Airline Plans To Weigh Passengers With Check-In Luggage Before Take-Off

Finnish airline Finnair recently announced that it is now weighing passengers along with their carry-on luggage before takeoff to have a better estimate of the plane's weight, Fox News reported. The airline announced the move on Monday. The weighing is voluntary and anonymous, and the data will only be used to optimise Finnair's current aircraft balance calculations, the airline said in a press release.

"We use the weighing data for the average calculations required for the safe operation of flights, and the collected data is not linked in any way to the customer's data," Satu Munnukka, Head of Ground Processes at Finnair, said in the press release. 

The airline told Fox News that since Monday, the airline has seen some 600 volunteers volunteer to participate, stating it is "great to see that our customers are interested in volunteering in this data collection."

"We weigh volunteer customers together with their carry-on baggage," Munnukka said. "In the measurement, we do not ask for personal data, but the total weight of the customer and carry-on baggage, the customer's age, gender and travel class are recorded in the database. No information is collected that would allow participants to be identified."

While the airline insists passengers are not penalised for their weight, and numbers are kept discreet, away from prying eyes, they are not hugely compensated for sharing it either. Those who agree to get weighed are thanked for their efforts with a small gift of a reflective baggage tag. 

While airlines know the weight of all other aspects, the weight of customers and their carry-on baggage is calculated using average weights confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority. 

The average weights calculated based on the measurements will be delivered to Traficom - The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency - between July and September 2024, and after confirming the weights, the airline will use them for aircraft balance and loading calculations between 2025-2030, the airline said. 

The weighing area will rotate around a select number of our flights' departure gates at Helsinki Airport. The scheme will cover selected European flights within Helsinki Airport's Schengen area and several long-haul flights departing from the non-Schengen side.