Weighting for the backlash

[quisensoucie]

Weighing aeroplane passengers is not a new phenomenon, so the 'fat-shaming' trope is rather misplaced
'In the early days of air travel, Airlines frequently weighed passengers and even crew to properly balance the smaller, less sophisticated aircraft, according to the Smithsonian.

Passenger weight can have an impact on another aspect of flying: seat size.'
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/then-amp-now-a-weighty-matter-46320857/&ved=2ahUKEwi8--2O452EAxU2a0EAHa-9B8sQFnoECCsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw36nIvu41LW3mTW1jC32O9v

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/airlines-weigh-passengers-check-in-baggage-cargo-balance-a8860071.html

This is a safety issue, not about making larger people pay more. But again, the science and physics are dismissed because 'feelings'

@Newusernameforthiss

Someone impinging on your space... That's the reality of contemporary air travel... It sucks but there it is! Much prefer the train for this reason.

Someone being so large that they are spilling into my seat should not be the 'reality of contemporary air travel' though. If you don't fit in one seat you should be paying for another seat. Alas trains don't go all the places that planes do, however I prefer to take boats than planes (live on an island) as you can get up and move around more.

There is often very little 'dignity' or accommodation of people's sensitivities in a process that can require you to let a stranger rummage through your personal belongings, do a pat search of your body, xray you, require you to explain your medical needs to a lay person, including those relating to continence/ostomy, move your body around so your wheelchair can be checked etc. If we chose to fly, its generally with the acceptance that security and safety procedures mean we are not afforded the usual levels of privacy and dignity. I don't know how much a person's weight really matters, but if it does, then in light of that, stepping on a scale doesn't seem that big a deal.

OK OK I'm sorry I said you hate fat people. You're right, I don't know anything about you.

But I do know that weighing passengers would just slow the whole airport experience down for everyone, and is another stick used to beat larger people - who are just trying to live in society and go on a plane, the same as everyone else - for a problem which isn't really a problem because commercial planes are big and safe enough to fly with whole rugby teams/larger people/vast mountains of luggage on them.

Its Not "because feelings" it's because it really isn't an issue. So just trying having a bit more empathy 🤗

I also love a boat!! So civilised. Planes aren't really that nice any more and seats have got smaller and smaller over recent decades. You need to take that up with airlines, not passengers 🤷‍♀️

@FixTheBone it isn't a human right, but companies providing services do have to abide by equality acts, charters etc.

If airlines were concerned with safety then all families would be automatically sat together. One of the reasons why no-one died in the Tokyo plane fire was because there didn't need to be hesitation because families are sat together. Bags have a weight limit because they have to be lifted by baggage handlers, people don't.

Passengers of above average size also have a responsibility.
Boats are fine when it's not too rough (or too smooth) - it's been a bit crazy here recently with weather related cancellations!

As a person with a 45 year history of eating disorders I am oddly not bothered by this. (As long as only the flight staff see my weight and not DH - or my mother who has fat shamed me also for 45 years... )

what a non issue. the real problem is overly cheap flight tickets encouraging us all to jet off to various destinations and increasing our carbon footprints.

You’ll be weighed with your carry on luggage and it will be seen by 1 person and not recorded anywhere. Can’t see the problem.

‘Oh, give over. Not goady, raising a point.
But clearly hit a button with you’

what IS that point though? Planes are safe without weighing passengers, and airlines don’t usually implement any passenger weighing system because it’s expensive and unnecessary.

I would say the only people really interested in changing the whole system are probably the ones who stand to make money out of selling airlines all the equipment needed to make weighing people feasible.

And it we’re talking ‘comfort’ of passengers when bigger people sit beside them - well, that’s not going to change with a weighing policy is it?

I’m actually quite small and the most uncomfortable flights I’ve had have been sitting beside really tall men, regardless of their weight because they take up so much leg room, or sitting beside someone who needs to go to the loo constantly.

Oh dear. Someone left the gate open at the dick farm this morning 🙄

Do they not just use the leftover fuel for the next flight? 😂

Nope. There are restrictions on how much fuel they are allowed to have on board when landing (for safety, fire/explosion risk) so if they are carrying over that they have to fuel dump.

‘what a non issue. the real problem is overly cheap flight tickets encouraging us all to jet off to various destinations and increasing our carbon footprints.’

yup - this.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

Pretty much this!

It's not just about airline profits, though that's a factor.

It's not uncommon for passengers to be bumped off flights because the aircraft can't meet it's take-off weight. It's common in hot weather (because the air's thinner which reduces lift) and at smaller airports and on longer flights (because they have to carry more fuel).

In many cases they wouldn't have to bump people if they weighed them accurately, rather than making assumptions which err on the cautious side.

But the principles of engineering have to end where some people's feelings begin.

Think about that next time you're bumped off a flight.

If you're travelling on light aircraft you'll probably still be weighed.

It isn't really relevant when you're flying on a jumbo jet, where the weight of the passengers is distributed is fairly immaterial.

It is a dangerous path to go down with ozempic making the rounds and people going back to the "heroin chic" of a few decades ago.

63% of British adults are not going back to the 'heroin chic' route, according to obesity statistics.

And this would be fine and well if all aircraft had armrests that could be fully raised between seats, and all airlines adopted the policy of not overbooking and thus giving away second seats to other passengers.

I read a blog by an oversized traveller who has pointed out many issues, of which those are just 2.

Extra legroom seats are also wider, so you are free to book those and pay are you not?

There are many, many reasons that people are overweight.

Including trauma, hormonal imbalance, genetics, disabilities, finances, pregnancies... The list goes on.

The reasons are irrelevant to the context. Do we need in flight counselling as well?

I think they do take passenger distribution in to account on the smaller planes. I flew from Southampton to Scotland and was sat next to a stranger. I asked if I could move to an unoccupied pair of seats and the stewardess said she'd have to check with the captain because the seating plan is looked at before take off to ensure everything is balanced.

They didn't know individual passengers weights but they certainly took it in to account.

I did eat salad for a while after that comment!!!

When in holiday in Costa Rica, we took a number of flights in small planes and every time had to get on the scales with our luggage. A couple on one flight were cross because a previous flight they were on was too heavy and as they were last to check in they had to remove half the contents of their suitcases which would travel on a later plane to (hopefully) catch up with them. I suppose if you scale it all up, there is no reason why the same shouldn't happen in a larger plane?

The weight thing also penalises taller people, who in the majority of cases will weigh more than somebody shorter. So my mum is 147cm and weighs about 45kg. My dad is 193cm and weighs around 95kg, so double what my mum weighs. They're both healthy weights.