Finland’s flagship airline Finnair has joined the growing list of world airlines who are weighing passengers on their flights just as their luggage is weighed.
Finnair said the move, which will be done on a voluntary basis through May, is designed to improve balance calculations that will enhance flight safety.
“Finnair will collect data by weighing volunteering customers and their carry-on baggage at the departure gate,” according to a statement from the company.
“The weighing is voluntary and anonymous, and the data will only be used to optimize Finnair’s current aircraft balance calculations.”
Finnair said that weighing passengers will help ensure that the airline doesn’t exceed the set maximum weight that a plane can bear before it takes off.
The company has pledged that it will not use customers’ personal data.
“We use the weighing data for the average calculations required for the safe operation of flights, and the collected data is not linked in any way to the customer’s personal data,” Satu Munnukka, head of Finnair’s ground processes, said in a statement.
Munnukka noted that the airline won’t ask for the name or booking number of the passengers that volunteer to be weighed.
Observers say that changing eating patterns and diets are leading to heavier passengers, which can have a safety impact on flights.
“Three hundred people that weigh more than average can put an airplane significantly over weight, and all of our performance calculations — runway length, climb, obstacle clearance, landing distances, altitude capabilities — all are dependent on weight, among other things,” Shem Malmquist, an instructor at Florida Tech’s College of Aeronautics, said.
Most European airlines use the mean passenger weight as calculated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which found that men have a mean weight of 82.2 kg (181.22 lbs) while women clock in at 67.5 kg (148.8 lbs).
According to government statistics, 42% of the US population at least 20 years of age is considered obese. In the 1960s, that number was just 10%.
Airlines, meanwhile, have come under fire for their handling of plus-sized and obese passengers. Passengers have complained about having to pay for extra seats if they don’t fit in one of them.
Several American domestic carriers including United, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian and American require customers who are unable to fit in a single seat to purchase another ticket.
Advocates for obese people claim that airlines have shrunk the width of seats in order to squeeze more profit out of each flight.
Finnair joins Korean Air, Hawaiian Air, Uzbekistan Airways and Air New Zealand in the group of air carriers that have weighed customers.
Last year, Korean fliers reacted angrily to a new law requiring domestic carriers to weigh passengers and their carry-on luggage at least once every five years.
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