My flight just announced that it will be pretty empty, and that it is important for everyone to sit in their assigned seats to keep the weight balanced. What would happen if everyone, on a full flight, moved to one side of the plane?

Question

My flight just announced that it will be pretty empty, and that it is important for everyone to sit in their assigned seats to keep the weight balanced. What would happen if everyone, on a full flight, moved to one side of the plane?

In: 8623

Answer 1

I routinely fly nearly-empty ferry flights (when planes need to be moved due to maintenance, repairs, upgrades), usually 10-15 people in an A320 including crew. We get the same briefing, but really all it does is annoy the pilots slightly, because they have to re-trim the plane (turn a knob or command the flight confuser to do it). They seat us mostly over the wing (plane’s center of gravity). It could be potentially dangerous if we all moved to the rear during a cognitively difficult flight phase, e.g. turning for final on a busy airport. I wouldn’t want to add to the pilot’s workload at that moment.