The issue of weighing passengers before flights have been a challenging one. It may not be known to travelers but calculating the weight of an aircraft is critical to flight safety that informs pilots of much fuel the aircraft needs, hence why check-in baggage is weighed. But now, "U.S. airlines may need to start weighing passengers to comply with FAA rules," according to travel website View From The Wing.
"For safety reasons, carriers need to calculate an aircraft's weight and balance, and it has to be within allowable limits for the plane. However, the assumptions they've been using for passengers are outdated," said Gary Leff, a world travel expert who penned the piece on View From The Wing.
Leff said Americans are becoming more obese, and that's become a significant problem for the aviation industry and the federal government who want to find out how much passengers weigh for smaller aircraft.
He said the FAA realizes passenger weight can fluctuate by route, and airlines want to document this difference for safety reasons and fuel calculation, adding that "standard weights may not be appropriate for smaller planes, with smaller sample size and greater likelihood of variance from average."
An analysis from aviation research firm AirInsight Group LLC. says the pending FAA weight and balance rule "is going to make American air travelers very unhappy. VERY UNHAPPY."
read more:
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/airlines-may-start-weighing-passengers-amid-obesity-crisis
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