Passenger Weigh Ins A New Reality in US Airports?

NEW YORK (VINnews) – Forget about getting your baggage weighed next time you check in at the airport. Pending requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration may have you stepping on the scale to ensure that your plane’s weight and balance fall within allowable safety limits.

An FAA advisory circular published in May 2019 informed airlines that they would be required to update their weight and balance programs, which had been based on regulations put in place in 2005. According to The View From The Wing Travel blog (https://bit.ly/3v2dsXj), rising obesity rates are to blame for the new directive, with definitive action from the agency potentially taking place in the near future.

The FAA said that airline weigh ins would be voluntary, with random passengers chosen to step on scales whose readouts would be kept hidden from other travelers. Airlines would also have the option of asking passengers how much they weigh, making a reasonable estimate if they believe the number given is lower than their actual weight. That information, which would include data on a minimum of 15 percent of an airline’s daily flights, would be submitted to the FAA in order to more accurately calculate weight and balance regulations for today’s world, potentially as often as every 36 months.

The new FAA standards put the weight of a clothed adult male passenger with a 16 pound personal item at 200 pounds in the summer and 205 pounds in the winter, 15 pounds more than allocated in the 2005 weight and balance program. Similarly, numbers have risen to 179 pounds in the summer and 184 pounds in the winter for female passengers, an increase of 34 pounds over the 2005 regulations.

But according to the New York Post (https://bit.ly/3hC4LiP), FAA downplayed the notion that airlines would be having scales installed at their boarding gates. A statement issued by the agency said “Operators are evaluating their programs to comply with this guidance. While weighing customers at the gate is an option, most operators will likely rely on updated methods for estimating passenger weights.”

AirlineInsightGroup (https://bit.ly/3fKUo9Z), an airline industry publication, categorized the change as “significant and unpleasant” for flyers. It warned that airlines may have to remove seats from their planes in order to compensate for heavier passenger weights, leading to higher fares or even the possibility of a financial impact for travelers whose weights exceed FAA weight designations.

While weighing passengers may be new in the United States, it is already being done elsewhere. Consumer Affairs (https://bit.ly/3bEijXn) reported that Samoa Airlines has tried basing its fares on weight, with 58 percent of the female population classified as obese and 22 percent as overweight, and New Zealand requiring airlines to conduct weight surveys at least once every five years.