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20th May 2023

Travellers shocked as airline weighs woman on baggage scale before flight

Steve Hopkins

‘This is so humiliating omg’

A woman has shared the moment that a fellow traveller was asked to board the baggage scale to be weighed before a flight.

Lillian, known as @lilwessel on TikTok, shared a clip of a passenger appearing to be weighed in front of other travellers before she was allowed on the aircraft.

In the post, which went was viewed more than 1.6m times before being removed, read: “The whole airport trying to mind their own business as a woman is asked to step on the baggage scale because she claimed she was 130lbs.”

The 24-year-old said the “tiny plane” needed their passenger’s correct weight for “safety reasons”.

The airline involved has not been identified.

While most social media users were aghast at the way the traveller had been treated, saying it was “cruel”, others were more sympathetic, suggesting it was now, common practice for safety reasons.

One person suggested “airports are out of control”, while another added, “This is so humiliating omg wtf.”

Another person questioned, “Since when do we have to declare our weight when flying?”

The post also prompted other travellers to share their experiences, with one person saying they had been weighed while flying home from the Philippines: “I have never been so embarrassed in my life.”

Another added that they had seen a “very heavy man” being kicked off a flight. While, they “felt bad” about the scenario, they plane, the person added, was a 16-seater.

Lillian was also criticised by some users, with some suggesting she had effectively shamed the traveller and encouraged people to stop taking pictures of strangers and posting it on the internet.

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends airlines use measurement guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to determine a plane’s takeoff weight.