From weight to gender, watch out for these unexpected and controversial airline policies
On Uzbekistan Airways it's not just that bags that will be weighed now, but also passengers. In an official statement on August 7, the airline announced its new "preflight weighing" procedure, explaining that the change was in the name of safety.
Uzbekistan isn't the only airline to take the view that all pounds are equal on board and incorporate passengers' weight into the equation. In 2013 Samoa Air made headlines around the world for introducing a particularly unconventional ticketing system: pay-as-you-weigh, and the airline touts its method of charging as the"fairest system for payment of carriage of anything by air," which is interesting for a country that has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world.
Weight is an especially touchy subject when it comes to flying, and between expanding waistlines and shrinking airplane seats there's been some serious friction, and airlines have been changing policies to address the concerns about overweight passengers since as early as 2008. Today, most U.S. airlines have some verbiage in their policies requiring passengers who are unable to fit in one airplane seat to purchase another one. And judging from related news it seems it's almost always messy when enforced or followed.
In 2013, around the time when Samoa Air introduced its policy there was some rumbling about other airlines potentially introducing a "fat tax." But so far it seems like airlines will keep having overweight passengers buy extra seats instead. Policies regarding overweight passengers are not the only ones that have been considered discriminatory.
Gender discrimination: Another controversial area of airline policy has had to do with gender rules — and it's created some unexpectedly uncomfortable situations. Back in 2012, reports surfaced that airlines including British Airways and Qantas were forbidding men from sitting next to unaccompanied minors on flights. While separating men from children may have been intended to prevent child molestation, many claim the practice is unfair and discriminatory. British Airways rescinded it's policy after a famous court case in 2010 when a passenger accused the airline of sex discrimination.
#SurnameGate: In what was cast as another discriminatory policy, Air Canada was accused of not recognizing married couples with different last names when a Canadian author put the airline on blast after being unable to transfer a ticket to his wife, who uses her maiden name. The incident was known the world wide web around as #SurnameGate. Eventually Air Canada changed its policy on voucher transfers for flight credits as well as gift cards to have no name restrictions, an Air Canada spokesperson confirmed.
Skin color: When all is said and done, gate agents have the power to decide who gets on the plane and who does not. It all comes down to the judgment and intuition of whoever is on duty that day and for that flight. Recently, one incident got a lot of press when a redheaded Scottish teenager denied boarding because she was too pale to fly.