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Air New Zealand to weigh passengers before they board the airplane
Remove your shoes. Take your keys out of your pocket. Step on the scale?
That’s right: New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority is asking that its national airline weigh passengers departing on international flights from Auckland International Airport through July 2, 2023.
The program, which Air New Zealand calls a passenger weight survey, is a way to gather data on the weight load and distribution for planes, the airline said.
“We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft – from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” Alastair James, the airline’s load control improvement specialist said in a statement. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”
Still, weight is a personal thing that not everyone wishes to disclose. In order to protect individuals’ privacy, the airline says it has made the data anonymous.
Travelers will be asked to stand on a digital scale when they check in for their flight. The information about their weight is then submitted to the survey but will not be viewable on the agent’s screen.
They will also place their luggage on another identical scale for separate weighing.
“We know stepping on the scales can be daunting. We want to reassure our customers there is no visible display anywhere. No one can see your weight, not even us,” James said.
This isn’t the first time that Air NZ has asked passengers to step on the scales before boarding their flights. Domestic passengers took part in a survey in 2021, but the one for international travelers was delayed due to the pandemic.
Among the people who may be asked to take part in the survey are those traveling on the direct flight from Auckland to New York City’s JFK Airport.
The 17-hour flagship route was launched last fall as a lynchpin of Air NZ’s post-pandemic strategy. It’s also one of the longest flights in the world.
注释：
daunt: v
表示" 使 ... 胆怯；恐吓"，means "make sb feel nervous and less confident of doing sth"，如：Danger didn't daunt the hero. 危险并没有吓住那英雄。The prospect of meeting the President is quite daunting. 一想到要会见总统就足以令人心悸。
lynchpin: n
表示"关键；轴心人物"，means "a central cohesive source of support and stability"，如：It may also cause unrest in other players within the team if the player in question is a lynchpin of a team.如果要卖的是关键球员的话很可能会引发其他队员的骚动。
中文简要说明：
日前宣布将于经济舱加设全球首创「舒眠舱」（Skynest）、预计今年9月开卖的新西兰航空又有新动作。外媒报导，6月1日起至7月2日，自新西兰北岛奥克兰国际机场（Auckland International Airport）出发的国际航班旅客，将获邀参加一项特别的调查活动：登机之前量体重。这项计划此前已在纽航国内线执行。
综合欧洲新闻台（Euro News）、美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报导，新西兰航空公司（Air New Zealand）表示，这项计划是出于新西兰民航局要求而执行。地勤会请旅客视个人意愿在登机之前连同随身行李分别过磅，以协助航空公司收集载重数据与航机重量分配情形。纽航是新西兰的国营航空公司。
纽航载重控制改善专员詹姆士（Alastair James）透过声明表示：「本公司会针对所有上机的人事物测量重量，从货物、机上餐点到手提行李都包括在内。」这项计划要调查的是乘客、机组员、机舱行李的平均重量。
不过，个人体重算是隐私，并非人人都愿意让体重数字曝光。为此，纽航表示，所有旅客的体重数据采匿名方式收集。旅客在机场柜台完成报到之后，登机门外的地勤人员会询问旅客是否站上磅秤，愿意配合者，体重数字直接传送到调查数据库，而且不会显示在磅秤屏幕上。手提行李也有专用的磅秤。
詹姆士说，纽航保证，机场任何地点都看不到乘客的体重数字，「谁都看不到的，就连我们也看不到，匿名到底」。詹姆士强调，这项计划简单易行，而且采自愿性质实施，不会强迫旅客执行，愿意过磅的旅客等于协助纽航提供安全有效率的航程。
这并非新西兰航空第一次要求旅客登机前量体重。国内线早在2021年就做过同样的数据调查。国际线的执行时机则因新冠肺炎疫情而延后。
这项特别的数据调查计划会针对特定航班执行，预估要收集逾1万名乘客的体重数字。新西兰航空执飞奥克兰往返美国纽约肯尼迪机场的航班，去程飞行时间长达17小时，这条全世界航程最长航线之一的旅客也在受邀参与「称重」计划之列。
詹姆士说明，对于机师而言，了解飞机的载重量、掌握航机平衡是很重要的事，这也与预先估算油料使用量大有关系。各大航空公司现行做法是以平均体重推估全机旅客总重量，新西兰民航局这项计划则是利用实际秤重结果观察平均值是否有变。目前推估旅客体重使用的数字为每人88公斤，男性、女性推估值则各为93公斤、75公斤。如果能够更精确掌握全机人员重量，有助于降低飞机的碳排量。
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