Weigh in before flight

[basilosaurus]

thethaiger.com/hot-news/transport/weighing-passengers-to-become-standard-for-bangkok-airways

So that makes air travel even more fun!

I kinda get it. I've traveled space a (military flights if there's an empty seat) where I've had to be weighed me individually and me with luggage (different trips). They calculate to the nearest margin, and an average x adults with y average pound isn't as predictive.

This is a bean counter solution. Yes, in the ledger, knowing this data is useful if you're strictly talking fuel vs weight and balancing the plane. I'm too cynical to think that. I'm sure this is a ploy to surcharge

[Deleted]

I’m not exactly sure what they intend to do with the figures. Change seat assignments after people have purchased specific seats? They talk about adjusting aircraft trim for optimal fuel consumption — this can be done automatically without knowing the weight of every passenger (ie: adjust the trim to achieve desired airspeed while minimizing fuel burn, and this is done all the time).

[Susie]

I had to weigh in for a flight once, it was a tiny 8 seat Cape Air flight from Boston to my home regional airport.  That flight was def not the original plan.  I was supposed to fly MIA to EWR to home, but I got stuck in EWR overnight.  I was routed the next day from EWR to BOS and then home from BOS on the insect wings.  It was pretty cool as long as you weren't bothered by... heights, small spaces, etc.  There was no separation between the cockpit and the 6 or so passengers.  We could look right out the windshield.  

They weighed us at the gate with our carry ons and assigned seats based on trimming the plane, which made total sense on a plane this size.  On a 737 or A330 or whatever though... do they really see that much of a difference?  I would think the gains would be nominal.  We had to step on the same style scale as they use for luggage, and the digital readout was visible to everyone around.  I was not a fan of that process.  If an airline is going to roll out an initiative like this they definitely need more discreet ways of doing it.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2023 8:18:20 GMT -5 Susie said:

I had to weigh in for a flight once, it was a tiny 8 seat Cape Air flight from Boston to my home regional airport.  That flight was def not the original plan.  I was supposed to fly MIA to EWR to home, but I got stuck in EWR overnight.  I was routed the next day from EWR to BOS and then home from BOS on the insect wings.  It was pretty cool as long as you weren't bothered by... heights, small spaces, etc.  There was no separation between the cockpit and the 6 or so passengers.  We could look right out the windshield.  

They weighed us at the gate with our carry ons and assigned seats based on trimming the plane, which made total sense on a plane this size.  On a 737 or A330 or whatever though... do they really see that much of a difference?  I would think the gains would be nominal.  We had to step on the same style scale as they use for luggage, and the digital readout was visible to everyone around.  I was not a fan of that process.  If an airline is going to roll out an initiative like this they definitely need more discreet ways of doing it.

Most likely they used your weight for weight and balance calculations, which are really critical on a plane that small. W&B CAN be a big deal on a larger plane, but generally only for cargo aircraft carrying something really heavy very far from the balance point.

[ssmjlm]

I remember being on a tiny plane, 2 seats one side, 1 seat across the aisle. They had a couple people move around to even things out once we were on board. I mean, it makes sense as long as they're not blasting the numbers.

[joy]

My friend was flying out of Denver (high altitude) in very high heat (so even thinner air). Their plane was too heavy with all the people and their luggage in that thin air so the luggage went on a separate plane. I was very 😳 at the story.

Anyway, all these anecdotes land in rather extreme ends of normal. I’d be curious to see math/data that shows benefits of weighing passengers on routine, regular haul flights. Then ask: Are they going to charge to same price despite implementing this thus leading to increased profits? Because… that’s not great.

[InBetweenDays]

Sept 18, 2023 8:18:20 GMT -5 Susie said:

I had to weigh in for a flight once, it was a tiny 8 seat Cape Air flight from Boston to my home regional airport.  That flight was def not the original plan.  I was supposed to fly MIA to EWR to home, but I got stuck in EWR overnight.  I was routed the next day from EWR to BOS and then home from BOS on the insect wings.  It was pretty cool as long as you weren't bothered by... heights, small spaces, etc.  There was no separation between the cockpit and the 6 or so passengers.  We could look right out the windshield.  

