夏威夷一家航空公司近日施行新規，要求所有乘客登機前都必須稱重。難道是怕胖子太多飛機飛不起來？其實是為了均衡客艙配重，一來是為航行安全考慮，二來也是為了節省燃料。
今年早些時候，在發現乘客和隨身攜帶行李的平均重量比預期更重之後，一家美國航空公司獲得法律許可為乘客稱重，以進行為期六個月的節省燃料研究。
Hawaiian Airlines has now scrapped pre-booked seating for people flying the 2,600-mile route between Honolulu and the American Samoa.
目前夏威夷航空已經取消了火奴魯魯往返美屬薩摩亞這條2600英裡航線的座位預定。
Instead, passengers will be assigned seats when they check-in to make sure weight is evenly distributed around the main cabin of the plane. The airline will keep at least one seat open per row or place children under the age of 13 in those seats.
乘客將在辦理登機手續時獲得指定座位，以確保飛機主客艙的重量平衡。客艙內每排將至少留出一個空位，或在這些空位上只安排13歲以下的兒童。
Some passengers said the policy was discriminatory as it only affects people flying on one route, from Honolulu to Pago Pago, with most passengers being of Samoan descent. Samoans have among the highest rates of obesity in the world.
一些乘客認為這項政策具有歧視性，因為它只影響從火奴魯魯到帕果帕果一個航線的乘客，而這些乘客中大多數是薩摩亞人。薩摩亞人有著世界上最高的肥胖率。
Six complaints have been filed with the US Department of Transportation since 29 September, as reported by the Economist.
據《經濟學人》報導，自9月29日至今已有六份投訴提交至美國運輸部。
The department ruled in favour of the new policy, with airline officials claiming an even distribution of weight could prevent a crash landing.
但因航空官員稱重量平衡分配能夠防止飛機事故發生，運輸部裁定投訴無效並對此項新規表示支持。
Hawaiian Airlines said it had conducted a voluntary, six-month passenger weight survey on the Pago Pago route, starting in February, asking all passengers to be weighed along with their carry-on luggage.
夏威夷航空稱從今年二月份開始，公司對帕果帕果航線上的乘客重量進行了為期六個月的調查，對所有乘客以及他們隨身攜帶的行李進行稱重。
As a result, the airline scrapped seat pre-selection only on the American Samoa route because the other flight routes surveyed, for example in Korea and Japan, showed no evidence of excess weight.
最終該航空公司只取消了飛往美屬薩摩亞航線的座位預定。因為根據調查，飛往韓國和日本等地的其它航線並未出現任何超重現象。
The airline had also ruled out other possible causes of fuel loss, such as strong winds.
夏威夷航空也已排除了強風等其它可能造成燃料損耗的因素。
Spokesperson Alex Da Silva told The Independentthat no passengers will be asked to step on the scales now that the survey has been completed, and that the airline can still accommodate all parties and can sit families together.
發言人亞歷克斯達席瓦爾對《獨立報》說，現在這項調查已經完成，不會再要求任何乘客進行稱重，夏威夷航空歡迎來自各方的朋友，也可以把家庭成員的座位安排在一起。
Hawaiian Airlines is not the first passenger carrier to make the move. It follows Samoa Air starting to weigh passengers in 2013.
夏威夷航空並非第一家實施此舉的航空公司。早在2013年薩摩亞航空就要求乘客登機前稱重。
Uzbekistan Airways also began weighing passengers in 2015.
2015年烏茲別克斯坦航空公司也提出了這一要求。
英文來源：獨立報
翻譯：張金瑤（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）
審校&編輯：丹妮