Why airlines say we put on weight in winter

Safety depends on accurate calculations

In the next few weeks Canadians are expected to get a collective 81,000 tonnes heavier, according to a littleknown aspect of Canadian transportation law.

This is because all passengers are assigned a standardized weight whenever they buy an airline ticket.

And unlike in more southerly countries, the standardized weight of a Canadian increases during the winter.

To “cater for seasonal variations,” read Transport Canada regulations, airline operators need to assume every male and female over the age of 12 will soon be six pounds heavier.

“My understanding is that it’s because you have the winter coats on and what not, not that (passengers) have fattened up on Thanksgiving turkey,” said Randy Wright with Harbour Air, a seaplane airline based in the Vancouver area.

Including clothing and carry-on baggage, the summer weight of a Canadian male airplane passenger is 200 lb., 165 lb. for a female, according to the Aeronautical Information Manual, a 500-page summation of Canada’s aviation regulations.

When winter kicks in, that allocation rises to 206 lb. and 171 lb., respectively.

For smaller carriers, the sharp disparity in male/ female weights can result in some awkward arrangements.

Harbour Air asks ticket buyers their gender and may be forced to fly with empty seats if no women are on the passenger manifest.

“We may have to drop a passenger or two, depending on male or female,” said Wright. “We would assess also if we had some heavier people than normal.”

Charter airlines will ask passengers directly — or put them on a scale.

“If you’re going to an outfitter with four or five of your buddies in a bush plane, they will ask you for your weights,” said Bernard Gervais, president of the Canadian Owners & Pilots Association.

As the Canadian weight regulations make clear, “the risk of embarrassment is not a reason for risking safety or crossing weight limits.”

Failing to calculate the passengers’ weight can have fatal consequences. Transport Canada says 24 people have died in air crashes involving “overweight aircraft.”

Our steadily expanding waistlines haven’t made things easier. In 1953, at the dawn of the passenger jet age, the average Canadian man weighed 159 lb., the average woman 133 lb.

Fifty years later, Canadian men were packing an extra 23 lb., and women had put on 20 lb.