Tigerair Australia blew the lid on an industry secret this afternoon, when they took to Twitter to assuage passenger @Scotjayel, who was unhappy at being forced to disclose their gender when purchasing tickets.
Naturally, the Twitterverse wanted to know more.
One user in particular, @StilgHerrian, was clutching for a notepad when they heard about Tiger’s “modern theory of gender”. Another, @KateDoak, said “this sort of crap is why I rarely fly. Being Trans is hard enough without being gender typecast”.
@Scotjayel we apologise for any inconvenience caused. Knowing your gender assists us in determining weight and balance of the aircraft.
— Tigerair Australia (@TigerairAU) April 11, 2016
Before condemning the budget carrier though, it’s important to hear their side.
The airline claims it needs to know peoples’ gender to ensure their safety: Turns out they use the “average weight of females, males and children as a guide to help determine the weight and balance of the aircraft before flying”.
Here at New Matilda, that makes us feel far more secure.
“We know it sounds strange,” Tiger tweeted, but apparently it’s not. It’s all “part of standard industry practice and regulation”.
New Matilda reporter Thom Mitchell Tweeted the company to ask how heavy each man, woman or child is supposed to be, exactly, and what would happen if a plane-load of people didn’t weigh in as expected.
We’re still waiting to hear back.