Althouse: "Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save U.S. Airlines $580 Million Per Year... lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads."

20 జనవరి, 2026

"Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save U.S. Airlines $580 Million Per Year... lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads."

50 కామెంట్‌లు:

baghdadbob చెప్పారు...: Stewardesses going back to 130lbs maximum would help too.; 20-01-26 9:49 AM
Quaestor చెప్పారు...: Fat flyers melt glaciers.; 20-01-26 9:50 AM
bagoh20 చెప్పారు...: Billions shifted from fast food industry to Pharma, and those machines in the men's room that sell condoms "for her pleasure". The girls probably have no idea what I'm talking about, and it's for them. Says so right on the machine.; 20-01-26 9:52 AM
n.n చెప్పారు...: Slimmer? DEI? #NoJudgment #NoLabels; 20-01-26 9:59 AM
tim maguire చెప్పారు...: And they can make the seats even smaller!; 20-01-26 9:59 AM
bagoh20 చెప్పారు...: They really need to just stop giving out food on planes. Drinks, sure, but lame ass food that nobody really wants is a waste of time and money. They should reallocate that time for making balloon animals for us.; 20-01-26 10:00 AM
Enigma చెప్పారు...: Getting passengers to finally pack "twice the cash and half the clothes" might have a similar effect.

American Airlines planes are unpainted silver aluminum -- I read long ago that was for weight savings. The early Space Shuttles had white painted disposable main fuel tanks. They dropped the paint -- showing only orange primer -- to lift heavier payloads.; 20-01-26 10:00 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: Make people who look like ICE pay more.
Problem solved ;-); 20-01-26 10:00 AM
n.n చెప్పారు...: Ironically, fats are an effective weight loss dietary choice without the drugs. Proteins, too.; 20-01-26 10:01 AM
Grundoon చెప్పారు...: I think Full Self Driving is the main competition to flying on short flights when people actually have to be somewhere in person, or want to. I sometimes go to site visits in towns well away from airports with commercial service.

Zoom is the main competition if people don't have to be there in person.

I attended a day-long commissioning process for a new piece of equipment using Zoom. I was two time zones away. I was the senior guy. The local young guy from my company set up his laptop in meeting mode and carried it around to show me things during the day. Not too many years back I would have flown to the site and spent two travel days, one each there and back, to accomplish this work.; 20-01-26 10:02 AM
MadTownGuy చెప్పారు...: For some reason, I'm reminded of this:
So many Americans died from COVID, it’s boosting Social Security to the tune of $205 billion

Anecdote: after my COVID vacation (11 days in hospital), I weighed in 30 pounds less than before. I've dropped about 18 more pounds since then, and am stable at nearly 50 lbs less than I had in January 2023. All things considered, I'd rather the weight loss was due to something else. But hey, I'll take it.; 20-01-26 10:05 AM
bagoh20 చెప్పారు...: That works out to about $60 per plane per flight, or a maybe $0.25 per passenger per flight. Four flights and you get a $1 refund.; 20-01-26 10:12 AM
Chris చెప్పారు...: If you weigh as much as two passengers in the 95th percentile, then you should be forced to buy two tickets.; 20-01-26 10:15 AM
J Severs చెప్పారు...: @tim maguire beat me to my point. perhaps thinner people = smaller seats = more passengers per flight = lower average fixed cost = lower fare = more people flying.; 20-01-26 10:16 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit చెప్పారు...: ...lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads.

The real reason is that Minnesotans Ilegal Carry-ons have plummeted since a year ago, today, to the day. LOL; 20-01-26 10:19 AM
Leland చెప్పారు...: Enigma, you are right about the weight savings. However, only the first shuttle mission had a painted tank (and plenty of margin with just 2 crew and a couple of days for the mission). American now paints its planes, but you are right they used to not do so because it saved weight. Paint also prevents corrosion, so there is a trade off, but no paint is easier to inspect. But, I thought you might find it interesting that NASA bought a retired American Airlines 747 to convert to a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft because of the no paint and weight savings. The other SCA was a retired JAL aircraft.; 20-01-26 10:25 AM
Original Mike చెప్పారు...: "That works out to about $60 per plane per flight, or a maybe $0.25 per passenger per flight. Four flights and you get a $1 refund."

Yeah, that's what I was wondering when I saw the headline, but if the NYT had framed it in a meaningful way they wouldn't have had a story. Or, perhaps division is beyond the J School graduates abilities.; 20-01-26 10:37 AM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: "Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save U.S. Airlines $580 Million Per Year... lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads."

I just want to say fuck The NYTs.

Americans losing weight is just a good thing.

I don’t know how much time they spent turning this into a negative narrative but it doesn’t matter. The NYTs took a positive development and is only interested in making it negative and harming anyone stupid enough to read the NYTs.

