​The cost of a plane ticket should be a price per kilo for both the person flying and their luggage.

I first wanted to place a rant on why I have to pay extra for 1 kilogram of extra luggage while an obese person pays the same for his plane ticket as I do. But then I got an even better, more fair idea;

Ticket prices should exist of a base charge + extra charge based on the combined weight of the person flying and their luggage.

It means that overweight people pay extra, but smaller people and children pay less. It means that if you don’t bring any luggage with you on your flight you automatically pay less. You aren’t paying for luggage space you aren’t using. It stops people from shifting stuff from their checked luggage to their hand luggage even though both go on the same plane. If a person is morbidly obese and requires two seats, it means they only pay the base charge extra for the second seat since the weight remains the same.

The only disadvantage is that you don’t know until right before your flight how much you are going to pay for your ticket. So either you have to pay seconds in advance or you might have to pay a larger amount and you will receive what you paid extra back after your check in.

I think this is a fair system that might also encourage people to pack lightly and even to lose weight before travel since you are instantly rewarded if you do.

Edit;

TIL that luggage weight limits are not because of additional fuel usage or cargo space limits but because of the work safety rules of airport personnel.