Being weighed, discreetly, before your flight will help with fuel calculations and could result in a more economic flight.
According to Lonely Planet, Roy Fuscone, CEO of British technology start-up Fuel Matrix said that ‘if an airline knew it was carrying a lighter load, it could afford to carry less fuel.’
At the moment airlines use a guideline like the European Aviation Safety Agency for approximate weights of passengers (88kg for men, 70kg for women, and 35kg for children, including carry-on luggage) to estimate the load. The heavier a plane is, the more fuel it needs and so accurate information will help tailor the fuel needs for each flight.
Fuel Matrix’s chief operating officer, Nick Brasier, told The Independent that passengers could be weighed discreetly: ‘More airports and airlines are moving towards self-service bag drops, where the passenger uses a screen-based system to weigh their baggage on scales and answer questions about its contents.
‘We’re not suggesting people should stand on the scales, but airports could fit “pressure pads” in the bag-drop area in front of each screen.
‘After the bag has been checked in, the system can ask, ‘Are you standing on the pressure pad?’
‘If the passenger taps ‘Yes’, then the weight can be recorded and passed confidentially to the airline.’
Another option would be to weigh passengers by way of a full body scan. Full body scanners were in use at multiple airports in the US, like Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after the 9/11 terrorist attack. These millimeter wave and backscatter imaging devices took an x-ray-like image of your body beneath your clothing and would send that to a Transport Security Administration (TSA) employee as you’d pass through. The image was used to work out if you are carrying concealed weapons or other contraband.
However, after numerous complaints they were removed a few years later in favour of less intrusive machines. It’s these less intrusive types that would hopefully do the weighing of passengers.
Image: Belinda Fewings
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