Airlines could start weighing passengers before boarding flights

The federal government and airlines may soon ask travelers to step on a scale prior to boarding flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration said there will be no sharing of people’s weight.

The idea isn’t new.

New Zealand, for example, does weigh-ins for people every five years.

However, Southwest and American Airlines said they’ll use the CDC standard weights, avoiding the embarrassment of stepping on a scale.

“I think some people are definitely going to be offended by it,” said Kristie Wilson, of New Jersey.

Richard Bray, of Naples, said he has no problem with it.

“As long as they don’t start laughing,” Bray added.

Megan Kornblum, of Fort Myers, said if it’s necessary for safety reasons then it would be OK.

“I mean if it’s for safety, and safety of passengers and safety overall, I think that if it’s not information that shared, then I wouldn’t have a problem with it personally,” Kornblum said.

But for other people, the problem is with who would be weighed.

The airlines will pick people at random.

“I have a hard time believing that it’s actually going to be a random, just from the standpoint, why are you going to pick a 110-pound woman to get weighed, what’s the point of that,” said Daniel Walsh, who is visiting from Ohio.

Cape Coral resident Paul Nicodemi said he does not think picking at random is a good metric.

“If you’re really using this information to try and figure out whether it’s safe to take off or land, you need to know that number exactly,” Nicodemi said.

One frequent flyer said travelers already give away so much information that nothing is sacred.

“You’re already getting all of your information collected on Facebook and every website and now you turn around and they’re going to collect your weight information when you fly, it just seems like the next step on a potentially slippery slope,” Nicodemi said.