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Purely out of interest...
Why do they weigh passenger baggage?
Surely, like passenger weight, they could average it out?
Given the variation in passenger weights, both geographically and over time, they are able to work that out easily. With decades of data on passenger baggage weight, surely they can work that out too?
If the difference in baggage weight is so vital to fuel loads, surely the larger variation in passenger weight is even more vital?
What am I missing?
The smaller the aircraft, the more crucial the weight distribution. On a 747 I guess it's not that crucial.
But if you get Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks on a BN Islander, there's a pretty good chance they'll be sat side by side as near as possible to the CoG, whether they like it or not. But if they both have excess baggage then everyone else's baggage has to be less than the average, or there could be trouble
Won't be long before all you can take is clear bag the size of a pencil case, with a bag fee more than the cost of the flights, C&&ts.
Tis all about teh moneh coz day no der alwayz b sum mug who will pay da man dem. Premium seats 4 da badman only, not on other passengers laps like a hoodrat brah.
It's not for aircraft trim. If they didn't weigh luggage, people would take more. They don't weigh people as their weight is fixed (in the short term at least).
The over head lockers are rated to a weight, so if you can fit 3 bags in a locker they need to come under xkg to be safe.
Don't seem to get mine weighed but plenty do. The more airlines make it harder to check a bag the more people will push it and the more of an issue it becomes.
For the budget/scumbag airlines it's also a money maker, make it unpalatable to check a bag then force you to pay double if you are 2g or 2cm over the spec for hand luggage.
I've often mused that from an efficiency standpoint it works in the airlines favour to keep the baggage status quo as is. If customers take large hand-luggage and no hold baggage then loading and unloading of the aircraft is near optimal. Passengers are normally rushing to get to the boarding queue to get their massive bags in a space so passenger load time is short, baggage load and unload time is also short. I also think minimal ground time is a more efficient revenue generator than getting people to pay for hand luggage although paying for a guaranteed space in the cabin or extra hand luggage seems to be gaining popularity.
Iain