3 ms·

Why don't they use the person's weight to decide how heavy they are?

• vlamp10 6y ago
  Because 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 ago
    It 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 ago
  Some airlines do. More often on puddle jumpers than airliners though.
• mrlonglong 6y ago
  They 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