Our plane rolled to a stop about 100 yards into our 2000-mile journey a few weeks ago.
“We’re a little overweight,” our pilot announced, and we all sucked in our guts. “So we’re going to need to burn some fuel. We’ll be here about another 15 minutes.”
“We probably shouldn’t have stopped for those Kwik Trip breakfast sammies,” I whispered to my young companion, and we looked around guiltily.
I am familiar with airplane weight restrictions, having once witnessed the smallest and feistiest member of our travel party escorted off a flight due to that plane being overweight.
She had the bad luck of being the last person to board the aircraft that day, and that airline had the bad luck of choosing the wrong person to eject.
Nearly 30 years later, that petite passenger is still piqued.
On that fateful flight, we were headed to Canton Ohio for Hall of Fame weekend, so those seats were otherwise filled with some pretty big retired NFL players. I remember thinking, as we eventually taxied to the runway, that the airline probably could have selected their human ballast a little more scientifically.
Well, according to a few articles I saw yesterday, Finnair has come up with a policy to avoid all that awkwardness and wasted fuel. All you need to do is weigh yourself on a scale conveniently located at your departure gate.
Weight now, what???
Public weigh-ins?
That’s plane crazy!
It’s embarrassing enough to have to hastily rearrange your dainties when your carry-on doesn’t make weight. Now they want to weigh the whole person?
No thank you. Not even I need to see those numbers on my scale. I certainly don’t want my fellow passengers getting a peek.
I understand that airlines need to know things like the current average weight of humans which, obviously, fluctuates with the season, and the decade, and the availability of banana cream pie.
I just don’t think they need to know MY weight. My husband doesn’t even know that and he’s coached me through four labors and a shattered elbow.
I salute the 800 Helsinki passengers who already have consented to this communal weigh-in. I wonder if they planned their apparel and salt intake accordingly in the days leading up to their travels.
To me, getting weighed at the airport seems like something that would happen in a recurring nightmare you have when you’re all stressed out. You wake up with your heart pounding, look around your bedroom and thank your lucky stars that it was all a dream.
Apparently Asiana, a South Korean airline, already has been weighing international travelers and their carry-ons at Seoul Gimpo Airport.
Guess who just crossed Seoul off her travel bucket list?
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I love that you tackled the weight story! As you know, I’m a former flight attendant. For many years, we had to weigh in once a month. At 5’6″ my weight could not go over 132. Now when I started flying in 1974, I was a string bean at 110. However as I got older, I could not maintain skinny Minnie! I stayed in the low 120s. As the lawsuits on weight began, there was a new table for more pounds allotted according to age!! Mine was 152!! Thankfully, I never got to that weight as when I did after first retiring and my neck resembled Packers Elgton Jenkins! Now there are no restrictions as long as one “looks professional.” FAA does not allow a flight attendant to use seatbelt extension and one must fit through the window exit for safety reasons.
My husband used to work in operations as a load planner and weight is critical for calculating how much fuel to put on. There were weight tables for male and female passengers and their suitcase allowances, but that was back in the days before we weighed what we consumed and carried everything but the kitchen sink with us. And having the correct weight allotted is necessary for a safe takeoff. What Finnair is doing is brave, but understandable. I’ve decided that I’ll carry a non-disclosure statement for the agent to sign after they weigh me! 😉
I definitely wondered what you thought of Finnair’s policy and I appreciate the insight. I am all for flight safety and I’m mostly kidding in this post. If I had to get weighed, I guess I would do it.