A woman has recounted the moment that a fellow traveller was allegedly asked to step on a baggage scale to be weighed before boarding a flight.
Lillian, who goes by the username @lilwessel on TikTok, recently uploaded a photo of the incident, which saw a woman facing forward and standing on what appeared to be a baggage claim scale as an airport employee looked on.
“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,” Lillian wrote in a text caption on the video.
In the caption of the clip, she added that the airline allegedly needed to know the weight of each passenger because it was a “tiny plane”.
“It’s a tiny plane so they needed our weight to take off for safety reasons,” she wrote.
The video, which has since been viewed more than 1.6m times, has been met with concern from viewers, with many upset on the woman’s behalf over the alleged incident.
“Airports are out of control,” one person commented, while another said: “This is so humiliating omg wtf.”
“Since when do we have to declare our weight when flying??” someone else asked.
One viewer went as far as to suggest it should be “illegal” for airlines to” even consider individual passengers’ weight”.
Others shared their own experiences being weighed by an airline, with many revealing they were “embarrassed” by the incidents.
“Flying home from the Philippines and they weighed me… I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” one person wrote.
Another said: “They kicked a very heavy man off my plane once and he cried. Felt bad but it was a 16-seater. No way he was flying.”
The video also sparked criticism of Lillian, with many calling out the TikToker for posting the photo of the traveller seemingly being weighed.
“Y’all need to stop taking pics of strangers and posting it online, it’s weird and disrespectful,” one person wrote, while someone else said: “Taking a picture of her and posting it on the internet feels mean.”
Although many were disturbed by the video, others defended the airline on the basis that weight is “really important on a small aircraft”.
“Weight and balance is really important on small aircraft!!” one person commented, while another said: “I mean, they have to make sure the weight is balanced if it’s a smaller plane.”
“They weigh my purse on Cape Air… it’s not personal… it’s life or death,” someone else wrote.
Typically, 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.
The FAA also recommends that, in lieu of weighing passengers, airline employees make a “reasonable estimate of the passenger’s actual weight and add 10lbs,” according to NJ.com.
The Independent has contacted Lillian for comment.
