DEL.ICIO.USUnreliable airline baggage scales can cost travelers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, January 02, 2009
It’s one of those hassles of modern-day travel: You plunk your suitcase on the airline’s scale and hope it’s not too heavy.
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Russell Granthan / rgranthan@ajc.com
Air Jamaica scales weighed a reporter’s bag as 54 pounds, but other scales had a different reading.
Russell Granthan / rgranthan@ajc.com
The same bag weighed 52 pounds at Delta.
Russell Granthan / rgranthan@ajc.com
At Air Tran, the bag weighed 51.5 pounds.
RUSSELL GRANTHAM / rgrantham@ajc
Delta employee Martha Coles weighs a passenger’s bag before a flight from Hartsfield Jackson International Airport last week. Most baggage scales checked at the Atlanta airport last week by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gave consistent weight readings, but other airports were more erratic.
If it does top 50 pounds — a typical weight limit before hefty charges kick in — you face a last-minute scramble to redistribute stuff to your other luggage or an extra charge of as much as $90 each way.
Most airlines have hiked overweight bag fees and added new ones in reaction to soaring fuel prices, including recently created fees that most customers pay to check even one bag.
So with the stakes getting higher and higher, can you trust that the airlines’ scales are accurate?
The answer is yes — mostly — at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to an informal spot check of dozens of airline scales conducted last week by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A reporter who loaded a small suitcase with two 20-pound dumbbells and a bit of padding found that most of the 77 baggage scales checked at the Atlanta airport last week gave readings in a narrow range from 51 to 52 pounds.
Of the 36 Delta Air Lines scales checked, all registered 51 or 52 pounds except two. One showed 53 pounds and another registered the weight as 45 pounds. On most other carriers’ scales, the test bag weighed in at 51.5 pounds, although one scale each at AirTran Airways and US Airways registered 50.5 pounds.
However, airport scales aren’t always that consistent.
Last week, the same reporter discovered that three of Delta’s scales at the Oklahoma City airport gave readings that differed from each other by several pounds.
Likewise, inspectors in other states have sometimes found a significant share of baggage scales at major airports had errors. The Arizona Republic reported in November that more than half of the US Airways scales that state inspectors examined at the Phoenix airport failed to pass.
Likewise, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently reported that one in four airport scales in the south Florida area failed to pass inspection from 2005 to mid-2008.
Airport scales that give unreliable readings can end up costing travelers because most airlines have upped their fees to compensate for the spike in fuel prices earlier this year. Delta now charges $90 extra for each bag weighting 51 to 70 pounds and $175 for 71- to 100-pound bags.
Discount carrier AirTran Airways charges $39 and $79, respectively, for luggage in those weight ranges. Most other carriers’ charges start at $50 for bags weighing 51 to 70 pounds.
“Clearly, this becomes more important now,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Forrester Research. “An airline needs to be fair because a customer shouldn’t be charged unfairly, but an airline should be able to charge if it’s justified.”
He said airlines should check their scales at least twice a year and, ideally, every quarter to ensure they are accurate, because “they do take a beating.”
Delta spokeswoman Chris Kelly said the airline complies with Georgia Department of Agriculture requirements to recalibrate its scales every six months. She said the erroneous scales in Oklahoma City were recalibrated last week.
How tightly does Delta adhere to its weight limits?
“The line is 50 pounds,” Kelly said. However, she said, “our airport customer service agents are empowered to do what’s right for both the business and the customer.”
AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the carrier recognizes that its scales get a lot of wear and tear and inspects them more frequently than required. “We need to calibrate that scale,” he said of the one that read one pound lower than the others.
“There’s so many stories that come out about scales that don’t measure accurately. We don’t want that,” Hutcheson said. He said supervisors “are given leeway” to decide whether to waive baggage fees when needed, but the carrier generally sticks to its guns.
“The rules are the rules. If it’s over 50 pounds we’re going to charge them,” he said.
Baggage fees can add hundreds of millions of dollars to airlines’ bottom lines. Most carriers, including Delta and AirTran, recently also began charging customers $15 for their first checked bag and $25 for the second bag.
Such fees are worth about $300 million and $200 million annually to American and Continental airlines respectively, Harteveldt said. AirTran has estimated the fee could generate up to $100 million annually. Delta hasn’t provided a specific estimate.
Harteveldt said the checked-bag fees have caused more passengers to take only carry-on bags on some trips. But it’s unclear, he added, whether some passengers are also trying to reduce add-on fees by consolidating more stuff in fewer, bigger suitcases, which could lead to overweight bag fees if they’re not careful.
Airlines will likely keep the new baggage fees even though jet fuel prices recently have dropped along with plunging crude oil prices, Harteveldt said. He believes airlines may even raise the fees over time, or institute higher fees for longer trips.
“The fees are here to stay as long as the planes need fuel to fly,” he said. “They like this additional stream of revenue. It allows them to keep the base fare low.”
Delta and AirTran aren’t planning any changes for now.
“We have no additional changes to our fee structure at this time,” said Kelly, the Delta spokeswoman.
Hutcheson said AirTran got few complaints after announcing the new fees.
“Most people understand it’s been put in place to repair the damage done last year” by high fuel prices, he said.
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Comments
By James
Jan 3, 2009 2:19 PM | Link to this
"Rethuglicons". ROFL. People that incorporate stupid, elementary name-calling like that into conversation are simply not worth wasting time on IMO. GALiberal probably has wealth envy too.
By GaRealist
Jan 3, 2009 1:14 PM | Link to this
GALiberal-
What you said is so far off topic, as well as inaccurate, that I laughed incessantly for a matter of minutes. You really need to see a doctor and get your BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) checked out. It's starting to affect your daily life.