Everyone involved in the NYTs and supporting its legitimacy is doing evil to the world.; 20-01-26 10:39 AM
Lance చెప్పారు...: Does the article mention that the US airline industry had nearly $1T revenue in 2025? $580M/year is a rounding error.; 20-01-26 10:39 AM
DINKY DAU 45 చెప్పారు...: How about the fatter you are ,the more you pay. Special set of seats(expensive) for those over say 350 pounds.balanced thru out airplane as not to tip one way or another. In todays society nothing would surprise me,,; 20-01-26 10:42 AM
Old and slow చెప్పారు...: GLP drugs are an unmitigated good thing.; 20-01-26 10:57 AM
Jamie చెప్పారు...: Without reading other comments yet - I mean, if everyone were at a healthy weight, it would save billions in lots of areas. I wouldn't have gone with airlines first, but [shrug] sure, there too.; 20-01-26 11:00 AM
gilbar చెప్పారు...: Jamie said...
..I mean, if everyone were at a healthy weight, it would save billions in lots of areas..

i wonder what American health care costs would be like if everyone were at a healthy weight?
Seriously, does the lower life expectancy for lard asses* make up for more knees, hearts, feet, etc?

lard asses* gilbar was at 237.5lbs this morning [i'm an obese lard ass]; 20-01-26 11:17 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: body-positivity movement hardest hit; 20-01-26 11:19 AM
Money Manger చెప్పారు...: Winners and losers.

The Packaged Food companies are getting killed. General Mills, Kraft-Heinz, Campbells.

So are the Liquor companies. Brown-Forman, Diageo, Constellation. They've shut down the Jim Beam distillery for a year.

Eli Lilly has been on a tear, Novo Nordisk until recently. But GLP technology is not impossible to develop; competition is growing and prices are coming down.

Other than further damage to future Social Security solvency, this is all good.; 20-01-26 11:22 AM
Money Manger చెప్పారు...: In my youth I believed that there were certain elements that were part of the general human condition--where medicine could never discover a safe and effective treatment. Ulcers, male baldness, ED, obesity. Pharmacology has since picked them off, one-by-one.

That leaves a cure for aging and death. And maybe for a true aphrodisiac.; 20-01-26 11:31 AM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: Those savings will not be passed on to us.; 20-01-26 11:50 AM
Marcus Bressler చెప్పారు...: I want my 25 cents!; 20-01-26 11:53 AM
Jamie చెప్పారు...: In my day, we did it the old fashioned way - by eating cellulose-adulturated bread, "tomato sauce" made of ketchup mixed with water (or was it "ketchup" made of slightly diluted tomato paste? I can't remember, thank God), "buttery spread," and saccharine.

I speak, friends, of Weight Watchers in the early 1980s. It was a different time.

(Actually when I have had to lose weight over the years, I have pretty much always used whatever WW program was au courant. My favorite was the Exchange version, which appeared to be based on the nutritional exchanges diabetic people used, because it actually included a nod to consuming the right nutrients in the right quantities. But the easiest for me was the Points system, which gave you a certain number of Points - calculated via a formula involving calories, fat, and fiber or something like that - per day to spend however you wanted, only exhorting you not to use them all for chocolate and wine but with no penalties if you so chose. I don't know what they're doing now; I'm just straight up counting calories to maintain a good weight now that the Internet has caught up to my database needs.)

gilbar, way to go!; 20-01-26 12:24 PM
Rabel చెప్పారు...: Lance said...

"Does the article mention that the US airline industry had nearly $1T revenue in 2025? $580M/year is a rounding error."

I'm guessing that maybe you haven't spent much time working with anyone in accounting or purchasing at a major corporation.

GM had a suggestion program which allowed employees to make cost saving suggestions and receive up to $20,000 as their share of those savings.

One guy suggested spelling employee with one e in all company documents.

He got the full 20k.

Little savings add up if there are enough of them.; 20-01-26 12:24 PM
Larry J చెప్పారు...: I read a report this morning about how people who stop taking those weight loss drugs tend to regain the weight quickly. Some quit because of cost and others because of the side effects, which aren't trivial. So, unless you're planning on taking those drugs for a long time or can manage to change your habits, you're likely going to regain most of the weight pretty quickly.

I'm trying the old school method of reducing calories and getting more exercise. I walk 10 miles in about 2 1/2 hours a few times a week, weather permitting. So far, I've lost 20 pounds off of my peak weight over the past 3 months, and that includes the diet unfriendly holidays. I'm going to keep doing that and I'll see if I can lose the weight without medications.; 20-01-26 12:26 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: I think health care expenses will go down too, but I'm not altogether certain. Getting cancer in your 70's is likely to be a greater net cost to the system than dropping dead of a heart attack in your 50's. On the other hand, the toll taken by diabetes alone will more than pay for these new drugs. They should be subsidized.; 20-01-26 12:29 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: Stewardesses going back to 130lbs maximum would help too.

Can we get the age discrimination back in place too? I have vivid teenage memories of those days.; 20-01-26 12:30 PM
boatbuilder చెప్పారు...: When some airline like Southwest installs scales at the runway gate and charges fliers based on their weight and the weight of their luggage, things are going to get very interesting.; 20-01-26 12:30 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: Getting passengers to finally pack "twice the cash and half the clothes" might have a similar effect.

