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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Airlines to weigh passengers before boarding

303 replies

B3ck89 · 05/09/2019 08:41

www.thesun.co.uk/travel/8895844/airlines-weigh-passengers-save-fuel/?utm_campaign=sunmainfacebook040919&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1567623178

Spotted this in the sun.

Many allow 88kg (13.8 stone) for men, 70kg (11 stone) for women and 35kg (5.5 stone) for children

This bit confused me a little bit, is that their estimate they use for calculating fuel consumption? My partner and children weigh more than that estimate

I wonder what their weight limit will be? 🤔
And I can see shit will hit the fan when/if this does come into force, and passengers are excluded from the flight

OP posts:
Beesandcheese · 08/09/2019 10:50

Setting that weight limit would impact on a high number of sports people (tall and muscular).

SimonJT · 08/09/2019 10:52

I have flown in fairly small private aeroplanes multiple times, each passenger and crew member is weighed to calculate fuel, this means you pay for the fuel needed, rather than a full tank.

I weigh 93kg as I’m tallish and a weight bunny, I have a friend who weighs around 120kg as he has a similar build to me but he is much taller. It makes sense to weigh people to correctly work out fuel allowances etc.

prh47bridge · 08/09/2019 12:33

Setting that weight limit would impact on a high number of sports people (tall and muscular)

No-one is proposing a weight limit, nor is anyone proposing to charge passengers extra based on their weight. This is about safety - making sure you have the right amount of fuel on board.

Feel like there are a lot of insensitive and judgemental comments on this (unless people are qualified aero nautical engineers) for non experts on aviation and weight issues on a plane

It is actually fairly basic physics. You don't need to be an expert in aerodynamics to understand. But I do have a friend who teaches commercial pilots who confirms what I'm saying, if you want my qualifications. I also have A-level physics.

The more weight an aeroplane is carrying, the more fuel it will need to burn and the more runway it will use getting airborne. At the moment airlines use estimated weights for passengers and hand luggage. That may mean they have a smaller safety margin than intended or waste fuel by carrying more than they need (which is bad for the environment). Knowing the actual weight of passengers and hand luggage would allow the captain to make sure he had the right amount of fuel on board to give the required safety margin.

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