They weighed us at the gate with our carry ons and assigned seats based on trimming the plane, which made total sense on a plane this size.  On a 737 or A330 or whatever though... do they really see that much of a difference?  I would think the gains would be nominal.  We had to step on the same style scale as they use for luggage, and the digital readout was visible to everyone around.  I was not a fan of that process.  If an airline is going to roll out an initiative like this they definitely need more discreet ways of doing it.

Yeah, I've had to be weighed for Cape Air a number of years ago too. But for the more recent flights they haven't done it.

On a recent tiny flight in Belize they just eyeballed us and asked us to sit in different seats.

[ellipses84]

There were a bunch of articles last month about South Korean airlines having to do this, but it was for a temporary, periodic test as they wanted updated averages due to humans getting larger over the decades.

www.travelandleisure.com/korean-air-weigh-passengers-baggage-7852370

[ellipses84]

I used to fly in small 6-10 person private planes for work a lot (and got to “co-Pilot” once). I don’t think I was ever weighed. For most, we’d park on the tarmac of the executive airport and walk right on the plane. At bigger airports, there might be a parking lot and little lobby we had to walk through to the tarmac. There was a few times the pilot would ask people to switch seats so weight would be distributed evenly. I can’t remember if the pilot ever asked anyone their weight. I was really tiny back then so I couldn’t sit one one side while 2 coworkers who were a foot taller than me and 100+ lbs more were both on the opposite side.

[pinkplasticdoll]

I had to weigh in before we boarded our flight home from Japan, I figured it was the norm as this was my first international flight.
I also have had to weigh in on small commuter planes and they moved folks around based on weight, this was happening when i was a kid so it didn't strike me as odd.

[thejen626]

I used to book travel as an executive assistant. There was one small airline (a boujee, semi private, very small plane) and it asked for weight when you booked the ticket. I had to ask my boss how much he weighed and was mortified lol

[basilosaurus]

I grew up flying 8 seat planes on every school holiday (my family was from a small island in Bahamas). They just automatically sat my sister and me in the last row, and behind us was the pile of luggage. I'm sure this was the height of 80s safety! Sister was prone to motion sickness, so that was extra fun.

But, as v said above, wtf are they going to do with this info if people have picked and paid for their seats.

[basilosaurus]

Sept 18, 2023 8:59:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

I remember being on a tiny plane, 2 seats one side, 1 seat across the aisle. They had a couple people move around to even things out once we were on board. I mean, it makes sense as long as they're not blasting the numbers.

lol that this is tiny. I've been on many commercial flights with 6-8 seats and used the co seat if needed. I absolutely get it in such a small plane.

As blanket policy this seems like it will backfire harshly even if it's based on actual data

[ssmjlm]

Sept 18, 2023 20:12:52 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Sept 18, 2023 8:59:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

I remember being on a tiny plane, 2 seats one side, 1 seat across the aisle. They had a couple people move around to even things out once we were on board. I mean, it makes sense as long as they're not blasting the numbers.

lol that this is tiny. I've been on many commercial flights with 6-8 seats and used the co seat if needed. I absolutely get it in such a small plane.

As blanket policy this seems like it will backfire harshly even if it's based on actual data

Sorry, I was thinking somewhat commercially in the CONUS US.

I've been in a 2 seater plane when my BFF needed hours for her studies to become a commercial pilot. I was just referencing when I flew from say Jacksonville to Orlando, etc.

[TR]

Sept 18, 2023 20:02:18 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

But, as v said above, wtf are they going to do with this info if people have picked and paid for their seats.

This line from the article makes it sound like they just want new data for averages, not that they’re looking to rebalance every flight in real-time:

“The primary objective behind this unorthodox procedure is the meticulous determination of standard passenger weight and average figures.”

[wanderingback]

Sept 18, 2023 20:02:18 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I grew up flying 8 seat planes on every school holiday (my family was from a small island in Bahamas). They just automatically sat my sister and me in the last row, and behind us was the pile of luggage. I'm sure this was the height of 80s safety! Sister was prone to motion sickness, so that was extra fun.

