Assessing air traveler preferences for pay-per-weight pricing

•The study analyzes the inclusion of passenger body weight in airline pricing.•A choice experiment is used to assess traveler preferences for body weight pricing.•Body weight, age, and air travel experience affect traveler choice. In efforts to reduce fuel consumption of air travel, the inclusion of passenger body weight in airline pricing is a relevant but contested opportunity. This study aims to investigate this issue from the economic perspective; by implementing a stated choice experiment to assess the stated preferences of consumers toward a set of predefined air passenger weight policies. Three policies are tested: “standard”, where price is defined irrespective of weight; “threshold body weight”, where an additional fee is required when exceeding a certain weight; and “unit body weight”, where passengers pay according to their body weight and receive a discount for reduced luggage size. In terms of respondents’ preferences for policies, service and price attributes were found to have significant importance, while environmental concerns related to pay-per-weight pricing received only marginal consideration. The results provide practical implications to airline companies regarding pricing policies and airline choice behavior.