Standard passenger weights are adjusted by Route, type of flight and other reasons the operators see fit to use……… as usual “ standard” is a bit variable.
A_and_C wrote:
Standard passenger weights are adjusted by Route
Yes, I would think of airliners SOP standard = (MTOW- empty weight – fuel for route)/number of seats, while for aircraft designer, this his has been discussed long time ago as they decided on max range and operating ceiling
For passengers, most of us think they can bring anything or buy any extra kilos on the spot, while we can debate outliers the law of large numbers works well on 100 seats 
A_and_C wrote:
Standard passenger weights are adjusted by Route, type of flight and other reasons the operators see fit to use……… as usual “ standard” is a bit variable.
Most airlines I handled as a load controller had standard weights period. There were some exceptions where for particular routes additions were added but they were pretty rare. Today of course with the methods available it is much easier to program something like this.
It is worth remembering that passenger weight is a lower proportion of MTOW for big jets, especially long range jets with the corresponding fuel capacity
Piston single – 4 people at 100kg are 25%-33% of 1.2-1.6 tonne MTOW
Boeing 747-8 – 460 passengers at 100kg are around 10% of the 450 tonne MTOW
Mooney_Driver wrote:
If you want to be gentlemanly about it and not ask, then the only save way is to up the averages to say 100 kg per adult including 1 piece of carry on baggage.
No, that is not safe. It may give you an in-the-limits CG, while the true CG is off aft because the adults in the front are lighter than your “average”.
You surely can guesstimate the mass of a pax by comparison to people you know are honest? In Family, spouses and friends you should have a satifying sample range…
If you don’t dare to ask anyone to step on a scale, just get the rearbenchers to carry your flightbag aswell, that’ll disguise their mass and you’ll have a good datapoint.
It has been done before…
I try not to take any woman who is uncomfortable about her weight flying……….. or anywhere else for that matter.
lionel wrote:
No, that is not safe. It may give you an in-the-limits CG, while the true CG is off aft because the adults in the front are lighter than your “average”.
For CG yes. For weight it is probably quite adequate.
mh wrote:
You surely can guesstimate the mass of a pax by comparison to people you know are honest? In Family, spouses and friends you should have a satifying sample range…
I think I can yes, after almost 20 years of loadcontrolling you get some routine. Also baggage weight when lifting something after hand-loading airliners for a few years
Primarily I am talking of pre-flight planning. If you are flying with 3 folks you know from afar, but not really close up, then the 100 kg per pax will leave you with a safe margin unless you know that they all are significantly lower. At boarding you need to make your proper assessment. I usually put 10% over my unkindest estimate :)
I can’t help thinking that the weight penalty of 1.5 kg for carrying a set of bathroom scales outweighs the the doubt about performance and C of G position.
If asking a passenger for their weight, I don’t ask them “what they weight” for two reasons.
1. Most are uncomfortable discussing their weight &
2. Most are uncomfortable with their weight and are likely to round down a bit.
Instead I ask them what they “weigh when fully dressed, with shoes on, and their coat on and not what their weight when they stand naked on the bathroom scales in the morning”. I then caution them that their clothes, shoes and coat actually weigh quite a surprising amount .
That I think gives them sufficient fudge factor to be more comfortable giving a genuine weight because it’s not “their weight”. And clothes do weight a surprising amount, so it’s best that something is included for that.
