Airline begins weighing passengers

I've been weighed getting on a flight. They have load allowances and were trying to full up extra space with cargo. They needed to know how much weight they were carrying with passengers. Nothing new here this was like 12 years ago

Years ago there was a Candid Camera prank where people at the airport twerp told hey would need to be weighed before boarding their flight. If they were over the limit they would have to pay an upcharge or forfeit their snack.

Some smaller airlines do it to balance out the load on the plane. In your example, the obese person would be seated one side, the the others the opposite side. It's nothing new - it's EXACTLY what they used to do when commercial flying began, and they'd turn the scales away from the ladies so they didn't feel embarrassed about weighing more than they thought.

ninerbuff wrote: »

This would be legit if it is the case.

Well it explains the safety thing - you don't want a lop-sided plane!!! More cynically it could be to save on fuel costs, as they can calculate what's needed based on the weight of the plane, and not have to dump so much before landing.

ninerbuff wrote: »

Apparently this is for safety. So if someone weighed more than another person, they'd have to pay more? Also how does paying a higher fare make it more safe? Isn't that discrimination? Also, if an obese person weighed first, then 3 other individuals came after (equaling the same weight as the obese person) do they pull the obese person off or one or two of the others off if the load is exceeded?

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Did this airline say they will charge more for those who weigh more? I didn't see that in the article.

Samoa Airline does charge per weight of the person combined with their luggage. But they are also very small planes where weight is much more of a factor.
It is not just the size of the person, it is all they carry as well. Some people travel with a lot of weight even if they are small. They would pay extra too.

I suspect that if people made the plane overweight, they would simply leave some luggage behind instead of making a person get off. We have had our luggage delayed before for that reason.

My mother in law ( who's a larger lady ) was asked to pay for another seat by spirit airlines. They said they needed to make sure the person in the seat next to her would be comfortable as well . ( I absolutely understand that. I've been seated next to someone who's rump and thighs where almost invading my space . I was uncomfortable )
This made my mother in law finally see how large she actually was. It was the wake up call she needed. She refused to listen to family members concerns about her weight.
I also understand they need to make sure safety comes first while flying , so weighing people doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

Alluminati wrote: »

Didn't Samoa or Tonga already start doing this a few years ago?

Yes, it was mentioned in the article. This airline isn't charging by weight as of now, just weighing passengers. Samoa does.