Some people diet before going on vacation so they look good on the beach. Now air passengers may want to diet in order to slim down just for the airplane ride! Uzbekistan Airways is going to start weighing people on their flights, according to the Daily Mail.
The airline will not reveal the weight of each passenger, but they do want to know what it is. Before boarding the plane, passengers will step onto weighing machines at departure gate areas. People will be weighed along with their hand luggage.
"According to the laws of the International Air Transport Association, airlines are obliged to carry out regular procedures of pre-flight control such as weighing passengers with hand luggage in order to observe the requirements for ensuring flight safety," said Uzbekistan Airways in a statement. "Full confidentiality of results is guaranteed."
However, the International Air Transport Association has no such regulation regarding passenger weight. "We are not aware of an IATA rule concerning the weighing of passengers and their hand luggage prior to flight," said the manager of IATA corporate communications, Chris Goater, in an email, according to CNN.
Currently, FAA guidelines on aircraft weight set an average weight of 190-195 pounds per adult passenger, 82 pounds per child. A 16-pound allowance for carry-on items is built into the estimate.
Samoa Air started weighing passengers in 2012 and actually charges tickets based on weight. "The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid," said Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton, according to USA Today.
Weight has been a factor in American air travel in the past. Famed director/writer/actor/comic book aficionado Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight in 2010 for being too hefty to fit in a plane seat.
