Your boarding pass and weight, please: Why airlines are asking passengers to step on the scales

Starting Monday, passengers flying connected Korean Air whitethorn beryllium asked to measurement connected a standard earlier boarding their flight.

The exercise, which volition past astir 3 weeks, is required by instrumentality and applies to each Korean emblem carriers, a Korean Air typical told CNBC.

The instrumentality requires airlines to measurement passengers and their carry-on luggage astatine slightest each 5 years and is "crucial for information of formation operations," the typical told CNBC.

The announcement was met with backlash from the public, according to section media.

A announcement detailing the workout — acceptable to statesman astatine Gimpo International Airport Monday, followed by Incheon Airport adjacent period — has been removed from the airline's website, owed to "sufficient announcement and media coverage," according to the airline.

"Definitely not," said Vance Hilderman, CEO of the aviation information institution Afuzion.

At slightest not for the intent of safety, helium said.   

"If you're astatine a tiny Bombardier, a tiny Embraer jet, and we had 10 precise obese radical … it could marque a tiny difference," helium said. "On commercialized aircraft, thing from a 737 and supra you know, 120 people, we person it built in."

Aviation bundle tin set for value changes, aerial density and different factors, which is wherefore information isn't compromised adjacent successful situations wherever rider constitution is atypical, specified arsenic an aboriginal greeting formation of mostly businessmen, who thin to measurement much than the mean traveler, helium said.

Overall, a important value summation per rider would beryllium eclipsed by the value of fuel, cargo and the craft itself, said Hilderman. "Fuel is 20 times much than the rider weight," helium said.

But Shem Malmquist, an teacher astatine Florida Tech's College of Aeronautics, said random value samples are a bully idea.

"We usage mean weights of passengers, but radical are getting a batch heavier," helium said. "Three 100 radical that measurement much than mean tin enactment an airplane importantly implicit weight, and each of our show calculations — runway length, climb, obstacle clearance, landing distances, altitude capabilities — each are babelike connected weight, among different things."

Hilderman agrees that radical are getting bigger, but helium said passengers present disagree successful different ways too.

"Americans are getting heavier. So are Chinese, truthful are Koreans," helium said. "But we're besides flying younger … truthful it's really offset the mean human's value increase."

A survey published successful 2019 successful the Journal of Transport & Health recovered that regions with higher obesity prevalence "may statesman to spot importantly compromised information margins if expanding value trends continue."

Jose Silva, an subordinate prof astatine Australia's RMIT University's School of Engineering and 1 of the study's authors, told CNBC that helium thinks airlines are reluctant to measurement passengers owed to the delicate quality of the topic.

"There is besides a deficiency of knowing of the information gains which could beryllium obtained if determination were much close means to ascertain the passengers' weight, alternatively of relying connected standards," helium said.

A whistleblower ailment filed successful 2021 alleges that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has failed to admit information issues caused by relying connected mean rider oregon baggage weights that nary longer bespeak the U.S. population.

Air New Zealand weighed passengers successful June for reasons, it said, related to information and substance efficiency.

Finnair did the aforesaid successful 2017, and Hawaiian Air has conducted aggregate rider value exercises connected flights between Honolulu and American Samoa. (The present defunct Samoa Air utilized to charge passengers by their weight, according to Reuters.)

Flyers successful the United States apt won't beryllium weighed, said Hilderman, adjacent though an FAA advisory circular published successful 2019 stated that airlines tin measurement passengers.

It's a antithetic communicative successful Europe, wherever carriers travel European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations.

EASA weighed astir 23,000 passengers successful 2008 and 2009 and recovered that mean rider value had accrued by 3 to 5 kilograms (6.6 to 11 pounds). A consequent study published successful 2022 recovered that mean rider value accrued slightly since 2009, for an mean of 82 kg (181 pounds) for men and 68 kg (149 pounds) for women.

Periodic value assessments — of passengers and different items connected committee — tin assistance airlines find if value estimates are inactive close to offset the magnitude of cargo they carry, said Hilderman.

But "there's a small much to this mystery," helium added.

"In Europe, they're a small much rigorous astir idiosyncratic rights with privacy," helium said. "With EASA, they privation to support the passengers and say: Look, the passengers are getting larger, truthful airlines, we privation you to supply a minimum transportation region connected your seats."

Commercial hose seating is based connected mean rider value from the 1950s to 1970s, Hilderman said. Since then, radical person gotten bigger, but hose seats person dwindled, helium said — "29 inches successful immoderate cases, it's perfectly ridiculous."

Passenger size connected planes is simply a arguable taxable — with oversized flyers lodging favoritism allegations implicit Lilliputian level aisles and spot sizes, and smaller travelers publicly venting astir spot encroachment.  

But dissimilar different industries that work dense radical — from makers of chairs to toilets to amusement parkland rides — the hose manufacture hasn't enlarged seats.

"Some person projected that obese passengers beryllium required to wage for 2 seats successful bid to not marque different passengers uncomfortable, but that lets the airlines flight immoderate responsibility," said Nick Gausling, a user services concern advisor and managing manager of Romy Group LLC.

Gausling noted that portion different industries person been pressured to prioritize lawsuit experience, "consumers person precise small prime to instrumentality their concern elsewhere" erstwhile it comes to airlines.

Tigress Osborn, the enforcement manager of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, told CNBC that astir large airlines person responded with 3 options for overweight travelers: wage for pricier tickets that travel with bigger seats, acquisition a 2nd seat, oregon enactment home.

"Fat radical merit to question for pleasance conscionable similar everyone else, and we besides request to retrieve that aerial question is for work, for household obligations, and for different responsibilities, too," she said. "Our taxes assistance enactment this industry, and we merit to beryllium accommodated safely and comfortably, with entree to accessible seating astatine each terms levels."

Or they tin reserve fractional a twelve seats for larger people, which passengers could privately registry for online, utilizing tallness and value details from their driver's licenses, helium said.

Those seats could beryllium sold astatine a tiny surcharge, and if not booked by qualified passengers the week earlier the flight, released to anyone consenting to wage for them, helium added.

As to whether airlines volition summation spot sizes for everyone, Hilderman said that portion it's mathematically possible, it's not practical.

"Fuselage diameters person been predetermined," helium said, referencing the main assemblage of the aircraft. "We presently person 29,000 commercialized craft flying, and we lone marque astir 1,500 per year, truthful it would instrumentality 20 years to regenerate the full fleet."

Refitting planes with wider seats means narrowing the aisle, which is already a choky squeeze, helium said. To widen the aisle, 1 spot from each enactment would request to beryllium removed, resulting successful a 20-25% summons terms summation crossed the board, helium said.

"Most radical don't look astatine what benignant of craft they're flying, and they person nary thought what the spot transportation oregon width is," said Hilderman. "They're simply buying connected terms — and the airlines cognize that."

Arnold Barnett, a absorption subject and statistic prof astatine the MIT Sloan School of Management, told CNBC that astir flyers are consenting to endure existent spot sizes successful instrumentality for little fares.  

If seating changed, "airfares would person to spell up, and flying would go unaffordable to passengers connected constricted budgets."

For many, a choky hose spot is amended than a spot connected a bus, helium said.