Obese passengers targeted by Hawaiian - Curt Lewis

Outrage at Hawaiian Airlines' new policy for obese passengers

Hawaiian Airlines has introduced a controversial new policy for its Pago Pago-Honolulu route and it's upsetting a lot of passengers.

REMEMBER all those times you fretted over the weight of your carry-on bag? That's not the only weight you need to worry about at this airport.

In a controversial new policy introduced last week, travellers flying out of Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa can no longer preselect seats on Hawaiian Airlines flights. Staff are eyeballing passengers instead and seating them in a way that more evenly distributes weight on-board.
There are also widespread reports passengers at Pago Pago will be weighed before boarding Hawaiian Airlines flights, however the airline has denied this, the Toronto Sun reported.

"We will not be weighing passengers at any point during the check-in or boarding process," carrier spokeswoman Tara Shimooka told the Sun.

But the airline has confirmed seating arrangements on flights out of Pago Pago had changed to maintain a limited number of adults per row and ensure some sections were reserved for smaller children.
That was apparently why passengers were no longer able to choose their own seats.
"It's in order to make aeroplane weight and balance limitations," a Hawaiian Airlines customer service agent told theNew York Post.

A survey by the airline showed an average passenger weight was increasing, which has forced it to redistribute the load in its Boeing 767 cabins to meet manufacturer's guidelines, according to Radio New Zealand.

While the carrier maintained the focus on weight was a safety issue, it has not gone down well with flyers.

The airline admitted it has already received several complaints from passengers who accused the new policy as being discriminatory and offensive.

"We're having a tough time explaining it (the policy's rationale)," the customer service agent told the Post.
American Samoan businessmen Avamua Dave Haleck and Daniel King, have already filed formal complaints to the US Transportation Department, which is now investigating.

Hawaiian Airlines has been flying its Boeing 767-300 to American Samoa since 2003. Both men questioned the sudden policy change, and why it only applied to flights to and from the island.
"And of course Hawaiian is saying that 'yes it is a safety issue'," Haleck told Radio New Zealand.
"So have we been flying unsafe for all these years?"

Commentators have suggested the policy - which only applied to Hawaiian Airlines flights out of American Samoa - was discriminatory.

Samoa and American Samoa have some of the highest obesity rates in the world, with close to 75 per cent of all Samoans considered obese, according to the CIA World Facebook.
Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Tara Shimooka said the airline routinely reviewed weight as part of fuel saving strategies on many routes.

"This action resulted from the recognition that over time our fuel burn on Pago Pago flights was consistently much higher than projected, indicating that our weight assumptions were inaccurate," she told the Toronto Sun.

"We review weights on any flight within our route network that demonstrates such a discrepancy."
This is not the first time airlines have clamped down on full-figured passengers.
Samoa Air and Uzbekistan Airways already weigh passengers before boarding in order to meet international air safety guidelines.

Samoa Air introduced a "XL" class for passengers weighing more than 130kg in 2013, becoming the first airline in the world to do so.

Uzbekistan Airways started weighing passengers last year, saying it was obliged to "observe requirements for ensuring flight safety".

US-based airlines, including United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, require passengers to purchase a second ticket if they cannot fit comfortably in their seat with both armrests down.
Australian airlines don't have specific policies for larger passengers.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority requires "maximum weight and weight balance" to be calculated before each flight. Calculations are based on "suggested standard passenger weights" of 81 to 86kg for men and 66 to 71kg for women.