Page 21 - MidWeek - July 28, 2021

The Federal Aviation Administration is concerned about our weight. Realizing that pas- sengers are a bit heftier today than they were back when Or- ville and Wilbur were flying, the FA A is examining calcu- lations about the safe pay- load for commercial flights. Among its options, a recent advisory declared, is “weigh- ing customers at the gate.”
PATERNITY WARD D. L. Stewart
The Skinny On Airlines’ Weight Limits
Airlines’ policies about weight have been on my mind for years. Although not as of- ten as some others, such as:
• Why does airline coffee taste like it was brewed three weeks ago? And why do I keep ordering it?
A planeload of pro foot- ball players, for instance, would weigh a lot more than a planeload of ballerinas. (I’ve never actually flown on a plane filled with ballerinas, butonetimeIdidflyonateam plane with the Cincinnati Ben- gals’ players, the majority of whom weighed more than 250 pounds.I’mprettysurethere
• Why are flight attendants required to stand in front of passengers and demonstrate howtobuckletheirseatbelts?
viously is to make sure the air- craft isn’t too heavy to get off the ground, because otherwise it would be nothing more than abuswithuncomfortableseats.
(Apparently there’s also a weight limit of 40 pounds for carry-on bags, although I’ ve never seen those being weighed and I’ve always
We’ve been buckling up in our cars for half a century and if we haven’t figured it out by now, we probably should just stay home.
assumed the rule was pretty much all you can lift as long as it doesn’t to contain dangerous items such as brass knuckles or large tubes of toothpaste.)
aren’t a lot of 250-pound bal- lerinas.)
• Why does a flight from Dayton, Ohio, to Washing- ton, D.C., (491 miles due east) connect in Chicago (307 miles north by northwest)?
But if airlines are worried about liftoff, I keep wonder- ing, why do they weigh the passenger’s stuff and not the passenger?
Clearly this discriminates against slender passengers. Combined, my wife and I weigh approximately 250 pounds, so it seems only fair that we each should be al- lowed to check a lot more lug- gage than a guy who may be sitting between us and over- flowing both arm rests.
Still, airline policies con- cerning weight occasionally have puzzled me. According to U.S. airline guidelines, a passenger is allowed to check a suitcase weighing no more than50pounds.Thelimitob-
The Federal Aviation Administration is considering weighing passengers.
Further study about the whole weight thing clearly is necessary. In the meantime, maybe airlines could lighten their loads by getting rid of the machines that make their terriblecoffee.
JULY 28, 2021 MIDWEEK 21
And yet, every passenger gets the same luggage limit.
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