Weigh your bags and weigh yourself. The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority has asked its national airline, Air New Zealand, to now weigh every passenger on international flights departing from Auckland airport until July 2, 2023, multiple outlets including CNN report.
Billed as a passenger weight survey, the airline justifies the initiative as a way to collect data on aircraft weight distribution and cargo.
“We weigh everything that comes on the plane, from cargo to inflight meals to checked baggage,” Alastair James, the airline’s cargo control enhancements specialist, said in a statement. “For customers, crew, and carry-on bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”
A different scale than the suitcases
In an effort to protect the privacy of its customers, the airline claims to have made the data anonymous.
Travelers will be asked to stand on a digital scale when checking in for their flight. Information about your weight is then sent to the survey, but it will not be visible on the screen of the agent in charge of your registration.
They will also place your luggage on another identical scale to weigh them separately.
“We know that getting on the scale can be intimidating. We want to reassure our customers that there are no visible screens anywhere. No one can see your weight, not even us,” said Alastair James.
A measure already introduced in 2021
If the news can shock, it is not new. This is not the first time Air New Zealand has implemented the measure: domestic passengers took part in a survey in 2021, but one for international travelers was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among those likely to be asked to take part in the survey are those traveling on the direct flight from Auckland to New York’s JFK Airport, an airline for ultra-long 17-hour non-stop flights.
Source: BFM TV
