Hawaiian Airlines is in the news again today. First issue is the controversy over weighing passengers on some flights. Second is regarding their lay flat seat deployment. Then, how likely is it that you’ll find an empty seat on the plane next to you? Chime in with your thoughts and see our comments further down. Have you ever been asked for your weight?
Hawaiian Airlines Weighing Passengers Controversy
A DOT complaint has been filed by two American Samoans who are claiming discrimination after being weighed at HNL prior to boarding their flight to Pago Pago (pronounced Pah-go Pah-go). The two were reassigned seats in order to manage 767 aircraft weight distribution. The DOT indicated it is investigating the complaint to determine if anything discriminatory may have occurred.
Hawaiian Airlines said “this action resulted from the recognition that over time our fuel burn on Pago Pago (PPG) flights was consistently much higher than projected, indicating that our weight assumptions were inaccurate. We review weights on any flight within our route network that demonstrates such a discrepancy.” The airline said this occurred during a six month survey conducted using FAA protocols.
One of the individuals involved said “…. Hawaiian is saying that ‘yes it is a safety issue’ but, you know, weight distribution, so have we been flying unsafe for all these years?”
Media outlets have questioned whether American Samoa’s ranking as having the highest rate of obesity in the world may have something to do with the issues raised. It’s interest to note that several years ago, Samoa Air began charging based on passenger and baggage weight.
Southwest Airlines has a specific and somewhat related policy for “customers of size.” If a passenger is too large to lower the armrest, a second seat must be purchased. A refund for the extra seat required can later be requested.
Beat of Hawaii: In some ways this is nothing new. Airlines have been guesstimating passenger weight and making seat reassignments for as long as we can remember. Now defunct Royal Hawaiian Airlines always asked for your weight at check-in. With Rob’s 6’4″ frame he was asked once on a United Express flight to move to the back for take off to help balance the plane. The difference here is that passengers were actually weighed instead.
Note: This controversy follows another one in which a reality television star claims to have been thrown off a Hawaiian airlines flight.
Hawaiian Airlines Lie Flat Seating Now Available
For those of you who do upgrade on flights to and from Hawaii, true lie flat seats (aka beds) are now starting to be sold for travel on Hawaiian Airlines starting December 5. The first four routes outfitted for beds are between Honolulu and Tokyo, Brisbane, Sydney, and Auckland. All A330 routes are currently being retrofitted and more routes will undoubtedly be announced shortly.
Hawaiian Airlines Traffic Setting New Records
The company announced today that 3rd quarter as well as year to date traffic is up 4% over the records set in 2015. With a load factor of 85%, there weren’t a lot of empty seats this past summer either.
Hawaiian Airlines has carried 8.3 million passengers so far this year. This comes after an unprecedented 2015, during which the company carried nearly 11 million passengers, an increase of 4.7% over the prior year.
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About being weighed by airline: As I remember, Samoan-based Polynesian Airline routinely weighs all passengers, at least on interisland flights. Somewhat embarrassing, but understandable considering the smaller planes in use. And by the way, Pago Pago is not pronounced Pah-go Pah-go as you have it, but Pah-ngo Pah-ngo, with the “ng” pronounced as in “siNGer” and not “fiNGer.” (Comment from former long-term resident of independent Samoa, now relocated to the Big Island of Hawaii)
I feel for and sympathize with large people. To be fair to all, any thing that has to do with me and my wife and children flying safely in that plane to our destination takes priority. I know weight distribution and the amount of fuel are real issues and I will support the airlines’ decisions. Don’t second guess the expertise of people who are responsible. I do not want my children to be screaming in terror in a plane going down in the ocean or crashing somewhere. And it does happen. I was at Chicago Ohara airport years back when the TWA flight crashed on take off and killed everyone on board. There were people who cancelled their flight and went home that night.
Some of this is common sense to a limit. Last flt in Aug on Hawaiian Air to the mainland my wife and I were in middle seats. Nice gentleman next to me gave his wife the aisle seat. Problem was he was not tall but had really broad shoulders. When he sat down and tried to fold his shoulders in I could not use that side at all, so I gave him more room on his side and for the next 5 hours I sloped my shoulders towards my wife. I had a sore shoulder for 2 days. That was my call but I do understand when people say no to an uncomfortable seating arrangement for 5 hours.
:I have been an airline employee for 36 years loading aircraft all the while. Every bag’s weight and where it is put counts toward proper aircraft balance, trim, smoothness of flight and fuel utilization. Pilots can even tell when people are walking up the aisles. Even “kid-counts” are taken as a percentage of passengers so pilots can set trim, fuel planners can calculate out consumption and airplanes can fly within their design limits. So please don’t get upset when your weight is brought into the equation or you are asked to change seats to help balance the numbers and don’t “rock the boat” so to speak.
When a person of SIZE purchases a ticket – they, of all people, should KNOW they are a person of size and measure themselves at home so they know ahead of time how much space they realistically take up and book accordingly. They should not put themselves in the position of being embarrassed at the airport by needing to be weighed. Does Hawaiian Airlines have a protocol similar to SWA? All airlines should. I am a small person who spent several hours wedged between TWO people of size whose hot bodies pushed against mine the entire flight and I was not able to even put my arms on the armrests! I had to keep my arms crossed in front of me. It was the most horrid flight of my life! Now, even if it costs extra, I pay for a seat assignment ahead of time and always get an aisle seat. Never again will I be put in that position. And SHAME ON PERSONS OF SIZE who do this to others. Sure, they may have a metabolic syndrome, but they are still large and should consider this when purchasing tickets. I think SWA’s policy of refunding the second seat is a good way to handle the situation. All airlines should adopt this policy.
Inquiry: Someday, would be nice to see space for wheelchairs with tie-downs on planes as buses, trains, taxis & Disney boat rides do. Cruise ships do not require tie-downs. Do you think this will ever happened for the wheelchair bound on airplanes? Many mahalos!
I have flown on Hawaiian may times, and have never been asked about weight. My son is also 6’4″ and has never balanced out the plane. There is rarely an empty seat.