I’ve been flagging for years the idea that airport baggage scales are probably not calibrated correctly, and passengers are being overcharged as a result.
That was proven true in Charlotte, and probably would have been a much bigger story but it came out right at the start of the pandemic six years ago. People are slamming heavy suitcases on them all day, every day, and sometimes at odd angles. They need maintenance!
It turns out that the luggage scales at Newark were all tested, and 100 of them (27.3%) were inaccurate. 81 were bad enough to be condemned and taken out of service.
- This was 2.5 years ago
- Full details are just surfacing
- And no systematic testing has been done since.
Fine are only ~ $100 per violation, but millions of checked bag fees are at issue. One scale was repaired and reinspected but still off by as much as 35 pounds. Another scale allegedly failed to detect test loads of 300, 350, 400, and 500 pounds — and treated “every bag [a]s heavy.”
With Newark being a United hub, their charges are most relevant. Currently,
- first checked bag around $50 if not prepaid, second bag generally $60, and third $200
- overweight fees $100 for bags 50 – 70 pounds for most passengers.
While 27% of scales were off, that doesn’t mean 27% of bags were overcharged. Many bags are light enough that miscalibration wouldn’t metter. And sometimes when the scale shows a bag overweight, passengers will remove items. In some cases, then, they were forced to dispose of personal items when they shouldn’t have been.
A passenger once had their bag found to be 50 grams overweight at a different airport. Their airline wanted to charge him. So he took chocolates out of the bag and ate 50 grams’ worth until he got the weight of his luggage down.
- Newark airport had 47 million passengers in 2024. Half of those were departing passengers. We don’t have Newark-specific data, but on average there are about about 0.58 checked bags per passenger.
- Let’s assume 13.5 million checked bags departing Newark, 60% of those – or 8 million – were on United.
Some percentage of those 8 million departing bags were off connected, checked elsewhere, though there’s no guarantee that scales at their originating airport were accurate. Still, it’s highly likely that we’re talking about a mid-seven figure charge in erroneous overweight bag fees by United at Newark in a single year.
If the airline is going to be a stickler for overweight luggage, even using miscalibrated scales, then some passengers are going to resort to guerilla tactics to even the playing field – like supporting the bag with their foot to reduce the weight on the scale. I’m not sure I even have a problem with this anymore.
A flight attendant taught me this pic.twitter.com/y5wHbFLSdl
— Mr.Decent. (@Mrdecent000) December 15, 2025
If you want to skip bag fees, pack appropriately, get elite status with the airline, or maybe their credit card. You can often save a bit of money prepaying your bags (but often passengers guess their checked bag needs wrong and overpay).
It seems like a good idea to weigh your bag at home before heading off to the airport. You should do this anyway! But if your bag weighs much heavier at the airport than it did when you checked it, ask to weigh it on another check-in counter scale.
(HT: @crucker)
Outrageous.
That is good advice about weighing at home. I bought a simple grip-style hand scale that you strap on the bag handle and lift it to get a reading. It is quite accurate too. So far the airport ones have very closely matched it, but that gives no future guarantee.
I have the same scale Drrichard mentioned and keep it at the top of my bag in case I need to weigh at the airport again. They are inexpensive on Amazon, if it saves one fee it has paid for it self.
@drrichard — I have one of those, too. Useful for all sorts of things.