When I first saw this in the Daily Mail, I had to check the date – so certain was I that this was an April Fools’ prank. But it wasn’t.

It seems All Nippon Airways (ANA) is conducting a month long experiment, now underway, to see if getting people to empty their bladders before boarding – thereby ditching some weight – will mean a lighter aircraft, less fuel usage, and a reduction in carbon emissions.

My head is spinning.

I will spare you the details of how much a human bladder can hold, (but my friends at ABCNews.com are much more in depth so read their informative take on this, which includes a quote from yours truly). However, I do think the folks running the Japanese carrier are a little optimistic when they say they hope to reduce carbon emissions by five tons over 30 days.

I just have one question: How come Ryanair didn’t come up with this first?

A voice of sanity?

The airline exec calling for a crackdown is Virgin’s Richard Branson, and he was actually complaining about excess fees on Australian airlines, but his sentiments apply all over:

“The extra fees are not a good idea. The problem is that once one airline has done it, it makes their basic ticket price look less and therefore the other airlines have to match it otherwise people think that the other airline is cheaper than they are.” -Sir Richard Branson, 10-1-09

Keep reading for more of the legendary entrepreneur’s thinking – and my response to some of his ideas… Airline Fees: Airline Exec Calls for Crackdown on Excess Fees