Scaling new heights! Finnair begins controversial passenger weigh-ins before flights amid accusations of ‘fat-shaming’

A Finnish airline has started its controversial plan to weigh passengers before they take off, a move that has been harshly criticized as fat-shaming.

European airline Finnair has started a voluntary passenger weighing program at the departure gates at Helsinki airport, which it says will help airlines better calculate the weight of planes before they take off.

The first passengers stood on a scale at the airport, next to a large sign that read: ‘Voluntary customer weight survey.’

Finnair says the plan is needed to understand the weight a place carries on a given journey. This weight can fluctuate wildly depending on where you are in the world and what time of year the flight takes place.

A spokesperson previously told MailOnline that the plan would get ‘accurate data for aircraft performance and balance calculations’ which are ‘necessary for the safe operation of flights’ – rather than relying on European standard weights.

According to the airline, more than 800 people have agreed to be weighed so far

Finnair says this move will help provide better data for flights, which will improve safety

A communications director previously said that Finns, for example, wear heavier garments in the colder months.

“This is part of having a very strong safety culture in our organization,” they said.

‘We want to see whether the data we use for calculations is correct. We use them for every flight and they are important to the aircraft’s performance.

“If you explain this to (passengers), they will understand.”

And engineers have backed the “long overdue” move, saying airlines must be armed with the most up-to-date data to boost safety on flights.

Finnair emphasizes that the measures are intended to obtain better averages that they can use for safer flying

A Finnish airline made headlines for a weeklong policy of weighing passengers

A former USAF engineer told MailOnline: ‘Airlines’ estimates of weight and weight distribution in aircraft are very important for flight safety. Weights are based on (averages) from decades ago.

“The bottom line is that people are much bigger and heavier than they were decades ago.”

He said overloaded planes are “flying blind” without up-to-date information, which he said is “extremely dangerous.”

But frequent flyers warn the policy should not overstep its bounds, arguing that weighing passengers for safety reasons could be “degrading” to some who could be “particularly vulnerable to discrimination.”

Speaking to MailOnline, travel and consumer rights journalist Laura Sanders said: ‘Reliance on averages could become less accurate as planes become packed to capacity and we could see more cases of passengers being asked to deplane to check their weight. to decrease.

‘Weighing passengers and their luggage before each flight to manage weight distribution at an individual level rather than relying on averages is sensible, but if you are weighed at the gate it is already too late and a major inconvenience if you are asked not to do that to fly to avoid tipping the scales (not to mention embarrassing).

‘This could make overweight people and solo travelers particularly vulnerable to discrimination as they are the easiest to remove (families and friends will want to stay together)’

She suggested that airlines considering weighing passengers could instead ask them to enter their weight at the time of booking the flight, to support safety guidelines without exposing travelers to humiliation.

Finnair told MailOnline that the decision to weigh volunteers came about in 2017 when they chose to use their own guideline values ​​rather than rely on the European Aviation Safety Authority’s (EASA) standard weights.

These estimate that the average man weighs 88 kg and the average woman weighs 70 kg.

Finnair’s current standard weights, based on its own testing, show that men weigh an average of 96 kg, while women weigh 76 kg. They note that this varies depending on the season and route.

So far, more than 800 people have volunteered to weigh in, the company said, adding that it was “positively surprised by the number of volunteers.”

Finnair is not the first airline to take the initiative and measure the weight of passengers itself.

In August last year, Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, announced that it would begin weighing passengers at Gimpo Airport on domestic routes and at Incheon Airport on international flights for a short period through September.

The company said the measure was aimed at reducing wasted fuel and helping more accurately estimate aircraft weight.

It is unclear whether other airlines have similar plans to introduce weightings for their passengers.