The airline’s decision to weigh passengers before flights sparked popular anger: ‘Disgusting’

Finnish carrier Finnair told media it began weighing passengers flying out of Helsinki on Monday. The airline measures the weight of travelers along with their carry-on luggage.

“So far, more than 500 volunteer customers have taken part in the weigh-in,” Finnair spokeswoman Kaisa Tikkanen said. It was noted that airlines calculate the weight of the aircraft, its cabin and the passengers on board to balance the flight and ensure safe transit.

Airlines can use the average weight provided by aviation authorities (estimated to be 88kg) or collect their own data, it said.

In a statement, Finnair assured potential passengers that the data collected was “in no way” linked to customers’ personal data.

“Only the customer service agent working at the measurement point can see the total weight, so you can participate in the study with peace of mind,” said Finnair ground operations manager Satu Munnukka.

However, some social media users were “horrified by the announcement, which they said would embarrass overweight passengers, calling the plan ‘cruel’.”

People said the news meant they “won’t be flying Finnair anytime soon”, while others hailed the plan as “one way to tackle the obesity problem”.

One user slammed the airline, saying she wouldn’t travel with Finnair because she “don’t want to be embarrassed by the damn airline”, adding that she never loses weight out of choice.

Another furious user said: “Finnair are going to start weighing their passengers? Did I read this correctly? I’m completely shocked! Disgusting.”

Others went so far as to call the move “draconian,” with one user writing: “Finnair’s weighing rules are not about passenger safety. No plane has ever crashed due to overweight passengers. This is a draconian law, the state interferes excessively in people’s personal choices.”

Another user X saw the comical side of the ad and wrote: “Finnair’s announcement that they will start weighing passengers is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The company told The Huffington Post that passengers will stand on the scale with all their clothes and carry-on luggage at the same time to get a combined reading.

Weigh-ins will take place in February, April and May on a voluntary basis, the company said. They will also record age, gender and class of travel.

Finnair is not the first airline to take the initiative and measure passengers’ weight themselves. Last August, Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, announced it would begin weighing passengers at Gimpo Airport on domestic routes and at Incheon Airport on international flights for a short period until September. The company said the move was aimed at reducing fuel wastage and helping to more accurately estimate the aircraft’s weight.

A month earlier, an easyJet flight from Lanzarote to Liverpool asked 19 passengers to disembark the plane because it was deemed “too heavy to take off”.

A company spokesperson confirmed the incident in a statement, writing: “easyJet can confirm that 19 passengers on flight EZY3364 from Lanzarote to Liverpool have agreed to travel on a later flight due to the aircraft being overweight for weather conditions. This is a normal operational decision in these circumstances and for safety reasons all airlines are subject to weight restrictions.”

Volunteer landings are compensated. In the case of flights from Lanzarote to Liverpool, passengers were offered “up to €500 per passenger”, according to a crew member citing easyJet.

In 2010, 58% of Brits said they wanted overweight passengers to pay more to fly, according to a Holiday Extras study. 45% admitted that it wouldn’t matter to them if an airline started charging extra based on weight, and 6% even said that these measures would actively encourage them to fly more often.

In 2017, another survey by jetcost.co.uk found that almost 90% of Britons believe overweight passengers should pay more to fly.

Nearly 80% also said they thought “larger zones” should be introduced on flights.