Luggage Scales From Two Major Airlines Are Inaccurate

By Dennis Lambert
Published: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - 9:38am
Updated: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - 10:19am
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Your holiday flight to visit the relatives could end up costing a lot more than it should this winter. The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures says the scales used by two major airlines at the state’s two major airports were inaccurate, right at the point where it could cost you a lot of money. Shawn Marquez is the agency’s compliance director.

“If they were going to charge you, let's say it's 50 pounds or more, at 50 pounds they were off or at 70 pounds they were off,” Marquez said. “So, we look at it a lot of different ways. The whole point is, we come in unannounced. And if you're going to be charging somebody that much money just for being slightly off, your scales should be right.”

Marquez says if you have a question about what the airline claims your bag weighs, you should ask them to put the item on a different scale to see if the weight is different. He says the airlines have 18 or 20 scales and they likely with go with it if they get a different reading.