4 ms·
Why didn't they use the person's age to decide if a person is a child or not?
by mrlonglong 6y ago
Why didn't they use the person's age to decide if a person is a child or not?
- srswtf123 6y agoAre you required to give your age? Why not use their weight if we’re requiring information about passengers?
- bellyfullofbac 6y agoSeems like dirty hacks, all over the place. Your boarding pass doesn't usually have your date of birth, and it seems the system that estimates the weight only has access to the boarding pass info/passenger manifest. The BP does have your title, although it makes me wonder how they differentiate between adult man or child.
- jjk166 6y agoyou are required to give your age, you are not required (or even have the option) to give your weight.
- monkpit 6y agoAren’t you required to say if a passenger is a minor?
- macksd 6y agoWhy don't they use the person's weight to decide how heavy they are?
- vlamp10 6y agoBecause people don't want their weight tied to their real names and passport numbers in yet another database that will be leaked or monetized at some point.
- macksd 6y agoIt would certainly be a first in the last 20 years to board a flight and feel like I still had privacy, but overall I'm just really surprised that airliners don't include weight sensors that are used for this. It's a big enough deal that I can't check my 51 lb bag without paying huge fees. It's a big enough deal that when a double-digit number of females were mistaken for children, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in the UK wrote it up as a serious incident. So in the end I'm just blown away that we're using heuristics based on broad age groups and gender, and not weighing people's carry-ons. I thought that given the complexity of trim in modern airliners with massive fuel-tanks on long hauls, etc. that aircraft would include integrated weight / balance sensors.
- andylynch 6y agoSome airlines do. More often on puddle jumpers than airliners though.
- mrlonglong 6y agoThey should. Getting the correct amount of fuel load is essential particularly on long haul flights. They also have to factor in whether they might need to divert on to another airport if their destination is shut for some reason and / or there are storms that needs flying around. Get the fuel load wrong and someone's going to have to ditch the plane or glide the rest of the way to the nearest airport. The Gimli glider incident comes to mind here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider