Airlines Say Flight Passengers Have Gotten Heavier, New Safety Rules Are Being Set

Airlines are setting new weight rules for flying; however, no one will be getting weighed for now.

According to Business Insider, the average person flying is about eight pounds heavier than they once were. To keep the planes within their safety limits, airlines are considering different ways to make sure fliers meet the standards. One of those ways won’t be to weigh them, even though the method was “an option,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates commercial airlines.

Henry Harteveldt, president of travel research firm Atmosphere Research Group, said most companies won’t weigh passengers.

“The airline check-in experience is not going to turn into a Weight Watchers-like scenario,” he said. “Airlines do not ask passengers how much they weigh, and they’re not about to start doing so.” American Airlines told Insider on June 10 that its average customer now weighs 182 pounds in summer and 187 pounds in winter, an “eight-pound increase for both seasons,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

According to the Wall Street Journal, unidentified airline officials said passengers’ weights have risen between 5 percent and 10 percent. Insider reports the FAA gave companies until June 12 to come up with a new average weight for passengers.

In 2016, the average weight for women was 170.8 pounds while men were an average 199.8 pounds. Typically airlines have gotten a passenger’s weight by asking them or weighing them before boarding.