Ever since I walked the Camino de Santiago, I travel with a 20 lb pack and nothing else. My travel clothes are made of modern wonder-fibers that can be washed in a hotel sink, and dry wrinkle-free on the shower bar in two hours.; 20-01-26 12:32 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: I read a report this morning about how people who stop taking those weight loss drugs tend to regain the weight quickly.

And this differs from diet and exercise how?

Willpower is a mirage. Calorie counting programs for weight loss are 95% unsuccessful and always will be. Exercise programs are better but most people can't maintain them even in the medium term, let alone into old age. Low carb/high protein diet helps but is not a definitive solution.; 20-01-26 12:36 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: So are the Liquor companies. Brown-Forman, Diageo, Constellation. They've shut down the Jim Beam distillery for a year.

The new weight loss drugs kill one's desire for and pleasure from alcohol. It's not as drastic as the effects from Antabuse, but it definitely makes a Perrier more appealing than a stiff martini.; 20-01-26 12:39 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: GLP drugs are an unmitigated good thing.

Apparently not for people with a family history of multiple endocrine neoplasia. But for the rest of us, yeah.; 20-01-26 12:40 PM
bagoh20 చెప్పారు...: "My travel clothes are made of modern wonder-fibers that can be washed in a hotel sink, and dry wrinkle-free on the shower bar in two hours."

OK, you got my attention. What are they called? I need to get some.; 20-01-26 1:04 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: OK, you got my attention. What are they called? I need to get some.

Shirts from Poncho Outdoors are absolutely the tits for travelers. They don't make trousers or shorts (yet) but you can get comparable fabrics from outdoors-oriented makers like Patagonia, North Face, REI, or Vuori. I have replaced every pair of socks in my travel bag with those from Darn Tough, made in Vermont. Walked 150 miles on foot in them with no blisters.; 20-01-26 1:28 PM
Rustygrommet చెప్పారు...: Oh good lord. Then the ideal thing would be to take fewer passengers.; 20-01-26 1:29 PM
Enigma చెప్పారు...: Travel clothes strategies:

1. Wear your old clothes that would otherwise be donated to charity when in transit and for the first day. Dump them at your first-night hotel.

2. Polyester, learn to love polyester. Modern microfibers are vastly better than the old versions. It'll drip dry overnight in most climates. In the humid tropics, use thin single-layer weaves because the puffy stuff will retain water.

3. Avoid cotton, unless you want to be damp (cool). Cotton is bear to dry -- even with a hair dryer or room heater.; 20-01-26 1:41 PM
Hassayamper చెప్పారు...: More on the Poncho shirts. Spendy but worth it, especially for travelers and outdoorsmen. I love their hidden zip pocket over the left breast, perfect for when you need your passport and ticket close at hand but secure. Other nice touches include magnetic snaps, a hole where you can hang your sunglasses, and a built-in microfiber patch for cleaning glasses and other optics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Bf-e27TpM; 20-01-26 1:47 PM
Beasts of England చెప్పారు...: ’…but it definitely makes a Perrier more appealing than a stiff martini.’

How dare you!!; 20-01-26 2:30 PM
Mea Sententia చెప్పారు...: We just returned from a trip where we faced delayed and canceled flights and walked all over an airport because of multiple gate changes. It was miserable. We'll never fly again if possible. The airlines have a lot more problems to deal with than overweight passengers.; 20-01-26 3:06 PM
TobyTucker చెప్పారు...: That's certainly one benefit. Plus we wouldn't be exposed to those videos of overly fat women complaining about places not "accommodating" them. Of course, there are so many health reasons for losing any excess weight. And these drugs apparently reduce cravings for alcohol and smoking.
As there is such demand for these drugs, I would expect competition will reduce prices and eventually they'll go generic. Sadly this joins drugs such as blood pressure medications that need to be taken "forever". Maybe that will change in the future but for now the pros seem to outweigh the cons.; 20-01-26 3:17 PM
n.n చెప్పారు...: Airlines should go Green with sustainable paper models.; 20-01-26 3:43 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Hassayamper: "Can we get the age discrimination back in place too? "

Speak for yourself. Naughty milfy (or gilfy) stewardesses with massive squishy boobies....mmmm...

And I'm sure there's a market for distinguished stewards, too. CC, JSM; 20-01-26 3:49 PM
Smilin' Jack చెప్పారు...: It’s not about saving on fuel. Slimmer passengers means the airlines can cram in more of them.; 20-01-26 4:19 PM
Rustygrommet చెప్పారు...: Smilin Jack

TaDaaaa; 21-01-26 9:14 AM

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20 జనవరి, 2026

"Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save U.S. Airlines $580 Million Per Year... lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads."

50 కామెంట్‌లు:

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20 జనవరి, 2026

"Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save U.S. Airlines $580 Million Per Year... lower fuel costs as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads."

50 కామెంట్‌లు:

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