The boarding agent on my flight announced that the plane was full and mentioned a term that had something to do with weight. She said that extra baggage wasn’t allowed so people should consolidate. How does that change the weight of anything?
In: Engineering
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Without more specifics we can only speculate. But there are a number of reasons why passengers might be asked to consolidate bags:
1. They brought on more than they were allowed to begin with.
2. There isn’t enough overhead space for everyone to begin with, so if you’re one of the last to board you may be forced to consolidate or check baggage that has no room overhead or underneath.
3. Weight distribution in the plane is important as well.
It’s either a weight distribution issue, or as happened to me once they’re going to ship the extra weight on a different vessel to your final location
It’s not the actual weight, it’s the average weight.
A bag in your hand weighs 30lbs and a bag below weighs 50lbs.
If you take 2 bags and make them one by “consolidating” then you have basically cut the weight in half.
I know I know. That’s silly. But it’s true. The entire industry uses average weight per bag based on historical data. Same for people. We all weigh more in the winter and less in the summer and our carryon bags are lighter than our checked luggage.
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It’s possible for the plane to have weight and balance issues as well as there being a legal and space requirement for passengers to consolidate bags. Federal law still limits the number of bags passengers can carry aboard a scheduled commercial flight, so the consolidating bags announcement is typically still done on flights which are nowhere near full.
Airlines generally use a standardized weight for passengers and carryon baggage.
could have also been they needed extra room in cargo hold for something big and bulky but weight wasn’t as much of an issue as volume so this way they can avoid having to ship it or put it on a more complicated route which increases the likelihood of something going wrong
As a frequent flyer they say this pretty much every time there is a full flight. It’s mostly due to the fact that they hope not everyone brings a bag for overhead but then most people do, so as the last people are getting on they don’t have room, so they ask to consolidate to make room for everyone’s bags otherwise they have to be checked.
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