I didn't remove your post slip and turn, the mods did. They then removed my reply. I can only assume they did so as it was a spotters post which had no bearing on the thread at all.
You assume a lot
Topslide6, and that is what worries me most if you represent any common theme.
Personally, I am very pleased at the airing this whole question is getting in the current $130 climate. Are you?
Thanks
facelookbovvered for continuing to add data. The 70/88 number is a case in point. It varies by airline in agreement with their regulator doesn't it? Does it change every time the airline puts up the hold baggage charge or every time the airports relax their pre-security weighins? Nope, don't think so.
The pressures on the accuracy of those 70/88 figures vary constantly with the airline model, the landside monitoring on the day, the weather (how much clothing the pax are sporting), last week's latest baggage charging regime, and seasonal reasons for travel. My last flight saw me pass through security with a 15kg bag. I don't mind admitting it. Was I endangering the aircraft? Someone tell me, please. I was prepared to dump the overload if challenged because the baggage charge was more than the value of what I was carrying but I knew it was unlikely. On my return I was down to 12kg and in that case had I spotted any new weighing machine never before encountered I'd have transfered a kilo to my pockets and held the other kilo (a heavy book) in my hand. This time I didn't grab 2 more kilos from Duty Free, 2 from Boots (cheap water) and another 2 from Pret, but I have done many times in the past.
It's not only the airlines and crews that play complex games with the margins. It's also the hoards of discerning new passengers that these new models have created who think nothing of bending the arbitrary rules on baggage weights.
PS What's a child in an airline's book thesedays? I have two. One isn't even a teenager yet but is already average adult height and weighs in at a good 55-60kg. Her brother isn't yet 15 but is six feet tall and wears mens large size jackets because his shoulders as almost as broad as mine.
I am 100kg in my socks. In my winter coat with pockets full I probably go 110 at least before I pick up my bag.
None of us look obese. I again suggest that the only way you will know how much a load of traffic like me and mine weighs is when you monitor fuel burn in the climbout. But then you guys know that too.
Nice to know there's still plenty of 'fat' in the calculations on a good day.