Hopes To Collect More Accurate Data For Weight And Balance Calculations

Finnair has instituted a pilot program to ask passengers to voluntarily step on a scale with their carry-on luggage before boarding flights departing Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

Fox News relays a report from YLE News which says the airline hopes that at least 150 passengers will agree to be weighed through the month of November. The goal is to gather more accurate data for weight and balance calculations for their airplanes.

A Finnair spokesman says that people carry more in terms of winter clothes and shoes at this time of the year than they do in the summer, and there are substantial differences in luggage weight between business and leisure travelers.

The airline will also collect data on age, gender, reason for travel, cabin choice and checked baggage under the voluntary program. All the information will be logged anonymously, according to the spokesman.

Pago Pago International Airport instituted a mandatory program in 2016 to weigh passengers before assigning seats to improve airplane balance. That program was criticized as being offensive and discriminatory because of the high rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in American Samoa, according to a report from NPR.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report