But, as v said above, wtf are they going to do with this info if people have picked and paid for their seats.

Wait, did you read the article you posted?

It says nothing about making people change seats.
It sounds like this airline and other airlines are doing this for a short period of time to get averages to reassess their fuel usage. Not that it’s going to be an ongoing thing and nothing about making people change seats.

I personally wouldn’t have a problem with it. But I think a clear explanation would make it better from a customer service standpoint.

[wawa]

Sept 19, 2023 8:48:04 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Sept 18, 2023 20:02:18 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I grew up flying 8 seat planes on every school holiday (my family was from a small island in Bahamas). They just automatically sat my sister and me in the last row, and behind us was the pile of luggage. I'm sure this was the height of 80s safety! Sister was prone to motion sickness, so that was extra fun.

But, as v said above, wtf are they going to do with this info if people have picked and paid for their seats.

Wait, did you read the article you posted?

It says nothing about making people change seats.
It sounds like this airline and other airlines are doing this for a short period of time to get averages to reassess their fuel usage. Not that it’s going to be an ongoing thing and nothing about making people change seats.

I personally wouldn’t have a problem with it. But I think a clear explanation would make it better from a customer service standpoint.

It also just doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to do this in a way that isn't a big deal.  scale is just in the line to board (like...picturing the big kind they have at the vets office so there's plenty of room for rolling luggage) you step on with your luggage, pause for a second, read out is visible only to an employee (if that, just for troubleshooting) and it just automatically records in a computer record.  done.  

Also I really really desperately wish this could just not be a big deal.  if we weren't all so fucking fat phobic it woudln't matter one hair if somebody knew how much you weighed.  Just like it's no longer shocking to be a 27 year old unmarried woman, so for our generation and younger it's no longer super bad manners to ask a woman how old she is; If we could move past the stigma of arbitrary numbers then it wouldn't be a thing.

[bronxgirl]

Sept 19, 2023 9:07:08 GMT -5 wawa said:

Sept 19, 2023 8:48:04 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Wait, did you read the article you posted?

It says nothing about making people change seats.
It sounds like this airline and other airlines are doing this for a short period of time to get averages to reassess their fuel usage. Not that it’s going to be an ongoing thing and nothing about making people change seats.

I personally wouldn’t have a problem with it. But I think a clear explanation would make it better from a customer service standpoint.

It also just doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to do this in a way that isn't a big deal.  scale is just in the line to board (like...picturing the big kind they have at the vets office so there's plenty of room for rolling luggage) you step on with your luggage, pause for a second, read out is visible only to an employee (if that, just for troubleshooting) and it just automatically records in a computer record.  done.  

Also I really really desperately wish this could just not be a big deal.  if we weren't all so fucking fat phobic it woudln't matter one hair if somebody knew how much you weighed.  Just like it's no longer shocking to be a 27 year old unmarried woman, so for our generation and younger it's no longer super bad manners to ask a woman how old she is; If we could move past the stigma of arbitrary numbers then it wouldn't be a thing.

I strongly agree with everything you wrote, but the second paragraph really speaks to me. 

[hermione]

We took a small plane from Montego Bay to Ochos Rios. They had people just tell someone their estimated weight. Then they made someone (not me because would have likely had a heart attack) sit in the co-pilot's seat to get us all distributed how they wanted us.

[gault]

The having flight attendants subtly moving people around, fine. Weighing people in public to determine whether they can fly for a trip assigned seating to is traumatic. I know it's not for whether you can be on the flight at all, but that would be in the back of my mind the entire time.

[wawa]

ok seriously, wtf. i just actually READ the OP rather than just reading the commentary here, and I'm disgusted. basilosaurus, please find a real news story next time and not a fat phobic piece of trash writing. fucking hell.

[basilosaurus]

Sorry, wawa. It's an English language site for Thai news. Yes, the writing standard is pretty low.

People here talk pretty matter of factly about sizes, frequently, which definitely took getting used to, and now I don't even notice.

I apologize for skimming and not picking up on some choice comments. I linked this because it had slightly more detail of implementation than I'd read elsewhere.