Finnair weighing its passengers before flights

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  • capetonianm
    Participant

    Would I volunteer? Yes, probably, as I have nothing to hide or fear.

    The reason I say ‘probably’, rather than ‘yes’ is that I think it’s unnecessary and inappropriate for an airline to be collecting information in this way. I completely understand why the information is required – as an airport duty manager, part of my responsibility was ensuring safe despatch of our aircraft and that included weight and balance, meaning that we needed to know the weight of passengers and their baggage in order to distribute it correctly in the aircraft. With larger more modern aircraft which are usually full from nose to tail, thanks to better revenue integrity systems, this is not as critical as it used to be on smaller aircraft which often weren’t full. We worked on ‘average’ data which was needed for weight and balance and for fuel burn.

    Passengers of different nationalities/ethnicities tend to have differing weights, and there are seasonal and route variations, and the airlines need this information, but there are other ways of getting it than the somewhat time-wasting and possibly humiliating procedure of asking passengers to weigh themselves. The weight of checked baggage is always a known, and the same could apply to hand baggage. From that, it doesn’t take a genius to work out average values for a ‘large’/’medium’/’small’, Caucasian/African/Asian, male/female/child etc, and to add to that the value of seasonal wear, e.g coat, heavy shoes, and so on.

    I wonder if this is a bit of a marketing/publicity stunt by Finnair? Not that I’m cynical!


    mkcol74
    Participant

    Indeed it doesn’t take a genius to work out the averages, hence why Finnair are repeating a survey they conducted previously in the 1980s.

    If this is a marketing/publicity stunt then they’re sure dragging it out by only conducting the weigh-ins on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, only at Helsinki & over 3 different seasons. I look forward to seeing them maintain the momentum!


    capetonianm
    Participant

    This reply was modified 13 minutes ago by Mark Caswell

    Why on earth did you find it necessary to edit my posting to remove the word ‘negroid’?
    It is a perfectly normal and widely used anthropological term or classifcation, in the same way as Caucasian, African, Asian etc, and although they may be scientifically controversial there is no pejorative meaning whatsoever, actual or implied.
    This appears to me to be a very heavyhanded and ill-advised piece of editing, in the name of political correctness, and if so, quite frankly, pathetic.
    I expect at the very least an acknowledgement and explanation.
    Thank you.


    chrisf71
    Participant

    Isn’t the problem here that it’s voluntary? As an overweight middle aged man I’m not sure I’d want to be subjected to the “humiliation” (although perhaps I should) – whereas if I was my slim 20-something self I’d be happy to jump onboard… So the average may not end up being very average, if you can my midrift…


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    [quote quote=835930]

    This reply was modified 13 minutes ago by Mark Caswell

    Why on earth did you find it necessary to edit my posting to remove the word ‘negroid’? It is a perfectly normal and widely used anthropological term or classifcation, in the same way as Caucasian, African, Asian etc, and although they may be scientifically controversial there is no pejorative meaning whatsoever, actual or implied. This appears to me to be a very heavyhanded and ill-advised piece of editing, in the name of political correctness, and if so, quite frankly, pathetic. I expect at the very least an acknowledgement and explanation. Thank you.
    [/quote]

    It was reported as offensive, so we googled it.

    “adjective dated offensive”

    Word Origin
    adjective
    1.
    Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of the peoples traditionally classified as the Negro race, especially those who originate in sub-Saharan Africa.
    noun
    2.
    Older Use: Usually Offensive. a member of such peoples.

    Obviously you didn’t mean to be offensive, so we removed it.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Thanks Tom.

    I am amazed to learn that ‘negroid’ is offensive, although most references do not mention this, but fair enough, some do.

    Obviously, I was not aware that it was potentially offensive, nor did I intend it to be.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    [quote quote=835931]Isn’t the problem here that it’s voluntary? As an overweight middle aged man I’m not sure I’d want to be subjected to the “humiliation” (although perhaps I should) – whereas if I was my slim 20-something self I’d be happy to jump onboard… So the average may not end up being very average, if you can my midrift…
    [/quote]

    Fully agree with you there Chris 😉


    AdamMarley
    Participant

    BA did a similar exercise for handluggage around 2009 time.

    All handluggage was weighed on the jetty just by the aircraft door, this wasn’t a voluntary exercise though.

    The dramas caused by some businessmen being asked to put their laptops with their precious spreadsheets on in a scale was quite something to behold.

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