Airline passengers may be required to step on the scale at the airport or share how much they weigh before boarding a flight, a new report suggests.
According to a circular advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) attracting attention in recent days, airlines could be asked to start updating average airline passenger weight to account for increases in the average weight of American adults.
An airline blog, View from the Wing, wrote that “the FAA realizes that passenger weight can vary by route and airlines may want to document this difference.”
Airline industry publication AirInsightGroup, says that under the new pending requirements, airlines would be mandated to take surveys to set “standard average passenger weights” for crew members, baggage and passengers through random sampling and call on passengers to participate.
The weighing of passengers, according to the FAA, would set “standard average passenger weights” for crew members, baggage and passengers every 36 months.
FAA advisory noted that surveying would be random and voluntary, with passengers able to refuse.
“Regardless of the sampling method used, an operator has the option of surveying each passenger and bag aboard the aircraft and should give a passenger the right to decline to participate in any passenger or weight survey,” the FFA advisory wrote.
“If a passenger declines to participate, the operator should select the next passenger based on the operator’s random selection method rather than select the next passenger in a line.”
Average weights for male adults will be increased to 190 lbs in the summer and 195 lbs in the winter – up 12 per cent from 170 lbs and 175 lbs.
A further increase is also coming for female passengers, from 145 lbs to 179 lbs in the summer and from 150 lbs to 184 lbs in the winter.
It is unclear when weighing airline passengers could begin, as in a statement to The Independent, the FAA said it “issued the Advisory Circular in May 2019.”
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