Weight-check-and it's not your luggage

I’m wondering why they have never installed weighing machines that the entire plane could roll over like weigh stations for trucks on the highway if this is so important?

Well, actually it is important. I was on a flight once where they moved people (and luggage) to redistribute the weight, and my brother, who is a pilot for a major airline, has mentioned its importance as well.

That said, I wouldn't care if there was a weigh-in at check-in, but I wonder if there is some way to evaluate people's weight without bringing attention to it.

Davis Air used to run from San Antonio to Ft Worth. At check-in, they would ask your weight and assign seats accordingly. It was interesting listening to the lies. Then the plane full with all 24 passengers would follow I35 all the way. So low you could almost read the license plates on the cars below.

The article that I read about this said that the weight is not displayed, even to the employee supervising the process. It's just sent anonymously to the data collection team.

I’ve been dreading that but at least it says your weight isn’t displayed. Whew. We were on a 2x2 seater in SLC one winter on a flight to LAX when they announced that they would be redistributing some overhead luggage. Then they came back to the cabin and announced that they needed 3 volunteers to get off the plane—it was too heavy for take off (cold weather/amt of fuel for trip problem). After 5-10 minutes of no one volunteering the same person came back to the cabin and said they had recalculated and they were ok to take off. By that time I wanted to get off the plane rather than to wait and see if the people doing the calculations were correct or not! They closed the doors and off we went on a wing and a lot of prayers! Please weigh us before we get on the plane and have something more competent than a person with a pencil and paper doing the calculations,

It matters when doing safari fly ins on those little 6 or 8 seaters. The seats are utility seats and not very comfortable for many. Over 90 kg (200lbs) you pay for 2 seats as they have to start reducing passenger numbers.

I wouldn't care at all if they weighed me.

Good video explaining how critical weight and balance is.
https://youtu.be/aRW_EGfyoak
I remember long ago being told that you weren't supposed to change seats because they may not be able to properly identify you if the plane crashed. It turns out you aren't supposed to move to prevent the plane from crashing.

The key is maintaining centre-of-balance. You may be asked to move if the plane is to front or rear heavy, not if you're rear heavy ;).

Would not be an issue for me personally. For major airliners, an anonymous system would be good for everyone involved. I have only encountered the personal weight issue on seaplane flights.

Back before retirement when I was working as a hospital social worker and had to organize air transport for critical care patients to go to tertiary care facilities the air ambulances always needed the patient weight and the weight of any family members going along. When I started the process I always let the spouse know ahead of time (especially if it was a woman) that I would need that information so they were not shocked and have more distress added at a critical time.

I've had Mardee's situation happen as well - smaller plane leaving SLC in winter to a small airport in North Idaho. Yes, they moved people around and one time even brought up luggage from the hold to balance the seats.

I was on a Turbo prop yesterday with only 20 passengers on a 70 seat plane. They moved some people from the front to the back to balance the load. They claimed it was too heavy up front.

I'm a former pilot and I can tell you that weight and balance is extremely important. There have even been a couple of cases where cargo planes have been loaded incorrectly. The planes crashed shortly after takeoff.

What Air New Zealand is doing is short term. They want to get more precise on the weight of the average passenger.

By coincidence I was watching a show last night about mega cruise ships and the topic was also about centre-of-gravity. The ship was undergoing renovations to add a waterslide that extended beyond the edge of the ship. This created design challenges that resulted in massive renovations below deck and to the ship's hull so it wouldn't tip over. Now I wonder how much thought goes into luggage, cargo, people, and weight of a ship?

I guess weight has never been a factor for airlines when they increase capacity by reducing seat pitch to get in more and more rows. It’s OK for them then.
Hmmm…

Easy Jet needed 20 volunteers to get off because the plane was too heavy.

https://www.newsweek.com/plane-too-heavy-passengers-removed-easyjet-flight-tiktok-1811512

I’m totally comfortable with this!

Honestly, there are plenty of more important things to be sensitive about. People will form an opinion of your weight without seeing any numbers.

When we have flown from Fairbanks to Bettles, there is a large scale. You put your luggage on it first, then they weigh you. The first time we took that flight it caught me off guard, and yes the weight is not hidden. It is right there lit up in big read neon lights, lol. There are usually only 5-6 people on those flights, so they do tell you where you will sit based on weight.