Pacific

Hawaiian Airlines to weigh passengers on Pago Pago flights

13:28 pm on 5 June 2023

Photo: AFP

Hawaiian Airlines will be conducting a "passenger weight survey" for the carrier's flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago.

Airline spokesperson Alex Da Silva said the survey is in accordance with US Federal Aviation Administration "procedures requiring airlines to regularly update this data", but the weighing is optional for passengers.

He said Hawaiian Airlines is doing similar surveys in Japan and South Korea.

The Honolulu-based carrier is now operating flights to Pago Pago three times a week until August.

The survey - conducted at the airline check-in counters at the airport - applies to all classes of service Da Silva said, adding that the last weight survey for the Pago Pago-Honolulu route was last year.

One of the biggest questions that was asked in the past is why Hawaiian is weighing passengers.

"It is important to calculate accurate weight and balance, and therefore the center of gravity of an aircraft for safe, efficient flight," according to information sheet provided by Hawaiian to Samoa News in 2019 during the survey.

The move follows Air New Zealand's annnouncement a few days ago that it would be weighing passengers on international flights for the same reasons.