Air New Zealand to weigh passengers before they board int’l flights. Here’s why

It is normal to weigh bags before boarding a flight but the aviation authorities in New Zealand have asked its national carrier to now weigh passengers also. That’s right, New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority has asked Air New Zealand to weigh passengers before departure on international flights taking off from Auckland International Airport.

Why is New Zealand doing this?

Air New Zealand has said that the process is part of a passenger weight survey to gather real-world data on the weight load and distribution of planes. The airlines' load control improvement specialist Alastair James, in a statement, said that they weigh “everything” which goes onboard the aircraft “from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold.”

He added, “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.” Air New Zealand also told NPR, that it is for “safety reasons” that they weigh everything onboard the aircraft and the survey is also mandated by the country’s civil aviation authority.

Process will beanonymous, optional

“No one can see your weight, not even us,” said James. The airline also said that they acknowledge that standing on the weighing scale in public “can be daunting”. However, they haveasked people not to worry as the scales will not display the passengers’ weight and the data will be “directly fed into a computer and recorded anonymously along with thousands of other passengers.”

The passengers will be asked to stand on a digital scale when they check-in for their flight before reaching the boarding gate. The so-called passenger weight survey aims to collect data from at least 10,000 passengers and those who do not wish to participate can skip it.

“It’s simple, it’s voluntary, and by weighing in, you’ll be helping us to fly you safely and efficiently, every time,” said James. The survey began for selected Air New Zealand flights departing from Auckland, on Sunday and will go on till July 2. However, this is not the first time that Air New Zealand has asked the weight of its passengers.

In 2021, domestic passengers participated in a similar survey but the one for international travellers was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, any amount of weight in an aircraft affects virtually everything, including, the plane’s climb rate to its cruising altitude, speed and manoeuvrability, said a report by NPR citing United States Federal Aviation Authorities.

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