Some travellers have another reason to fear trips to the airport.
As if flight delays, lost luggage and security snafus weren’t enough to drive travellers bonkers, now there’s a movement to get passengers to weigh themselves in the boarding lounge prior to taking a flight.
Air New Zealand and Finnair made global headlines due to recent voluntary ‘weigh-ins,’ which some critics say will lead to fat shaming.
Travel and consumer rights journalist Laura Sanders told MailOnline that the policy could lead to passengers being removed from flights to reduce weight.
“It's already too late and a huge inconvenience if you're asked not to fly to avoid tipping the scales – not to mention embarrassing,” she said in a story on business insider.com.
Despite the added indignity, there are good reasons to weigh passengers.
According to Forbes, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency updated its passenger weight data in 2022 based on 4,164 pax and 1,998,070 pieces of checked luggage in order to ensure weight tables reflected current trends.
“The survey found that the average weight of passengers was 75.6 kg (166.7 lbs), and the average carry-on luggage weight was 7.6 kg (16.8 lbs). This increased from the previous survey in 2009, though not much. Passenger weight rose by 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) and carry-on luggage by 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs).”
As anyone in the travel industry well knows, for airlines, weight equals fuel, which equals cost. IATA defines the cost of weight as: 'the extra fuel burn, as a function of additional weight.'
Weight also affects a number of other factors, including safety. According to AFAR, “If an aircraft is forced to handle excessive weight, that could compromise its fuel capacity, cruising speed, maneuverability, and takeoff and landing capabilities, the FAA reports.”
Part of the problem is the growing girth of the general population.
The World Obesity Atlas 2023 reported in March that over half of people over the age of five will be obese or overweight by 2035, an increase from 38% in 2020, a Time Magazine story stated. “For airlines, a broad increase in passenger weights could affect anything from the size of seats to how far a full aircraft can fly.”
Both Air New Zealand and Finnair’s programs were conducted anonymously, with data being sent directly to a computer, and were both voluntary.
Although a voluntary program makes it more palatable for passengers if heavier passengers opt to skip the scales, it skews the weight estimates - and the entire object of the exercise.
