Checking into a flight can be a stressful situation, especially when you’re worried over the weight of your bag. But imagine being forced onto the scales before boarding a flight to see if you’ll be allowed to fly?
British actress, Lisa Riley, recently spoke on the UK chat show, Loose Women, about a mortifying experience she had at an airport in Kathmandu.
According to the actress, she was forced to stand on airport scales usually reserved to weigh bags to see if she would be allowed to fly.
“It was in Kathmandu, I’m mortified about the scales even now. They were weighing us to see where we would go on the plane,” she recalled. “I was the biggest person and it felt dreadful. I don’t want that feeling again because it’s embarrassing.”
Lisa Riley, speaking to The Sun.
Source: www.news.com.au
Riley never revealed which particular airline was involved in the incident – nor when exactly it happened – but it does bring to mind a number of recent actions by airlines around the world who have begun to change their policies regarding the weighing of passengers at airports.
Recently, Hawaiian Airlines stopped allowing its passengers to choose their own seats on flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago in American Samoa.
The airline’s change in policy is in response to a recent survey which showed that the average passenger weight was increasing, requiring staff to redistribute the heavier passenger load to ensure in-air safety.
Another airline, Samoa Air, has taken things a step further, by costing tickets based on the weight of both the passenger and their luggage.
The airline, which operates scheduled flights between its domestic islands and to American Samoa, says its pay-by-weight system is the fairest way to charge ticket prices in a country with a major obesity problem.