Airlines Concerned About New Weight Rules

WASHINGTON (AP) - Raising passenger weight estimates could prove costly to
regional airlines, say carriers rattled by a Federal Aviation Administration
re-examination of the averages used to determine safe flying weights.

Raising the figure - 180-185 pounds per adult passenger - by 10 pounds might
require airlines to eliminate seats to comply. ``The cost would be
staggering,'' Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association,
said Thursday.

An accident that killed 21 people last winter led the FAA to reassess air
travelers' average weight. A US Airways Express flight that crashed at the
airport in Charlotte, N.C., was estimated to be within 100 pounds of maximum
takeoff weight.

After the crash, the FAA ordered 15 airlines to survey passenger weights.

The survey showed that passengers and their bags generally are heavier than
the estimates now used, agency spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

Though any changes would affect all airlines, regional carriers are most
concerned. They fly a higher percentage of planes with 10 to 19 seats than
do the major airlines.

McElroy said adding 10 pounds per passenger would force her membership to
carry fewer passengers or less cargo - if baggage estimates are raised - to
meet weight requirements. She urged the FAA to study the issue further.

The association estimates that regional carriers fly one in eight domestic
airline passengers. As a result of the survey, some airlines have changed
their weight estimates and now carry only 18 passengers on a 19-seat plane.

The FAA is considering several proposals and a recommendation could come
this month.

Under current guidelines, an adult passenger flying in winter is estimated
to weigh 185 pounds, including clothing and carryons. The same passenger is
calculated at 180 pounds during summer travel.

Children age 2 to 12 are estimated to weigh 80 pounds in winter and summer.
Each checked bag is calculated to weigh an average of 25 pounds for a
domestic flight and 30 pounds for international travel.

Some believe those estimates, in place since 1995, may be too low because
Americans and their carryon bags have gotten larger. Adult men averaged
180.7 pounds in 1994, the most recent year in which statistics from the
Center for Disease Control and Prevention are available.

The survey found passenger weights varied by airline. David Lotterer, the
association's vice president, said that may be explained by some airlines
weighing passengers with their carryons and some without.

It also is possible those airlines serving colder areas might have carried
passengers wearing heavier clothes than those flying in warmer locations.

``We need a consistent approach,'' McElroy said. ``You want a system in
place where one passenger getting off one airline is the same weight when he
gets on another airline.''

Weight is important for all planes but extremely so for smaller aircraft.
Too many bags in the rear compartment or a few large people in the back
could change a small plane's center of gravity and make it much more
difficult to fly.

Investigators are looking at weight as a possible contributing cause of the
Charlotte crash. The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a
hearing on the accident on May 20. The FAA may issue its weight
recommendations before then.

On the Net:

Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov