Air travelers have become accustomed to a variety of intrusive scans and searches, but one airline has added a whole new level of screening for international passengers. Air New Zealand has begun “surveying” their international flyers by having them step on a scale before boarding their aircraft.

New Zealand’s largest airline will weigh passengers flying internationally from Auckland International Airport to many destinations, including New York City’s JFK, on a digital scale as part of the checking-in process. Passengers’ luggage will be weighed separately. The carrier is assuaging concerns by noting that their weight will not appear on the gate agent’s screen or anywhere visible to passengers or airline workers, and that the data will remain anonymous.

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. …

“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.

It’s not surprising to learn that Air New Zealand has taken this supposedly temporary step considering that they have experienced serious issues with overweight planes. I have read a number of stories about their ultra longhaul flights from New York-Auckland and Auckland-New York departing without passenger luggage due to weight issues. Hopefully they will use this survey process to work it out.