6 Out Of 10 Of Flyers Report Baggage Weight Discrepancies At Airports: Survey

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Amid reports of passengers alleging the weighing machines at IndiGo's check-in counters show different weights for the same bag, a recent survey showed that 6 in 10 flyers report baggage weight mismatch.

According to the survey, several air passengers make at least a kilogram allowance when planning to check in luggage at the airport. It added that airport weighing machines rarely show the same weight as seen at home.

Also Read | SpiceJet flight to Tirupati returns to Hyderabad after baggage door alert

Earlier on 5 August, an IndiGo passenger, Rattan Dhillon, shared on 'X' how the same luggage showed different results on three weighing machines at the Delhi airport.

Stating that he had to pay ₹11,900 for extra baggage, including ₹1,500 just for carrying an umbrella, Dhillon wrote,“One of the biggest unnoticed scams by IndiGo is the inconsistent weighing scales at their check-in counters.

Yesterday, while boarding flight 6E724 from Goa to Chandigarh, my bag showed 18 kg on one belt, 16 kg on another, and 15 kg on a third. When I questioned the discrepancy, the IndiGo staff simply replied,“Sir, the 15 kg machine must be wrong, 18 is the correct weight.” Seriously? What's the justification for this? I ended up paying INR11,900 for extra baggage including INR1,500 just for carrying an umbrella!"

"To verify, I even weighed the same bag at my hotel, and it was exactly 15 kg proving that their belts inflate the weight by 2-3 kg.” Dhillon wrote on the social media platform.

Also Read | Southwest Airlines ends free baggage policy - here's how much it'll cost you now

Also, in a similar instance, Daksh Sethi in February discovered a 2.3 kg difference for the same bag between two adjacent weighing scales when he checked in for his IndiGo flight at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Chandigarh. He documented the discrepancy through an Instagram post.

What the survey found out:

To find out whether discrepancy in luggage weight during check-in is a rare thing or not, a survey by LocalCircles reached out to over 36,000 responses from airline passengers located in 289 districts of India.

The survey consisted of 68% respondents as men and 32% respondents women. Also , 45% of respondents were from tier 1, 30% from tier 2 and 25% of respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5 and rural districts, added the survey.

On being asked the number of times the airline staff weighed the bags to be heavier than what was weighed at home, 6 in 10 airline passengers said they have had one or more instances in last 3 years.

When asked how many times the airline staff in India an airline staff weigh their carry-on luggage and found the weight to be higher than what their weighing scale at home indicated, 6 in 10 airline passengers said they have had one or more instances in last 3 years.

Summarising the survey, LocalCircles said,“in the last 3 years, 6 in 10 airline passengers surveyed say they have had one or more instances where the airline staff weighed their carry-on baggage to be higher in weight than at home.”

Also Read | Luggage upstarts make a dent as young travellers shed their parents' old baggage

It added, "40-50% of those surveyed have faced this issue much more – anywhere between 3 -10 times- indicated that there is considerable room for authorities to probe and take corrective action. The airlines must be taken to task if they continue to use this underhand method to make extra money."

The survey suggested that all commercial weighing scales should have a valid calibration from a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited lab.

It added that all commercial weighing scales should be made mandatory to show a calibration record and validity sticker on each airline weighing scales, including those used on all Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports.

About LocalCircles

LocalCircles is one of India's Community Social Media platform that enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions. They also enable the Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric

MENAFN09082025007365015876ID1109906682