10 pounds per passenger add up to an extra $275 million dollars for fuel alone.

The rising price of fuel, coupled with the ever-expanding waistlines of the people on the planes, could spell additional economic woes for airlines in the years to come.