And if you don't like how the airlines operate, drive or take a bus. I fly 2-3 times a month (I'm a Delta Silver Medallion member), and have rarely had a problem with the airlines.
By vuduchld
Jan 3, 2009 10:11 AM | Link to this
If the sirlines are going to adhere to this policy, then the requirement is that these scales be checked daily - NO EXCEPTIONS! Working in the scientific field just bumping or hitting these scales can cause a previously calibrated scale to now read incorrectly. It is the airlines responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the scales. Also, any skycap who is trying to make money off of these scales should be fired - NO EXCEPTIONS!!
By Rudy
Jan 3, 2009 10:09 AM | Link to this
Hey Tonytuf,
They had to put the dumbells and padding INTO something . . .a "small suitcase" I believe. How many "small suitcases" have you handled that weighed nothing? Moron.
By null
Jan 3, 2009 9:51 AM | Link to this
I hope this contributes to more of the "leisure traveler" (i.e. Bob and Betty Trailerpark) from traveling via airlines. They make the whole process from check-in, to security, to boarding, to in-flight such a pain in the *** with their idiocy, their whining about prices, their inconsiderateness, etc. Anything that gets the average NASCAR traveler off of a flight is a good thing.
By Tonytuf
Jan 3, 2009 9:27 AM | Link to this
Has anyone done the math on this 2-20lb dumbells (40lbs) and some padding what did they put in 10lbs of padding.....why was that not recorded...Just wondering......And if you have to pay to bring oh I don't know clothes that you may just have to wear what is the real advantage to flying anymore...Just wondering
By adelaide keenen
Jan 3, 2009 12:15 AM | Link to this
My husband and I traveled in Nov. on air trans and checked in at curb. My husband checked in next to me. My bag weighted 45 lbs. Guy told me my bag was over 50lbs. I checked scale and it said 45 lbs. than he told me my bag was oversized and it was going to cost me extra. Told him I have used that bag for 4 years traveling and no problem ever. He took the tape measure and was saying it was too wide. As he was doing this I noticed my husband's bag was being checked in with no problem. His bag is the twin to mine. So I argued again. The porter was so mad he took my ticket and told me to use the guy next to him and walked off. He was trying to get extra money from me. It really made me mad, I am glad my husband was next to me with the exact bag.
By GaLiberal
Jan 2, 2009 10:36 PM | Link to this
I've had the same problem at Delta. I weighted my bag at home and it was 49 lbs. Just to be safe, I put a couple of pounds in my carry on. I also checked my scale with some free weights and it read correctly. When Delta weighted the bag, they said it was 52 lbs. Don't dare try to argue with them as they'll simply leave you standing there with your ticket hanging out. When I told the Delta counter rep their scale is wrong, she simply said either take out some stuff or pay up then waited on some other passengers. I took some more stuff out and overloaded my carry on but it saved me the overweight charge.
I don't think these scales are checked by the state since they are not used to sell products by weight. So you are basically at the mercy of the airlines. As a frequent business and recreational traveler, we need a strong passenger bill of rights. The airlines are simply too powerful. You either pay their excessive charges or you don't get on their planes. They can call security and have you removed from the airport. They can simply refund your ticket (which you probably bought at a discount) and now you have to pay full fare on another airline. Airtran and Southwest do this all the time. Yet, guess who continues to block any form of leveling the playing field? Yes, the Rethuglicons. They claim that regulations hinder competition and that, left to themselves, the airlines will "compete" for passengers through better customer service. These are the same mental giants that over 30 years stripped out the regulatory firewalls that resulted in the Crash of 2008. Reagan and his Rethuglicon buddies began their trashing of the economy by removing the "unnecessary Depression-era laws" that prohibited banks from investing depositors money. These banks then made all kinds of speculative mortgages which were then sold world-wide. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer and middle class wages stagnated actually decreasing due to inflation. You can draw all kinds of parallels between the Roaring '20s and today. And the Rethuglicons are just as guilty then as they are now then. To prevent another Great Depression, the government has injected over $5 TRILLION dollars into the economy. Something the Rethuglicons were unwilling to do in the 20s and many are unwilling to do today. Our own Saxby Shameless lead the charge to derail the auto industry bridge loan. Now the Rethuglicon "leaders" (if you can call anyone who's sole purpose is to obstruct and imped a leader) are threating to kill PE Obama's economic plan. Aren't you so glad Saxby Shameless was re-elected? But, I digress some what.
When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And not having a level playing field with the big airlines is living proof.
By Charlie
Jan 2, 2009 8:31 PM | Link to this
The Department of Agriculture in the State of Georgia governs weights and measures...folks may have noticed their seal on gas pumps, indicating that the pump is actually dispensing a gallon of fuel. Likewise Publix, Kroger and others who sell by weight are simialrly regulated. This means their scales really should say 10 ounces is actually 10 ounces.
If the airlines, in their desperation to survive by using whatever method they can to put their "customers" at a disadvantage past the point of contractual arrangement, i.e. at the airport with no recourse, choose to use baggage weight, I believe they should be subject to the same rules as the merchant who sells a pound of chopped beef.
These jerks bring excess regulation upon themselves when they try to earn revenue in unexpected and unsubstantiated practices such as this.
By disgruntled airline employee
Jan 2, 2009 7:22 PM | Link to this
Oh dear people, yes fuel prices have decreased recently. That doesn't make the industry-wide billion dollar losses go away magically. Its simple--travel smart. Know your airline's policy BEFORE YOU BOOK. Take the time to make sure your bags aren't close to the weight/size restrictions. Give yourself plenty of time, and for Gods sakes, arguing and being a complete hole to the airline agents just makes us more disguntled and completely unwilling to help you. Kindness and common sense goes a long way. HELP YOURSELF AND PACK SMART
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