This Korean airline will weigh passengers before they board a flight—here's why
Another airline will start weighing its passengers before they board the plane.
Korean Air announced that their passengers will have to be weighed first with their carry-on luggage before taking their flight.
The air transportation company explained that this decision has not been made by the institution itself, but rather mandated by the government. In fact, other airlines in Korea are also asked to follow suit.
Airlines are required to determine the passenger standard weight every five years or as frequently as necessary under the ministry's Aircraft Weight and Balance Management Standards measure. This average contributes to improving flight safety by estimating the weight distribution of the aircraft.
Between Aug. 28 and Sept. 6, Korean Air will track passengers' weights as they depart from Gimpo International Airport. From Sept. 8 to Sept. 19, the same will take place at Incheon International Airport.
No worries because aside from the survey being unanimous, passengers have also the option to opt out of this weight-measuring procedure. If they don’t feel comfortable doing it, they can just tell the airline staff.
“Korean Air passengers will be asked to step on scales with their carried-on items at each boarding gate. The data collated anonymously will be utilised for survey purposes and doesn’t mean overweight passengers will need to pay more.” an airline official said.
This is not the first time that an airline has implemented such a policy. Last May, Air New Zealand had over 10,000 passengers traveling on international flights have their weight measured.
Both airlines have the same goal, which is to improve the fuel performance of their aircraft in the future for safety reasons and this effort— the airline's survey on passenger weight is just part of it.
“We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft – from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” said Air New Zealand Load Control Improvement Specialist Alastair James in an advisory. “For customers, crew, and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”