View Full Version : Wet baggage weight
A friend recently flew Bangladesh-Bangkok after an hours delay due to torrential rain at Bangladesh. On arrival, her (canvas) luggage was completely waterlogged, and it appeared that everyone else's was too (including some cardboard bags in a rather sorry state!)
This sparked a few questions - are the bags or containers weighed prior to loading, or do you assume "average" weight per pax? And she reckons that her wet bag was probably 40% heavier :( than it's dry weight, would this have been taken into account?
Just curious!
Hmmm, considering Bangladesh, lucky to have the baggage at all, never mind soaked.
NB. Everything is a bit wet/soaked in that area.
Old Smokey
11th Oct 2004, 03:53
No, it isn't considered.
On the topic of what is / is not considered, it's always amused me that you may depart with, say, 100 Kg of food in the galleys, but after consumption by the passengers, it's no longer considered as a part of the aircraft weight for a second departure with the same passengers aboard.
As long as the toilets are serviced, then the weight has gone!!
:yuk:
Not necessarily.
If some of the CC have helped themselves (I once noticed a breakfast omelet in the left coat pocket of a steward, potatoes in the other...believe it or not) then that food may still be aboard.
flyblue
11th Oct 2004, 15:51
Luggage is weighted at check-in (that's how they manage to make you pay overweight ;) ). You'll notice the figure appears on the luggage receipt that is usually handed to you with the boarding card.
Thanks for the responses, I guess the extra water is relatively insignificant. And possibly some of the cardboard boxes just melt ;)
HZ123
15th Oct 2004, 09:56
Luuggage is not weighed at check-in unless there is something unusual about the route, weather or a/c type. It is for all intent and purpose given a notional weight. For example BA notional weights are 12kgs UK 14 kgs EU and 16kgs World. They have used these figures for the last 10 years and you will no doubt be surprised at how low they are.
Bins / containers are also given fixed weights dependant on the baggage count for each one, weights being from 450kgs to 750 kgs the latter rare. Most will take between 40 - 60 bags and there is a full reconciliation of all bags and there bin location. Aircarft loading put simply uses the dry weight which includes a/c empty plus crew / catering and bags; same again plus fuel ; and then all plus punters / baggage / cargo. Key points after this are predicted departure weight after fuel burn / landing weight after journey fuel burn.
flyblue
15th Oct 2004, 12:48
HZ123, luggage is weighted at check in. Then the loadsheet are made using the figures you state per luggage. Keep in mind that there is a max allowed after which you have to pay overweight, and ground takes into consideration that overweight. I remember a ground supervisor for my airline going mad at a check in person for allowing overweight baggage without charging the pax by only reporting it as 23Kgs (max allowed) and pretending that was all (check in person was alone on the flight and didn't want to slow down waiting line. Problem is he did it for more than one pax). Supervisor's point was that this way he could not take into consideration the extra weight for the loadsheet (in this case it turned out to be 600Kgs), and for connecting flights loadsheets.
HZ123
15th Oct 2004, 12:58
Correction acknowledged. But that exercise is purely for excess baggage charges and is not connected to the 'Load Sheet' unless there is a specific request. I cannot remember the last time this ocurred, I am sure that other outfits do it diffrerently. BA load sheets are produced 24 hours before departure with notional weights thus indicating how much space we have for cargo. This applys to shorthaul / longhaul and BACX a/c.
Was there not some discussion after the Charlotte NC Beech 1900 accident that the notional loadsheet figures for pax and baggage had become/always were inappropriate.
On the original question I would not have thought that the water absorbency of baggage would make any significant difference to weight. It's not as if it's a dry cargo.
Yeah, but the cardboard boxes used in that area could well become wet cargo soon enough.