Dec 11, 2008 4:36 pm US/Eastern
Inspectors Put Logan Luggage Scales To Test
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Of 47 scales inspected at Logan, eight failed. Five of the failed scales showed a weight heavier than what the bag actually weighed.
WBZ
If you are planning on flying over the holidays, make sure you know how much your bag weighs or it could cost you plenty of extra money.
Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve went along with city inspectors as they paid a surprise visit to Logan Airport checking baggage scales to make sure passengers are not being ripped off.
Ask any airline passenger these days if they know how much their bag weighs and you get a blank stare.
"No...No idea" is the most common answer. But it's something every airline passenger should know because overweight bags cost more than ever. If your bag weighs more than 50 pounds you can get hit with a surcharge of $125.
So not only are passengers paying additional fees to check bags on many airlines, the difference between a 50-pound checked bag and 51-pound checked bag can be a lot of money.
One passenger said she thought it would cost her an additional $15. When Shortsleeve told her the correct answer is $50. Her response was simply, "Wow."
Not far away, City Inspector Bob McGrath and his men were staring at the illuminated red digits on a metal airport scale.
"This is a 25 pound weight but you can already see the scale is registering 26 pounds, so it is out of tolerance," McGrath said.
Since baggage weight is big dollars these days, city inspectors were testing scales at Logan. In the first 20 scales they checked four were not working properly. Those four scales were slapped with a bright red "condemned" sticker.
McGrath says, "If they use it after it has been rejected, say after we leave the airport, it is a criminal violation."
Airlines are required to get the problem scales re-balanced. Air Canada employees saw one of their scales flunk the surprise inspection. Cathy Mackenzie is an Air Canada manager.
"One of our scales was off by a half a pound and that is not unusual because these scales really take a beating," she said.
In airports across the country inspectors are finding problems. In South Florida one in four scales had weight related failures. In Dallas, one in every three scales were not working properly.
So in a day when one pound makes a big dollar difference accurate scales are critical. If you think the scale is wrong you might be right.
City inspectors tell WBZ they inspected 47 scales at Logan and eight failed. But get this, of those 8 that failed three were registering less than they should.
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