A Finnish airline recently announced that it has started weighing passengers along with their carry-on luggage before take-offs to better estimate the weight of the plane. The otherwise anonymous and voluntary move has sparked controversy among travelers as well as on social media.
Finnair, the national airline of Finland was recently in the spotlight when it started a passenger weighing system to gather data for flight balance calculations. But many are skeptical and are criticizing the airline’s information-gathering effort as a ‘body shaming’ practice. The airline began its weighing process at the Helsinki airport post which triggered a firestorm of criticism.
Finnair is collecting average weight data of both the passengers and their carry-on baggage with an aim to optimize aircraft balance calculations. According to the airline, this is an ‘entirely voluntary’ procedure and every traveler is under no obligation to go through the weighing system before boarding a flight. Apparently, no personal data is collected from the passengers apart from their age, gender, and class of travel besides their weight combined with their hand luggage.
The head of Finnair’s ground processes, Satu Munnukka gave a statement that no information is collected to reveal the identity of the volunteers. She also mentioned in a press release that the weighing data is required for ‘safe operations of the flight’.
However, the news has sparked controversy and criticism among travelers especially after a plus-size American actress and model expressed her concern saying that even though the information is not to be leaked in public, but it is still a ‘triggering’ move for people belonging to the plus-size community. She even conveyed her suspicion on whether the now-voluntary program could potentially be mandated in the future which the airline has clearly denied. Finnair has given a legible statement that ‘under no circumstance’ will the weight survey be made permanent.
Besides, the move has also received backlash from social media. There’s a buzz on the Internet that the airline is promoting discrimination and ‘fat-shaming’. People have even portrayed backlash by saying they won’t be traveling by Finnair.
